Urinary Incontinence / Treatment
Behavioral Techniques
Scheduled toileting. The patient goes to the bathroom at regular 2-4 hour intervals. The goal here is to frequently empty the bladder and therefore keep the patient dry. This is frequently recommended for frail elderly or bedridden patients who may allow their bladder to get too full, and they are not physically able to get to the bathroom before they begin to urinate.
Double voiding. After urinating, the patient urinates a second time. This maneuver helps to more effectively empty urine that remains in the bladder, and therefore helps prevent leakage.
Fluid Restriction. Decreasing liquid intake to four or five glasses per day may help decrease urine leakage.
Bladder Retraining has been proven effective in patients with urge and mixed incontinence. It involves scheduled trips to the bathroom, but with progressively increasing time intervals between voids. This "trains" the bladder to delay voiding for larger periods of time.
Pelvic Muscle Rehabilitation involves pelvic floor muscle exercises to strengthen the support for the organs in the pelvis. After six to eight weeks of consistent daily exercise, fewer urinary accidents will occur.
Biofeedback is a technique that is used to help teach patients the proper exercises to increase tone in the pelvic muscles. During biofeedback, patients either hear a sound or see a light that increases in intensity as they exercise the correct pelvic muscles.
