Alternative medicine (2)
- Hypnosis: Another way to manage pain, kick bad habits
- Acupuncture: Can it help?
Lifestyle and home remedies (2)
- Dietary fiber: Essential for a healthy diet
- Bladder control problems in women: Lifestyle strategies for relief
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- Aging: What to expect as you get older
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Treatments and drugs (4)
- Bladder control problems in women: How to seek treatment
- Bladder control problems: Medications for treating urinary incontinence
- Urinary incontinence: Incontinence products to help keep you dry
- see all in Treatments and drugs
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Bladder control problems in women: How to seek treatment
The bladder diary: A detailed symptom record
Whether you see a primary care provider or a specialist, keep a bladder diary for several consecutive days before your visit. This diary is a detailed, day-to-day account of your symptoms and other information related to your urinary habits. It can help you and your doctor determine the causes of bladder control problems.
Record what and how much you drink, when you urinate, the amount of urine you produce, whether you had an urge to urinate and the number of times you leaked urine. If you leak urine, note the approximate amount and what you were doing when it happened. Don't worry about getting exact measurements of urine output. Just describe the quantity in general terms, such as small, medium or large. If a more precise measurement is needed, your doctor may give you a pan that fits over your toilet rim. The pan has markings like a measuring cup.
The diary should cover a period in which you stick to your normal routine — not a vacation. If you're premenopausal, don't start the diary during your menstrual period. Increased trips to the bathroom during this time may distort the findings.
Sample Bladder Diary (PDF file requiring Adobe Reader )
Medical history review
Your visit will be more productive if you can provide a detailed medical history. If necessary, make a list of:
- Previous surgeries, births, illnesses, injuries and medical procedures, along with approximate dates
- Current health problems — such as diabetes or arthritis — for which you're seeing a doctor or taking medication
- The approximate date or your age when you stopped having menstrual periods, if you've been through menopause
- Past and current problems with your urinary system
- Medications you're currently taking, including each drug's brand and generic name, dosage, when you take it and what you take it for
Medications are among the most common causes of bladder control problems, so list everything — prescriptions, over-the-counter drugs, vitamins, minerals and other supplements. If you're not sure whether something counts as a medication, err on the side of caution and put it on the list anyway.
Finally, if you want a report of your consultation with your new doctor sent to other health care providers, be sure to take their addresses to your appointment.
What to expect from treatment
Treatments for bladder control problems vary from learning special exercises to taking medications to having surgery. What's best for you depends on the type of bladder control problem you have. Nearly all women with bladder control problems can be helped through some form of treatment.
Your bladder function could be greatly improved — even completely restored — after treatment. Any improvement, however, counts as a success, as long as it frees you to do what you like and enhances your quality of life.
Previous page(2 of 2)
- Godfrey JR. Toward optimal health: Linda Brubaker, M.D., discusses urinary incontinence. Journal of Women's Health. 2005;14(5):387-390.
- Talking to your health care team about bladder control. National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse. http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/pdf/talk_ez.pdf. Accessed Sept. 16, 2008.
- Norton PA. Female urinary incontinence: Epidemiology and evaluation. In: Gibbs RS, et al. Danforth's Obstetrics and Gynecology. 10th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2008:870-876.
- DuBeau CE. Patient information: Urinary incontinence. http://www.uptodate.com/patients/content/topic.do?topicKey=~/0j/LeBKevVnHo. Accessed Sept. 9, 2008.
