How Do I Exercise Pelvic Muscles
You can exercise almost anywhere and anytimeâwhile driving in a car, at your desk orwatching TV. To exercise these muscles, just pullin or âsqueezeâ your pelvic muscles . Hold this squeeze forabout 10 seconds, then rest for 10 seconds. Do3 to 4 sets of 10 contractions per day.
Be patient and continue to exercise. It takestime to strengthen the pelvic muscles, just like ittakes time to improve the muscles in your arms,legs or abdomen. You may not notice anychange in bladder control until after six to 12weeks of daily exercises. Still, most womennotice an improvement after just a few weeks.
Follow A Fluid Schedule
Try to keep your fluid intake on a schedule to help retrain your bladder when to fill and when to empty. Also, limit fluid intake after 6 p.m. to reduce night-time voiding and incontinence. Target total fluid intake to 4060 ounces per day. Consuming too little fluid during the day can concentrate the urine and irritate the lining of the bladder, whereas too much fluid can increase frequency, leakage and night-time trips.
Strengthening Weak Bladder With Lifestyle Changes Exercises Herbal Remedies Medications And Medical Treatments
There is a long list that tells how to strengthen weak bladder. You need to follow the one that works best for you. You need to choose your treatment options depending on the kind of incontinence you suffer from. But, before getting any treatment you need to know that this condition can be managed in an easy manner and there is nothing to worry about it.
Let us know how to strengthen weak bladder in the following section.
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Urgency Or Difficulty Urinating
A bladder disorder can make it difficult to fully empty your bladder. This can cause frequent urination, feeling like you always have to urinate, or both.
When the bladder wall thickens, the bladder may not be able to hold as much urine as it normally does. This can create those urgent feelings of having to urinate more frequently. BOO can also make it harder to urinate.
What You Can Do: Drink Plenty Of Liquids

It helps clear out harmful things like bacteria and may help prevent bladder cancer by flushing out certain chemicals. And if you don’t drink enough, your urine will have less water in it, and that can irritate your bladder. But not all liquids are the same — caffeine and alcohol can irritate your bladder. Water is always your best bet. Talk to your doctor about how much you should drink each day.
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Dietary Changes And Fluid Management
One of the most straightforward methods in the treatment of OAB involves making dietary changes. This involves cutting out several known food irritants from the diet and limiting fluid intake.
Foods to avoid
Foods and drinks, which are known to cause or worsen the symptoms of OAB include:
- alcohol
- tomatoes
- vinegar
As triggers from food vary from person to person, it can be helpful for people to keep a diary detailing food intake and bladder symptoms. A diary can help people work out which foods are causing the greatest problems.
Manage fluid intake
Drinking enough water is essential for health. Too little water can lead to concentrated urine, which can irritate the bladder lining, increasing urgency. Too many liquids may worsen frequency symptoms. Fluid intake before bed can contribute to urinating during the night.
A , published in Research and Reports in Urology, recommends limiting fluid intake to 6 to 8 glasses of water daily, and avoiding liquids for 2 to 3 hours before bedtime.
How To Do Pelvic Floor Exercises
Each time you do a series of slow pull-ups, you might try to hold each pull-up for a little longer. And each time you do a series of fast pull-ups try to do more.
REPEAT
However, especially when you first start to perform these exercises correctly, you will need to be able to concentrate fully on doing them so ideally try to set aside a quiet time to do them, they dont take long!
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Bladder Has Two Distinct Roles
Stages Of Bladder Prolapse
The severity of bladder prolapse can be measured in several ways. Terms such as mild, moderate and severe are not always completely accurate, as they depend on a persons opinion, but are often used in day-to-day conversations to help people understand the severity of the prolapse.A more commonly used grading is:
- Stage 1 the bladder protrudes a little way into the vagina
- Stage 2 the bladder protrudes so far into the vagina that its close to the vaginal opening
- Stage 3 the bladder protrudes out of the vagina
- Stage 4 most severe form, in which all pelvic organs including the bladder protrude out of the vagina.
Many gynaecologists now use the Pelvic Organ Prolapse Quantification system, which measures in centimetres where the prolapse is in relation to the vaginal entrance to ascertain the stage of prolapse.
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What To Expect From Your Doctor
In terms of an assessment, your nurse or doctor will ask you about your general health and in particular, about your OAB problem. You may be examined orally and internally, and you might be asked to give a urine sample to see if you have any obvious problems.
As part of your treatment programme, you may be asked to keep a bladder diary for roughly 3 days, which typically involves making a record of the time of each time you pass urine and how much urine was passed.
