Reasons You May Need to Self-Catheterize
- Multiple sclerosis
- Neurogenic Bladder
- Spinal cord injury
- Stroke
- Diabetes
- Pregnancy
- Urine retention
- Prostate tumor
- Spina bifida
- Bladder exstrophy
- Benign prostatic hyperplasia
Some of these conditions require short term use and others may require lifelong usage. Regardless of how long you need them, intermittent catheters are recommended to help take back control from urinary incontinence. These conditions can potentially impact how the bladder sphincter or detrusor muscle (the bladder wall) function and may mean your bladder needs help to empty and stay healthy.
After speaking with your doctor, a self-catheterization routine that best meets your needs and approach to cathing should be determined. This routine includes knowing, on average, how many times a day you’ll need to self-cath and what products are right for you.
Catheterize with Confidence
Often, it can be hard to imagine integrating catheters into your lifestyle. It is important to know avoiding use of catheters can have long term implications. You may find that you start to leak urine when your bladder becomes too full as choosing not to self-catheterize means you're leaving urine in your bladder for a long period of time.
This can lead to a distended bladder or a urinary tract infection (UTI). An untreated UTI can spread to the upper urinary tract becoming more difficult to treat and more likely to spread to your blood causing sepsis. Sepsis can be life-threatening. There may also be more complex challenges which require physician intervention. Learn more about UTIs here.
Knowing what your ideal self-catheterization routine should look like is just one piece of the puzzle – finding a product that works best for you and fitting this new practice into your existing day to day will help ease this transition.
Related Articles
Enroll in me+™ or Request Product Samples
Adjusting to cathing can be tough, with a range of practical, physical and emotional challenges. You don’t have to figure it out alone.