While we can look at the funny side of bladder urgency, if you're living with this issue
you pretty soon realise that it's inconvenient, sometimes painful and very embarrassing
Hi I'm Michelle and today I'm going to show you how to stop bladder urgency.
I've used these techniques successfully with many of my patients and to control my own
bladder .
Now let's be clear about how these simple techniques work.
When you feel bladder urgency, what you're feeling is your bladder muscle contracting
and squeezing down like this (indicate left) You'll also know that bladder urgency can
pass for example you may have noticed on occasion that you've been distracted and your urgency
has disappeared and this happens when your bladder muscle relaxes, you don't need to
empty your bladder for it to relax.
So I'm going to show you how to stop urgency by getting your bladder muscle to relax and
help you train your bladder to store more, for those of you following this bladder control
series that's linked below too.
Maybe you have some of your own tips to stop urgency - let me know in the comments below,
I'd love to hear.
Now here's your most important strategy of all, I'm telling you this one first just in
case you click away from this video (I hope you don't) because this one's vital to know
and you can combine this strategy with everyone of the following suggestions too.
The most helpful thing you can do when urgency strikes is a strong Kegel exercise.
Scientific research has clearly shown that when the pelvic floor muscles contract, the
bladder muscle relaxes and this stops you feeling urgency.
So as soon as you feel urgency do your kegel exercise.
At first the sense of urgency might return so you'll probably need to do a number of
kegels in a row.
Kegels can be even more effective if you combine them with any one these next 5 strategies.
The next strategy you can try is curling your toes when urgency strikes.
Curl your toes under and keep doing this until the urge passes - you might be able to try
to do a Kegel exercise at the same time.
When the urge passes, if you need to empty your bladder then walk to the bathroom don't
run or if your urge has passed maybe try to hold off emptying a little longer.
This next strategy can be really useful if you're out in public and urgency strikes.
Let's say for example you're out grocery shopping and out of nowhere you suddenly feel your
bladder.
What you can do is lean and bend forwards as if to look at something on a low positioned
shelf . Leaning forwards and bending can sometimes help you relax your bladder and take back
control.
Along these same lines, you can also try kneeling down as if to retie your shoelaces.
If you can't kneel down, you might try bending forwards and reaching to scratch behind your
knee.
Now most of us have applied pressure over our briefs at some time or another because
it's a really helpful way to stop urgency.
But unfortunately you can't really do this in public.
Instead what you can do in public is apply pressure over the outside of your pelvic floor
by sitting, or even better sitting and crossing your legs until the urge has passed.
You can also try sitting on the arm of a lounge chair which also works well too.
My next tip is very important for reducing the likelihood of bladder leakage with urgency.
Next time you feel bladder urgency, try to take a moment to notice your breathing.
You will probably notice that you're holding your breath.
Doing this actually increases pressure on your bladder and increases the chance of bladder
leakage.Instead of holding your breath, Try to keep your breathing relaxed and normal
and if you can do your Kegels at the same time.
You might even find that counting and breathing slowly helps you redirect your attention away
from your bladder too.
which leads me into our final strategy which is to try to redirect your attention away
from your bladder when you notice urgency.
Focusing on your bladder makes urgency worse for example if you think "I'm going to wet
myself" this will be more likely to happen.
Instead try to redirect your attention by counting, focus on relaxing your breathing
or doing your Kegel exercises.
Then when the urge has passed, if you need to get to the restroom try counting your steps
as you walk and feel the ground under your heels with each step.
So I really hope these tips help you with some tactics stop bladder urgency.
Remember that using these takes practice and you can use any one or all of these tips.
Let me know which ones work best for you.
Meanwhile thankyou for watching today, if you've found this video helpful please give
it the thumbs up below because this helps other viewers find this information too.
Next time I'll be showing you how to overcome night time bladder problems, I hope you can
join me - don't forget to subscribe and hit the notification bell to catch up then.
Bye for now