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Healthy Living · article

Brain over bladder: overcoming urinary incontinence

A urologist discusses incontinence with a mature man.

Urinary incontinence is an involuntary, often sudden, loss of urine. It could be a spot or two in your underwear, or it could be so much that you need to change your clothes. Urinary incontinence can make it challenging to live your life to the fullest, but it can also be debilitating, increasing your risk of falls.

Jenna Silverman, pelvic floor therapist with Atlantic Health System, shares some simple strategies you can practice to give you control over your bladder.

What are the different kinds of UI?

UI can come in a variety of forms, but the two most common are urge incontinence and stress incontinence.

“When it comes to urge incontinence, many of us have trained our bladder to hold less fluid over time because we try to go so frequently when we don’t actually have to,” says Silverman. “This habit can lead to needing to rush to the restroom to avoid leakage.”

One of the best ways to overcome urge incontinence is to do something different before using the restroom to put your brain back in charge and increase the volume your bladder can hold. That means, instead of immediately running to the bathroom when you feel the urge, finish the task you’re working on or look at the clock and wait a couple minutes.

Unlike urge incontinence, stress incontinence is usually caused by weakness in the pelvic floor. This kind of UI can lead you to leak urine when you sneeze or cough. Stress incontinence treatments mainly focus on strengthening muscles. One example is the knack maneuver when, if you know you’re going to sneeze, you do a Kegel to grip the pelvic floor and avoid the leak.

Dos and don’ts for beating UI

Silverman recommends other options to lower your risk of leaks:

  • Avoid bladder irritants: Smoking, caffeine, chocolate, carbonated beverages, artificial sweeteners, and spicy or acidic foods can all irritate your bladder.
  • Don’t “cluster pee”: Instead of using the restroom several times in a short period, merge all those trips into one.
  • Empty your bladder without pushing your pee out: When you sit on the toilet, certain muscles relax so your bladder can contract and get the pee out. If you’re trying to push the pee out or stop peeing once you’ve started, you’re hindering the reflex.
  • Go only when you need to, but don’t hold it too long: Try to go every 2-4 hours and no more than once per night. Aim to pee for at least 8-10 seconds at a time.
  • Practice good toilet posture: Lean forward while urinating to tip your bladder. Keep your feet flat and have your knees above your hips. Avoid hovering over the toilet, since this can alter the reflex that helps you release and pee. 
  • Stay hydrated: Restricting fluids will only irritate your bladder. A good rule of thumb is to drink as many ounces as you weigh divided by two. That means if you weigh 200 lbs., you need 100 ounces of water.

If these strategies don’t work for you, you may consider pelvic floor therapy. This therapy focuses on strengthening and lengthening the muscles, ligaments, connected tissues and nerves of your pelvic floor to help you prevent leaks.

Learn More About UrologyFind a Urologist
Published: November 29, 2024

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