Bladder Training – Timed Voiding - Start Your Nursing Career

Bladder Training –

Timed Voiding

Following a schedule is a way to train the

bladder to decrease urges to urinate and

incontinence. This method is call timed

voiding. Your health care professional will

give you a starting point based on how often

you are now urinating.

Getting Started



Urinate in the toilet every ________

hours, whether or not you need to go.



Do not wake yourself up to maintain your schedule – bladder re-

training stops when you are sleeping.



If you feel a strong urge to urinate before the prescribed time, try these

techniques to suppress the urge:

-

Stop moving and sit down. Pressure from sitting will help quiet

the bladder.

-

Relax and take deep breathes. Rushing to the bathroom can

increase the urge to urinate.

-

Distract yourself – count backward from 100, or recite or sing

something to yourself.

-

Do gentle, quick pelvic floor muscle contractions (Kegel

exercises).



When the urge goes away:

□ Slowly walk to the bathroom.

□ Wait _____ minutes and then slowly walk to the bathroom.

□ Try to wait until your prescribed voiding time.



There may be times during the day when you must urinate before your

prescribed time due to your work day or other appointments. Try to

limit this and return to your timed voiding schedule as soon as you can.

1

As You Progress

□ When you are able to easily void on the prescribed schedule

without incontinence, you may increase the voiding interval by

15 to 30 minutes.

□ Your physical therapist will check and may advance your

treatment schedule each time you come to therapy.

Increases in the time between voiding schedule will continue until you have

reached a normal voiding interval of 2½ to 5 hours without incontinence.

Also doing pelvic floor strengthening exercises will greatly help your bladder

training.

Please call your therapist if you have any questions.

Dev. 5/13 \\Mcehemcshare\netit patient education$\Mount Carmel Handouts\Rehab and Exercise\Pelvic Floor Therapy and

Incontinence\Bladder Training - Timed Voiding.doc

©Mount Carmel 2013

2