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Have you ever sat through a meeting wondering if your bladder was going to make the decision about when it ended? If bladder leaks, urgency, or frequent bathroom trips are interfering with your workday, you’re far from alone, and today’s episode will show you that you have more options than you may realize.

Welcome to Life Without Leaks, a podcast by the National Association for Continence. NAFC is America’s leading advocate for people with bladder and bowel conditions, with resources, connections to doctors, and a welcoming community of patients, physicians, and caregivers. All available at nafc.org. 

Dealing with an overactive bladder or urinary incontinence is never fun, but managing bladder leaks, sudden urgency, and frequent bathroom trips at work can be especially frustrating. Whether you’re worried about making it to the restroom during a meeting, managing incontinence products discreetly, or dealing with urgency during a Zoom call, a little planning can make the workday much easier.

The good news is urinary incontinence is treatable, and there are practical steps you can take to manage bladder symptoms at work while you explore treatment options with a healthcare provider.

 First, try bladder training or scheduled bathroom breaks. Waiting until your bladder feels extremely full or until urgency becomes overwhelming can make it harder to reach the restroom in time. One strategy that may help is bladder training, which uses a planned bathroom schedule to gradually improve bladder control.

Rather than automatically going just in case every time you pass a restroom, bladder training typically involves tracking your current bathroom habits and working toward an appropriate schedule based on your symptoms. A healthcare provider or a pelvic floor physical therapist can help you determine a plan that makes sense for you.

At work, it may also help to plan restroom breaks around long meetings, presentations, commutes, or other times where getting to a bathroom may be difficult.

Our next tip is to avoid the coffee pot and the water cooler. Coffee may get you through the workday, but caffeine can make urgency and frequency worse for many people. Coffee, tea, energy drinks, alcohol, carbonated beverages, and certain acidic foods and drinks may also trigger bladder symptoms in some individuals.

That doesn’t mean everyone with incontinence needs to eliminate the same foods and drinks. Pay attention to your own symptoms and consider using a bladder diary to identify possible triggers. Also, don’t make the mistake of dramatically cutting back on water to avoid bathroom trips. Not drinking enough can actually make urine more concentrated, which may irritate your bladder.

Instead, aim for consistent hydration throughout the day, and consider adjusting the timing of fluids before a long meeting or a commute.

Our next tip, opt for whole grains during your lunch break. Your bladder and bowels are closely connected. Constipation can increase pressure in the pelvis and may make bladder urgency, frequency, or leakage more difficult to manage. Eating enough fiber, staying hydrated, and remaining physically active can help support regular bowel movements.

Whole grains, fruits, vegetables, beans, and other fiber-rich foods can all be part of a bowel-friendly diet. If constipation is a regular problem, mention it to your healthcare provider, especially if you’re also experiencing bladder symptoms.

Next, try to identify your personal bladder triggers. Bladder triggers aren’t the same for everyone. Caffeine, alcohol, carbonated beverages, spicy or acidic foods, and artificial sweeteners may worsen symptoms for some people, while others may notice no difference at all. Rather than eliminating a long list of foods all at once, try tracking what you eat and drink alongside your bladder symptoms. A bladder diary can make it easier to identify patterns and discuss them with your healthcare provider.

 You’ll also want to prepare for leaks just in case. A little preparation can make bladder leaks at work much less stressful. Consider keeping a small emergency kit in your desk, bag, or car with a change of underwear or clothing, cleansing wipes, disposable bags, and any other incontinence products you use. If you’re concerned about visible leaks, darker clothing or an extra layer may also help you feel more comfortable and confident during the workday.

Now we’ve already mentioned this, but it does bear repeating: Keep a bladder diary. It’s one of the most useful things you can do when dealing with bladder control problems. Tracking when you urinate, when leaks or strong urges happen, what and how much you drink, and what you were doing at the time can help reveal patterns you might otherwise miss. Keeping track of your bladder activities and fluid intake during the workday can help a doctor pinpoint, correlate, or narrow down the source of your incontinence problem.

