Behavioral therapy

Toilet training - adjusting the rhythm of urination to individual bladder capacity.

In other words, the purpose of this measure is to pre-empt the reaching of the critical bladder volume by prompt, even prophylactic, urination. A prerequisite for the practical implementation of any toilet training is the keeping of an accurate micturition diary. It is on the basis of this that the timing of prophylactic visits to the toilet is determined. The main task of the nursing staff as far as toilet training is concerned is to remind the person affected to visit the toilet regularly for as long as necessary for the new rhythm to be learnt thoroughly and for the person to be visiting the toilet spontaneously at the predetermined times - even if he or she does not yet feel the urge micturition. To do this, the person affected must of course be capable of understanding instructions and invitations to urinate.

Micturition training - active prolongation of short micturition intervals

The urge micturition is the bladder's way of announcing that urination is necessary, but not that this needs to happen immediately. Under normal circumstances, there is sufficient time to find a toilet. In the presence of urge incontinence, the urge micturition usually arises suddenly and very forcefully, preventing the person affected from reaching a toilet in time. This is where micturition training comes in. The patient has to be encouraged to suppress the sudden urge micturition by intense concentration and to make it subside. If the bladder is then relaxed, the person affected has sufficient time to find a toilet and empty the bladder.