Top 10 Ways to Help Your Incontinence

1. Eliminate caffeine from your diet. Caffeine irritates your bladder and causes you to void frequently.
2. Drink 6 glasses of water a day. Soda, tea and other beverages can irritate your bladder. Water is a bladder friendly substance that will keep your bladder healthy. Many times people do not drink enough fluids when they have incontinence. This leads to dehydration, and concentrated urine can irritate the bladder. Flushing out your system with water will help your bladder work more efficiently. Make sure to stop drinking fluids after 6-7 pm if you experience night time incontinence.
3. Do not use the bathroom more than once every 3-4 hours during the day. If you have the urge to go, sit and cross your legs until the feeling passes. Lengthening the time between your bathroom trips will allow your bladder to hold more fluid. This will reduce your incontinence.
4. Check with your doctor if any medications or supplements that you are taking may be causing or aggravating your incontinence. Simple changes in dosage or type of medication, can improve your symptoms.
5. Maintain your ideal body weight. Studies show that being over weight significantly increases your risk for incontinence. New England Journal of Medicine Article on Weight Loss and Incontinence
6. Perform Kegel exercises on a daily basis. This type of exercise is beneficial for men and women who have incontinence. See our treatment page Kegel exercises on how to perform Kegel exercises correctly.
7. Eat a well balanced diet rich in fiber to promote regularity in your gastrointestinal system. Constipation can trigger or aggravate incontinence.
8. Avoid or limit spicy foods, or those with chocolate, tomato, or citrus ingredients. These foods can irritate your bladder and cause you to have to empty your bladder more frequently. >/li>
9. Quit smoking. Smoking can cause chronic coughing, which can lead to urine leakage from stress incontinence.
10. See your doctor. Get a complete physical to check your prostate or see your gynecologist to have an exam. This can rule out any serious conditions that may be causing your incontinence.