Urinary incontinence can be frustrating to deal with, no matter your age, activity level, or lifestyle. That’s why we’ve created our incontinence products; because we believe everyone should be able to live with dignity and comfort, no matter what.
The day-to-day issues you may encounter with incontinence can be reduced with a few lifestyle changes, all aimed at reducing the occurrences or dealing with the fallout. After many years in this industry, we thought it was high time we tackled these tips head-on. Read on for our tips for dealing with urinary incontinence on a daily basis.
Tip One: Create a Bathroom Routine
This works particularly well if you struggle with overflow or stress incontinence, as urge incontinence doesn’t respond as well to routine.
People dealing with urinary incontinence tend to go to the bathroom very often to make sure they’re not caught unawares, but that can train your bladder to require release far more often than is necessary. The purpose of a bathroom routine is to regulate when you empty your bladder, decreasing the number of times you head to the toilet over time.
To get started, begin by recording the times you go to the bathroom for a week. Keep a small notebook and write down the times you hit the bathroom for that week, as this will help you identify a pattern. Here are the things to record each time you go to the bathroom:
- When you urinated.
- Whether you could completely empty your bladder.
- How long since the previous trip to the bathroom.
- Anything else you think is relevant, such as what you ate or drank that day.
Once you’ve identified the pattern, start delaying your visits to the bathroom bit by bit. Hold it for 5 more minutes, then 15 minutes, then half an hour, until you can extend the time between visits to three or four hours.
To help you during this process, we recommend investing in some adult pads or chair protectors so you have enough security to push yourself.
Tip Two: Do Pelvic Floor Exercises to Strengthen Pelvic Muscles
Your pelvic muscles control the flow of urine when you go to the bathroom and their strength dictates how long you can hold it before you go to the bathroom. Having a strong pelvic floor helps a lot with combatting urinary incontinence, just like having strong biceps helps with lifting heavy things; the stronger, the better!
So, how do you work out your pelvic muscles? There are two kinds of muscle contraction in your pelvic floor: slow and fast contractions. To get the best results, you should do both.
Here are some exercises to do throughout the day to strengthen your pelvic floor:
Slow Contraction: Draw up the muscles around your anus and urethra as if you’re trying to stop gas or urine flow. Hold that for as long as you can (your ultimate goal should be ten seconds). Once done, slowly relax and let go for ten seconds. Repeat throughout the day.
Fast Contraction: Draw the same muscles up, hold for one second, and relax. Repeat these contractions up to ten times or until your muscles get tired, then repeat this exercise throughout the day.
Tip Three: Reduce Your Alcohol and Caffeine Intake
Drinks like coffee and wine are called diuretics, which means they cause your body to produce a lot of water. For people with incontinence, this is problematic! Drinking too many of these beverages will increase the number of times you have to go to the bathroom, thus contradicting your efforts to retrain your bladder.
One cup of coffee per day is fine, just make sure you flush your system with plenty of water to combat the caffeine’s diuretic properties. You can also eat fruits and vegetables with high water concentration to stay hydrated.
Improve your daily life with our range of incontinence products.
Incontinence can consistently impact your day, but if you have the right products to keep you comfortable, living with it becomes much easier. That’s why we’ve created our range of high-quality, comfortable, and discreet products. Shop the Independently You range for everything from washable bed pads to waterproof doona protectors!
If you have any questions or suggestions, don’t hesitate to reach out to our team today!
IndependentlyYou.com.au is a registered NDIS provider.
We are proud to announce, as a registered NDIS Continence Aids Provider, that our incontinence products can accessed through the Consumables budget in your NDIS plan.
You can place an order (GST Free) on our website, IndependentlyYou.com.au; via telephone (1800 809 847) or via email to info@independentlyyou.com.
Our range of incontinence products include absorbent underwear, waterproof; bedding, lift chair and regular chair protection, bibs and bandanas.
For more information on the NDIS and whether you or your loved one may be eligible for support please visit the Federal Government’s NDIS Website
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Web: https://IndependentlyYou.com.au
NDIS Provider Number: 4050015980 (Brolly Sheets Ltd)
Email: info@brollysheets.com
Australia: 1800 809 847