Keep a daily record of your urinary activities, the time and amount of all liquids ingested, the physical activities you engaged in during the day, and anything else that you can directly associate with an accident. 

You’ll also want to review your medications. Some prescription and over-the-counter medications can contribute to urinary urgency, frequency, or leakage. Diuretics, also known as water pills, for example, can increase urine production, while other medications may affect bladder function in different ways. If you’ve noticed a change in your bladder symptoms, especially after starting a new medication, talk with your healthcare provider or pharmacist. Do not stop or change a prescribed medication on your own.

Another important tip? Stay active in ways that work for you. Staying fit while working at a desk is tough. Really tough. You may not realize how much of an impact your weight has on bladder control issues, but research has shown that obesity is often directly linked to incontinence.

Why? Excess weight adds pressure to your abdomen, which indirectly adds pressure to your bladder. Some studies have found that women who lose 10% of their total body mass can potentially reduce their risk of urinary accidents by up to 50%. Now, we know that fitting exercise into a busy workday can feel nearly impossible, but the overall health benefits of exercise make schedule juggling well worth the effort.

While some activities might exacerbate the problem, that doesn’t mean you can’t try others. For example, if running causes bladder leakage, switch to something that’s lower impact, like biking, or keep running, but use bladder control pads.

Another good idea? Take advantage of the products that are on the market. It may feel like you’re the only one who suffers from incontinence, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Millions of people in the US live with overactive bladder conditions. It’s no surprise then that there are plenty of products on the market today, ranging from bladder control pads to overnight diapers that are designed to make managing incontinence at work easy and convenient. Try out a few and see which solution works best for you.

And while shopping, don’t fall prey to one of the most common mistakes that many people make when purchasing adult diapers. What is that mistake? It’s skimping on cost.

 If you’re on a tight budget, it can be tempting to go with the cheapest option. But over the course of a workday, cheap products actually tend to end up costing more. Think about it this way: if you have eight voids a day, a cheaper product may hold one or two before you need to change, while a more expensive product could hold up to 10. If you buy the cheaper product, you’re going to have to use at least four briefs. If you choose the expensive product, you only need one. Though that second product has a higher initial price tag, you’ll use fewer of them, which will save you money in the long run.

Another common mistake? It’ s when people don’t realize what their workplace rights are, and they fail to ask for accommodations. If bladder symptoms are making it difficult for you to do your job, you may consider talking with your employer or human resources department about what you need to manage your condition at work. Depending on your individual circumstances, a medical condition affecting bladder or bowel function may qualify for protections under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the ADA.

Reasonable accommodations may include things like additional or more flexible restroom breaks, changes to a work schedule or other modifications that allow an employee to perform their job. Eligibility and appropriate accommodations depend on the individual situation and applicable law.

Now, that might sound embarrassing, but keep in mind that you don’t necessarily need to share every detail of your condition with your coworkers. If you think you might need a workplace accommodation, consider speaking privately with HR or your supervisor about the appropriate process.

Another common mistake that people make is that they just try to manage their incontinence themselves rather than getting it evaluated.

Pads, planning, bladder diaries, and workplace strategies can all make urinary incontinence easier to manage, but they don’t address the underlying cause. If bladder leakage, urgency, or frequent urination is affecting your work or quality of life, talk with a healthcare provider. Depending on the type and cause of your symptoms, treatment options may include lifestyle and behavioral changes, bladder training, pelvic floor physical therapy, medications, procedures, or other treatments.

Urinary incontinence is common, but that doesn’t mean you simply have to live with it, especially in the workplace. Try putting these tips to good use, and you’ll find that you’ll have a much more pleasant working experience.

For more information about managing your incontinence symptoms, no matter what they happen to be, visit us online at nafc.org.

Life Without Leaks has been brought to you by the National Association for Continence. Our music is Rainbows by Kevin McLeod. More information about NAFC is available online at nafc.org.