Leaking urine or struggling to control your bladder may occur if you’re older, pregnant, or going through menopause. People who have a sudden need to urinate and who experience urine leaking may be diagnosed with overactive bladder. Those who are unable to control their urine after the urge may have urinary urge incontinence. For these two conditions, bladder retraining is the recommended treatment. Bladder training is a behavioral therapy that improves bladder control and reduces urinary incontinence, and it’s especially helpful for overactive bladder and urge incontinence. Best of all? It’s effective no matter what stage of life you’re in, and, combined with lifestyle changes, can directly improve your quality of life and reduce symptoms.
What is bladder retraining?
Bladder retraining is a structured approach to gradually increase the time between bathroom visits by “teaching” the bladder to hold urine longer, reducing urgency. It involves several parts:
- Keeping a bladder diary: This helps to determine how often you urinate
- Timed voiding: This is a schedule for how often you should go to the bathroom
- Urge suppression techniques: These include deep breathing or finding distractions to stick to the schedule
- Education: Learning more about which fluids are best and worst to consume for OAB and urge incontinence
Lifestyle changes to support bladder health
Lifestyle changes can be just as powerful as bladder retraining in supporting your bladder health. For example, it may be helpful to cut out or reduce your consumption of bladder irritants, which include certain foods and drinks like coffee, tea, alcohol, carbonated drinks, and spicy foods.
Managing constipation, which can damage the pelvic floor, and maintaining a healthy weight are some ways you can strengthen your bladder. You can also practice pelvic floor exercises like Kegels. Keep in mind that, while it’s important to stay hydrated, drinking too much fluid can make bladder issues worse.
Evidence-based benefits
Behavioral therapies such as bladder retaining are the first line of defense in treating overactive bladder. They’re typically recommended before trying other treatments like medication or surgery. Urologists, urogynecologists, nurses and other healthcare providers may provide instruction in bladder retraining. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and The Menopause Society both recommend bladder retraining as part of conservative management, and studies show that it improves urgency and frequency symptoms. Still, bladder retraining requires some practice. If you hit some roadblocks or don’t succeed at first, don’t feel discouraged! Sticking with it is the best way to see results. If you don’t notice an improvement, talk to your healthcare provider about alternative approaches.
Reviewed by the Ovia Health Clinical Team
Sources
- “Bladder Control: Lifestyle Strategies Ease Problems.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 10 May 2025, www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/urinary-incontinence/in-depth/bladder-control-problem/art-20046597.
- “ACOG Practice Bulletin No. 155: Urinary Incontinence in Women.” Obstetrics and Gynecology, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2015, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26488524/.
