Fellowship-Trained Urogynecologist
Urogynecology & Reconstructive Pelvic Surgery
Green Bay, Wisconsin
✓ Medically reviewed May 15, 2026
What is bladder training?
Bladder training is a behavioral technique that gradually teaches your bladder to hold more urine. It reduces how often you feel the urge to go and how often you actually go. No medications, no procedures, and no side effects.
I recommend bladder training to many of my patients with overactive bladder. It works well on its own or alongside other treatments like medication or pelvic floor therapy.
How it works
When you have OAB, your bladder sends urgency signals too early and too often. Bladder training reverses this by slowly stretching the time between bathroom visits. Over time, your bladder learns to hold more urine comfortably.
Think of it this way: if you have been going to the bathroom every hour “just in case,” your bladder adapts to that small volume. Bladder training gradually resets that pattern.
The process
Step 1: Establish your baseline. Keep a bladder diary for 2-3 days. Write down when you go to the bathroom and how much you drink. This gives us a starting point.
Step 2: Set a schedule. Based on your diary, we set fixed bathroom times. If you are going every hour now, you might start with every hour and 15 minutes.
Step 3: Use urge suppression techniques. When urgency hits between scheduled times:
- Stop and stay still. Do not rush to the bathroom.
- Do 5 quick pelvic floor contractions.
- Take slow, deep breaths and try to relax.
- Distract yourself. Count backwards from 100 by 7s, read something, or do a mental task.
- Sit on a firm surface and press your perineum against it.
- Curl your toes or flex your ankles.
- Wait. The urge usually passes within 30-60 seconds.
- Walk calmly to the bathroom at your scheduled time.
Step 4: Gradually increase intervals. Every 1-2 weeks, add 15-30 minutes to your interval. Many women work toward going 3-4 hours between bathroom visits, but we will set a target that makes sense for you.
What bladder training does
Bladder training works in a few ways at once:
- Your bladder gradually learns to hold more urine.
- Your nervous system adjusts and sends fewer false urgency signals.
- You build confidence that you can wait, which reduces the anxiety around urgency.
- You break the cycle where frequent voiding keeps reinforcing OAB symptoms.
In one study, women who combined bladder training with pelvic floor muscle therapy and surgery were nearly five times more likely to reach a normal voiding frequency compared to surgery alone.
References
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Bo K, Frawley HC, Haylen BT, et al. An International Urogynecological Association (IUGA)/International Continence Society (ICS) joint report on the terminology for the conservative and nonpharmacological management of female pelvic floor dysfunction. Int Urogynecol J. 2017;28(2):191-213. doi:10.1007/s00192-016-3123-4
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Sung VW, Borello-France D, Newman DK, et al. Effect of behavioral and pelvic floor muscle therapy combined with surgery vs surgery alone on incontinence symptoms among women with mixed urinary incontinence: the ESTEEM randomized clinical trial. JAMA. 2019;322(11):1066-1076. doi:10.1001/jama.2019.12467
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Lightner DJ, Gomelsky A, Souter L, Vasavada SP. Diagnosis and treatment of overactive bladder (non-neurogenic) in adults: AUA/SUFU guideline amendment 2019. J Urol. 2019;202(3):558-563. doi:10.1097/JU.0000000000000309
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Lukacz ES, Santiago-Lastra Y, Albo ME, Brubaker L. Urinary incontinence in women: a review. JAMA. 2017;318(16):1592-1604. doi:10.1001/jama.2017.12137
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