 Q. What can help my incontinence?
A. Your treatment will depend on the type of incontinence
you have. It may include the following:
- Lifestyle changes, such as limiting alcohol and caffeine,
can make a big difference. Both alcohol and caffeine cause you
to urinate more often. Some women with urge incontinence also
find relief from nighttime wakeups by limiting the amount of
liquids they drink after dinner.
- Kegel exercises, or pelvic muscle exercises, can help women
with stress incontinence strengthen their bladder muscles. See
"How to Perform Kegel Exercises" for a description
of how to perform these exercises.
- Bladder retraining helps women to urinate on a schedule,
such as every hour or so for a few days. Then, they gradually
increase the time between bathroom trips, until they can go about
three hours without urinating. Women also learn to focus on other
things when they feel the need to urinate.
- Medicines to calm bladder muscles can help with urge incontinence.
Other drugs that help strengthen pelvic muscles may be prescribed
for stress incontinence.
- Special devices, such as seals, can help prevent leakage.
- Pelvic floor stimulation uses electricity or magnets to stimulate
the nerves that control the bladder.
- Surgery can help solve anatomy problems that contribute to
incontinence.
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