How effective is bladder training?
Bladder training is designed to retrain your bladder to hold larger volumes of urine. It may be of value if you have Frequency, nocturia, urgency and urge incontinence. If there is any question of infection, this should be checked by your doctor before the training begins. Before commencing the training, you may find it helpful to make a record of how your bladder is behaving (Q 29.14).
The objective with bladder training is to teach your bladder that it can hold more than it currently believes. When your bladder has an urge to empty, try holding on for a little longer. It may be for just an extra minute to begin with and this can be built up gradually. The other way to retrain the bladder is to increase the time between visits to the toilet. Again this can be slowly increased in five or ten minute additional intervals. Try keeping your mind busy rather than concentrating on your bladder. If you think about your bladder it will try to convince you that it needs attention. Eventually you should be able to manage four hours unless you have drunk a lot. You can record the number of times you empty the bladder each day on your record card. You can also record the number of times that you had an urge which you were able to overcome. From time to time, find a convenient day when you can measure the volume of urine that you pass and record this. You should be able to reach at least 400 ml.
Please click on the required question.
- 1 How is urine produced?
- 2 What is cystitis?
- 3 How prevalent is cystitis?
- 4 What is honeymoon cystitis?
- 5 What are Frequency and nocturia?
- 6 How prevalent are Frequency and nocturia?
- 7 What is urinary incontinence?
- 8 What is stress incontinence of urine?
- 9 What is urgency, urge incontinence and the urge syndrome?
- 10 What causes stress and urge incontinence?
- 11 What is dribbling incontinence?
- 12 How prevalent is urinary incontinence?
- 13 What is the urethral syndrome?
- 14 How can I record my bladder problems and monitor the effects of treatment?
- 15 What simple measures are available to reduce urinary incontinence?
- 16 What are pelvic floor exercises?
- 17 How successful are pelvic floor exercises?
- 18 What is bladder training?
- 19 How effective is bladder training?
- 20 Are there any alternatives to bladder training for urgency symptoms?
- 21 If simple measures do not suffice, what else is available for the treatment of urinary stress incontinence?
- 22 What are urodynamic studies?
- 23 Where can I obtain further information about bladder problems?
- 24 Support Groups.
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This is the personal website of David A Viniker MD FRCOG, Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at Whipps Cross University Hospital, London - Specialist Interests - Reproductive Medicine including Infertility, PCOS, PMS, Menopause and HRT.
I do hope that you find the answers to your women's health questions in the patient information and medical advice provided.
