Maybe you've experience this, you have to go to the bathroom
now! Trouble is you just went
or you feel like you really have to go and when you do urinate not much
comes out.
What's up with that? This is known
as urge incontinence. Remember this is when you have an
overactive bladder and you feel that you can't control the urge to urinate.
Since this form of incontinence sends us to the bathroom
far more frequently than our bladder needs to be emptied, the treatment
focuses on changing our response to the feeling or urge.
The important thing is to realize that urges
are not commands. I know this takes some retraining,
here's how you do it. There are 3 steps to this process
First, when you feel a strong urge to urinate
stop what you're doing, stand quietly
or sit down, it's important to resist the urge.
Avoid rushing to the bathroom. Next
contract your pelvic floor muscles by squeezing then relaxing slightly,
repeat this a few times. If you feel that some leakage will happen if you
relax the muscles
then hold the contraction. This is very important because pelvic floor muscle
contractions
send a message to the bladder to relax and hold urine
it might help you to distract yourself by thinking of something other than
going to the bathroom. Third, relax
take a deep breath and let it out slowly
let the urge to urinate pass. Again
give your mind something else to think about, use positive thoughts
the urge will subside. If it does come back,
repeat these 3 steps to regain control.
You can see the secret of success to this technique
is to not respond to every urge to urinate by urinating.
Remember, urges are not commands.
When our bladders really are full, we release between 1 1/2 to 2 cups
of urine.
As you can see, that's a fair amount of liquid.
If you feel an urge and are voiding less than that
you know that your bladder is overactive and by following these 3 steps
you can calm it down. Another technique to try for urge incontinence
is called a Timed Voiding. This means urinating on a set schedule
the goal of this technique is to get your body comfortable again with
urinating
every few hours and when your bladder is full, not sooner.
With the Timed Voiding technique it's very important to visit the bathroom
at the scheduled time
do not wait until you have the urge to urinate. Here's how it works,
if you currently feel you have to urinate about every 30 minutes
you would start by urinating every our. You have increased the time between
by 30 minutes. When that starts to feel comfortable
extend the time in between by another 30 minutes
the normal period between urination is about 3 to 4 hours
your goal is to get yourself to that point. If you feel you have to urinate
sooner than your scheduled time,
follow the 3-step technique to control the urge.
Now this process is very individual and it does take weeks,
be patient with yourself. Even with the best of intentions
and the use of these various techniques, there are still some situations where
you want to feel
absolutely confident. Your peace of mind and freedom from worry
are very important. If your bladder control challenge
is interfering with your activities, I really recommend that you make
use of the various pads you can wear. You may not need them
all of the time, but use them if you're at all concerned about leakage
don't let that stop you from doing anything you enjoy.