You may also be asked to take a flow test, and in some cases a post-flow ultrasound test. This involves using a special machine which checks whether you completely empty your bladder and also measures how strong your flow is.
Here is a short list of possible questions your doctor may ask and the tests they may ask you to complete:
- An overview of your medical history.
- A physical examination, which could include a rectal exam and a pelvic exam in women.
Bladder Training Tips To Reduce Bathroom Trips
Its important to go the bathroom when you need to. Holding it can actually stretch your bladder, making it difficult to empty it completely. But theres such a thing as going too often. An overactive bladder contracts abnormally, triggering the urge to urinate too often. This can lead to urge incontinence, which occurs when you suddenly feel a strong urge to urinate but dont make it to the bathroom in time.The good news is that bladder training can help. Heres how.
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Take Home The Advice:
So, above we talked about some of the ways to strengthen weak bladder. If you are suffering from a similar condition, you can try experimenting on any of the above mentioned treatment ways and look what suits best for you. However, it is always a strict advice to consult your doctor before adopting any treatment for your condition.
Let your doctor examine your condition and treat it expertly.
Herbal Treatments To Strengthen Weak Bladder:

There are also some herbal treatments to strengthen weak bladder. However, you need to check with your healthcare provider before taking any kind of herbal supplements, as they can interact with medicines you might be taking and can also cause unintended side effects.
Chinese Herbal Blends:
GJG or Gosha-jinki-gan is a blend or combination of 10 different traditional Chinese herbs. There are a lot of studies which have been done on this blend of Chinese herbs, and researchers have found that this Chinese herbal blend or the GJG inhibits the bladder and also improves daytime frequency quite significantly. Individuals, who have taken 7.5 mgs of GJG per day, also reported better results on their IPSS or Prostate Symptoms Score, which records the urinary symptoms.
HE or Hachimi-jio-gan is one more Chinese herbal medication which is used to strengthen weak bladder. It is made of 8 natural ingredients, some of which are also found in GJG. There are evidences that HE might have a positive effect on the contraction of the bladder muscle.
Gonoderma Lucidum:
Gonoderma lucidum is also known as Lingzhi mushroom which is an extract from the East Asia and is used to treat a lot of problems like hypertension, hepatitis, and cancers.In a random study, 50 men were found to have better scores for IPSS using this extract. This study recommends 6 mgs of the extract in men who have symptoms of low urinary tract.
Corn Silk:
Capsaicin:
NOTE:
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How Can Nerve Stimulation Help Overactive Bladder
There are several treatments that involve stimulating your nerves to help improve overactive bladder. Your nerves help communicate the message that your bladder needs to be emptied to your brain. By treating the nerves, your healthcare provider can improve your bladder control. Nerve stimulation is a reversible treatment that is considered when conservative treatments have not worked or have not been tolerated. Conservative treatments include behavioral therapies and medications.
There are several types of nerve stimulation treatments. These can include:
Avoid Eating Spicy Foods
If youre diagnosed with an issue with Overactive Bladder, ensure that you avoid spicy foods. There are a myriad of ingredients in food such as chilli peppers, spicy chilli as well as others. They can make food taste spicy. These foods can cause irritation and further damage to the bladders lining. If you can reduce your intake of these food items it will increase the condition in your urinary bladder.
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Can This Injury Or Condition Be Prevented
Once individuals are performing pelvic-floor muscle contractions daily and correctly, they can begin to incorporate the exercises into their activities of daily living. Developing healthy bladder habits, such as regular and timed bathroom visits, and avoiding potential bladder irritants such as caffeine, can be helpful lifestyle changes for people with urinary incontinence.
Your physical therapist can provide information about:
- Diet and nutrition, to help you avoid food and drinks that may irritate the bladder.
- Changing the behaviors that make your symptoms worse.
- Techniques to decrease urinary urge and frequency, such as muscle strengthening or stretching.
- Maintaining a healthy bathroom schedule.
- Maintaining bowel regularity.
Common Bladder Problems And When To Seek Help
Bladder problems can disrupt day-to-day life. When people have bladder problems, they may avoid social settings and have a harder time getting tasks done at home or at work. Common bladder problems include urinary tract infections, urinary incontinence, and urinary retention.
Some signs of a bladder problem may include:
- Inability to hold urine or leaking urine
- Needing to urinate more frequently or urgently
- Cloudy urine
- Pain or burning before, during, or after urinating
- Trouble starting or having a weak stream while urinating
- Trouble emptying the bladder
If you experience any of these symptoms, talk to your health care provider.
