The purpose of retraining your bladder is to improve your bladder control and increase the amount of urine your bladder can hold without urgency or leakage of urine.

Keeping an accurate and thorough diary of your bladder weakness will allow your doctor to gain insight into the severity of your condition and enable them to develop a bladder training program specifically for you.

Try to keep your diary for at least a week before you see your doctor, then take it with you to your appointment. Your bladder diary should include a table with the following 7 rows : Time Urinated, Toilet, Leakage, Product or Clothing, Activity, Flui Intake/Output.

Based on the results of your bladder diary, your doctor or continence advisor have detailed insight into the severity of your bladder weakness and be in a better position to develop a bladder training program that’s right for you.

Instructions for Bladder Diary

  • Make at least seven copies of the blank bladder diary form so that you can keep the diary for a week.
  • Record the date and time of day when you urinated in the toilet or have light bladder leakage (LBL).
  • Note your health and general wellbeing, if applicable – Cold, hayfever, PMT etc
  • Record (yes/no) that you urinated in the toilet in the “Toilet” column.
  • Indicate the degree of leakage (none/damp/wet) in the “Leakage” column.
  • Indicate if you changed your absorbent product or had to change your clothing.
  • Note the activity you were undertaking at the time of any leakage – Driving, exercising, coughing, working, relaxing etc
  • Measuring the amount you drank or urinated may help the doctor or nurse assess your condition. If possible, record these measurements in the “Fluid Intake” and “Fluid Output” columns.

 

(Note: Instead of measuring, you can count the time it takes to urinate. Ten seconds of constant urine flow is approximately 300 ml. Make sure to count evenly i.e. one 1000, two 1000, three 1000, etc.)

This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek advice from a qualified health care professional with any questions regarding your concerns.