Imagine: You have developed a bladder-leakage problem. First, experts say, make an appointment to see the doctor. But between now and the time you see the physician, try a few behavioral changes on your own.

Although these changes may not solve the problem, some women can find relief by making adjustments to their diet, routine, or lifestyle, says Leslie Wooldridge, a geriatric nurse practitioner at the Lake Women’s Center in Muskegon, Mich.

If you leak when you sneeze, cough, or laugh, for example, you may have stress incontinence, and this generally means your pelvic floor muscles are weak. Kegel exercises, done correctly and regularly, can help strengthen those muscles, Wooldridge says. 

Learn to do quick squeezes for one second and squeeze and hold for 10 seconds, she explains.

Avoiding coffee, other irritants

Urge incontinence is characterized by a sudden loss of urine for no apparent reason while feeling a strong need to urinate, according to the federal government’s National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse. 

If you suffer from this type of incontinence, you may see improvement by changing your diet, such as avoiding caffeine and other irritating foods and drinks. You may want to cut back on the artificial sweetener saccharine, milk, alcohol, spicy foods, citrus drinks, or the amount of water you drink. 
 
“I see a huge increase in the number of patients suffering from bladder leakage in January because the weight-loss programs are all telling people to drink water to lose weight,”  Wooldridge says.

She recommends a minimum of six cups per day and a maximum of eight cups a day, plus one cup per half-hour of strenuous exercise. Wooldridge estimates that about 25 percent of her patients find relief by simply reducing the amount of water and caffeine.

'Clear correlation'
 
Although drinking large amounts of water can increase bladder-leakage problems, losing weight can help.

“There’s a clear correlation between extra weight and incontinence,” Wooldridge says. “The added weight puts pressure on the bladder, and the higher the pressure on the bladder, the higher the pressure in the urethra to prevent leakage.”
 
Researchers have confirmed this correlation. A study last year in Diabetes Care, for instance, found that losing a modest amount of weight through dieting and increased physical activity reduces urinary incontinence in women with prediabetes, a condition in which blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not yet diabetic.

Constipation also can cause bladder leakage when a stool in the colon presses against the bladder. Many people find relief from constipation by eating foods rich in dietary fiber, such as apples, flaxseed, or beans, Wooldridge says.

And quitting smoking is a good idea for many reasons, including the fact that nicotine can irritate the bladder. In addition, nonsmokers typically cough less, and coughing a lot can weaken the pelvic floor muscles over time, she notes.

Last but not least, Wooldridge advises her patients, especially those folks 60 and older, to get over their embarrassment about bladder leakage and educate themselves.

“Talk about it with your daughter,” she says. “Chances are she knows a lot about this topic.”