Treatment for bladder problems may include behavioral and lifestyle changes, exercises, medications, surgery, or a combination of these treatments and others. For more information on treatment and management of urinary incontinence, visit Urinary Incontinence in Older Adults.
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Pelvic Floor Exercise Daily Workout
This Physical Therapist guided workout helps you:
- Strengthen your pelvic floor muscles
- Improve bladder control
- Improve bowel control and emptying
- Reduce prolapse symptoms
- Recover after pelvic floor surgery
- Prepare and recover from gynaecological surgery
- Maintain pelvic floor strength during pregnancy
- Recover after pregnancy and childbirth
Natural Remedies To Heal Your Troubled Bladder
The bladder. We may complain about our creaky joints, moan about our aching muscles, and harp on our unending heartburn, but the bladder is one troublesome system most people pay precious little lip service to.
However, bladder problems from incontinence to infection to pain afflict millions of more people than many realize in the United States, more than 13 million Americans regularly experience issues with bladder control, let alone the dozens of other bladder maladies that exist.
Fortunately, though most people are remiss to discuss their urinary troubles, there are a handful of discreet natural treatments that resolve most bladder distress.
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What Is A Typical Program
Often, programs begin with a four-week period of holding your urine for a set amount of time that is somewhat longer than your average voiding interval. For example, if you tend to void every 30 minutes, at your 30-minute mark, wait to void for 15 more minutes. Although the goal is to try to wait for the specified amount of time, even if you have the urge to void, go ahead and void if you have pain or discomfort before the time is up. On the other hand, if you feel the urge to urinate diminish after you wait, then try to keep waiting to stay on schedule.
Usually, after one month of training, you will increase your wait time, and after another month, you will increase it again. Although you will be trying to meet your voiding interval most of the time, it is okay if intervals are occasionally longer or shorter. Also, you dont need to practice this technique throughout the night. The progress that you make during the day will help you to achieve a better voiding pattern around the clock.
Do The Right Exercises

High-impact exercise and sit-ups put pressure on your pelvic floor muscles and can increase leaks.
To strengthen your pelvic floor to relieve symptoms, replace high-impact exercise, such as jogging and aerobics, with strengthening exercise, such as pilates.
Pilates strengthens your core muscles, which is beneficial for stress incontinence.
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What Are Kegel Exercises
Kegel exercises, also called pelvic floor muscle training, are simple exercises you can do to treat bladder problems and improve bowel control. The exercises strengthen the pelvic floor muscles that support the bladder, rectum, and uterus. These muscleswhich stretch like a hammock from the front to the back of your pelviscan help you avoid releasing urine, stool, or gas at the wrong times.
What Are The Treatment Options
Treating a thickened bladder wall means treating the underlying condition that caused the change in the wall.
For example, UTI treatment usually involves a course of antibiotic therapy. To prevent UTIs, practice good hygiene. Wipe front to back to reduce the risk of germs from the rectum reaching the urethra.
Surgery can remove noncancerous tumors that are causing you symptoms. The tumors usually wont recur.
Cancerous growths can sometimes be removed with surgery, too. Additional cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy or radiation, may also be necessary.
Prostate treatment is a somewhat controversial subject. Prostate surgery can sometimes lead to incontinence or erectile dysfunction. If prostate symptoms are minor, your doctor may recommend a watch-and-wait approach to monitor your prostate regularly. Prostate cancer is often a slow-growing cancer. This means aggressive treatment isnt always best.
If excess bladder emptying due to urge incontinence is a problem, your doctor may recommend anticholinergic drugs. These medications relax the detrusor muscle of the bladder.
If urinary retention is occurring due to BOO, your doctor may prescribe medication, such as tamsulosin, to help your urine flow be stronger.
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How To Strengthen Your Bladder And Urinate Less Often
This article was medically reviewed by Allison Romero, PT, DPT. Dr. Allison Romero is a Pelvic Health Specialist, Physical Therapist, and the Owner of Reclaim Pelvic Therapy in the San Francisco Bay Area. With over a decade of experience, Allison specializes in comprehensive pelvic physical therapy treatments for pelvic floor dysfunction. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology and Exercise Science from Sonoma State University and a Doctor of Physical Therapy from the University of Southern California. Allison is a board certified Physical Therapist in California and is a member of the American Physical Therapy Association-Section on Womens Health and the International Pelvic Pain Society.There are 19 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page.wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. In this case, 100% of readers who voted found the article helpful, earning it our reader-approved status. This article has been viewed 973,628 times.