Incontinence is occasional or consistent urinary leakage. It can be embarrassing for some people to the extent that they want to reverse incontinence. It’s always a good idea for your senior to talk about plans like these with her doctor, particularly if her incontinence may have a medical cause. Behavioral treatment methods can still be beneficial, especially if your senior isn’t going overboard with them. These steps can help your elderly family member to retrain her bladder to function more effectively again.
Keep a Bladder Diary
A bladder diary sounds complicated, but it’s really very simple. Your senior keeps track of when she urinates and other details that might be important. If she experiences any pain or leakage, she might want to include that in the details of her bladder diary. Gradually as she adds data to the diary, your senior is going to notice patterns. These can be helpful for her and for her doctor.
Schedule Bathroom Trips
Scheduling bathroom trips can be helpful in reducing or eliminating leaks. This can be helpful if your aging family member has trouble with her mobility, because she’s less likely to try to “make it” to the bathroom on time when an urge strikes. Eventually she may even adjust the schedule so that there’s longer in between bathroom visits.
Practice Delaying Urination
Delaying urination is a practice that your senior might start to try after she has some baseline information. When an urge to go to the bathroom strikes, she might delay going for five or ten minutes to “retrain” her bladder to last a little bit longer. If this is effective, your senior might opt to start increasing the duration by which she delays urination.
Pay Attention to Diet and Fluid Intake
Tracking what she eats and drinks can help your senior to see what might be triggering overactive bladder or incontinence issues. Many older adults find that things like caffeine or carbonated beverages are overstimulating for her bladder. Reducing or eliminating these foods and beverages, along with some of the other techniques, can help her to gain better control over her incontinence issues.
If your elderly family member needs extra help managing the record-keeping end of things while she’s tracking so much data, it might be a good idea to bring in a caregiver to help. Caregivers can also help with mobility concerns, assist with changing clothes, and so many other tasks as well.
If you or an aging loved one is considering hiring caregivers in Paradise Valley, AZ, please call the caring staff at Golden Heart Senior Care of Scottsdale at (480) 284-7360. We are here to help!