Certain drinks and foods can worsen some bladder issues. Drinks or foods that contain caffeine, are very acidic or contain artificial sweeteners such as aspartame or saccharine can irritate the bladder. Fizzy or carbonated drinks and alcohol can also do this.
It can feel like cutting down on your fluid intake should help your bladder symptoms but this can make things worse by making your urine too concentrated and make your symptoms worse. You should aim to drink between 1.5-2L of fluid per day (6-10 mugs).
NHS Tayside have patient information leaflets on Caffeine Reduction and Foods and Drinks that Can Irritate the Bladder.
How to improve your symptoms of Stress Urinary Incontinence
Please see below for advice on how to improve your symptoms and some additional links and resources we have picked out that may be useful
Drinking for a healthier bladder
Pelvic Floor Exercises (Kegels)
The pelvic floor muscles are a group of muscles that sit at the base of your pelvis and help to keep your bladder, uterus (womb), vaginal and bowel in the right place. These muscles are like any muscles in the body and should be kept strong and active. For men please look at the Male Bladder Problems section of the website for more information on your pelvic floor muscles.
Strong and healthy pelvic floor muscles have been shown to improve bladder and bowel problems, vaginal prolapse and improve sexual function. NHS Inform have a section on Women's pelvic floor muscles which you might find useful.
Strong and healthy pelvic floor muscles have been shown to improve bladder and bowel problems, vaginal prolapse and improve sexual function. NHS Inform have a section on Women's pelvic floor muscles which you might find useful.
It might be helpful to look at a 3D video of these muscles inside your pelvis.
The NHS Tayside patient information leaflet on Pelvic Floor Exercises for Women has useful information on how to do these exercises and other hints and tips.
Pelvic floor exercises need done regularly - usually this means 3 times per day. It can be challenging to remember to do pelvic floor exercises regularly so you might find using an App on your phone helpful Squeezy NHS is a really good option and only costs a few pounds.
The NHS Tayside patient information leaflet on Pelvic Floor Exercises for Women has useful information on how to do these exercises and other hints and tips.
Pelvic floor exercises need done regularly - usually this means 3 times per day. It can be challenging to remember to do pelvic floor exercises regularly so you might find using an App on your phone helpful Squeezy NHS is a really good option and only costs a few pounds.
Weight Management
Being overweight can make stress urinary incontinence worse and there is good evidence that losing weight will improve your symptoms. Please have a look at NHS Inform weight management programme, check out our Lifestyle & Activity section and watch this video below.
Other Resources
We have linked some other information that you might find helpful below
- POGP Pelvic Floor Exercise for Women Leaflet
- Fit for the Future: Exercises and advice after childbirth
- Video of Bladder and vaginal problems during and after pregnancy
- Video of Pelvic floor exercises during and after pregnancy
- Pelvic floor muscle exercises and advice - A guide for trans men - trans masculine and non-binary people (who were assigned female at birth)
- Pelvic floor muscle exercises and advice - A guide for trans women - trans feminine and non-binary people (who were assigned male at birth)
- CONfidence App
- NHS Tayside Genital Skin Advice Leaflet
- Vaginal Vulval and Bladder problems in the menopause