How to Treat Urinary Incontinence

There are a variety of methods available for you to treat your urinary incontinence. Treatments range from behavioral techniques, dietary changes, antibiotic regimens and lifestyle alterations. Read on to learn how to treat urinary incontinence.

Instructions

Increase Your Bladder Strength

• 1

  Treat your urinary incontinence with Kegel exercises. Women can find the correct muscles by tying to start and stop the urine stream. Once found, you just squeeze and then relax the muscle up to 100 times per day to strengthen the muscles that control urination.

• 2

  Establish a urination schedule. Try urinating just before you go to bed, and every morning when you wake.

• 3

  Record how frequently you go to the bathroom at night, and share the information with your physician.

Alter Your Diet

• 4

  Cut out caffeinated drinks. Studies have found that caffeinated tea is especially related to problems with incontinence.

• 5

  Avoid bubbly drinks. The carbonation in soda and sparkling wines can aggravate urinary leakage by increasing urine production.

• 6

  Limit your alcohol. Alcohol, especially beer, can increase your need to urinate and cause urine leakages.

• 7

  Watch out for foods with a high citrus content. Citrus fruits and tomato based sauces can irritate the lining of your bladder and worsen incontinence.

• 8

  Order non-spicy dishes. Spicy foods are also known to irritate the lining of the bladder and cause leakages.

• 9

  Cut back on sweet foods containing sugar or honey. This can also help you lose weight, which helps treat incontinence too.

Prepare Yourself for Exercise

• 10

  Avoid drinking just prior to exercise. Don't forget to sip water during exercise to prevent dehydration though.

• 11

  Urinate before you begin your activity.

• 12

  Consider wearing a pad when working out at the gym or jogging outside to prevent embarrassment.

• 13

  Choose low impact exercises that don't require you to jump a lot. Especially if you have low arches, the impact of your feet hitting the ground can cause a great amount of pressure on your pelvis, which could lead to incontinence.

Treat Urinary Infections With Antibiotics

• 14

  Ask your doctor if your incontinence is caused by infection. Antibiotics like amoxicillin, keflex and cipro are often used to effectively treat urinary infections.

• 15

  Follow your doctor's antibiotic regimen to the letter. Do not stop taking your antibiotics even if your incontinence has stopped.

Consider Surgical Treatment

• 16

  Talk to your doctor about the benefits and risks of surgical treatment for urinary incontinence. Surgery for incontinence involves moving the bladder neck and urethra to another position in the body.

• 17

  Reserve surgical treatment for advanced incontinence that has not responded to other treatments. Incontinence surgery carries risks, such as serious infections, the possibility of less bladder control and severe trauma to nearby organs.