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Convatec Group Contact Us България България Bosna i Hercegovina Bosna i Hercegovina Česko Česko Danmark Danmark Österreich Österreich Schweiz (Deutsch) Schweiz (Deutsch) Deutschland Deutschland Ελλάδα Ελλάδα United Kingdom United Kingdom Ireland Ireland España España Eesti Eesti Suomi Suomi Suisse (Français) Suisse (Français) France France Hrvatska Hrvatska Magyarország Magyarország Ísland Ísland Italia Italia Lietuva Lietuva Latvija Latvija Северна Македонија Северна Македонија Malta Malta Norge Norge België België Nederland Nederland Polska Polska Portugal Portugal România România Slovensko Slovensko Slovenija Slovenija Srbija Srbija Sverige Sverige Türkiye Türkiye Україна Україна Brasil Brasil United States (English) United States (English) Estados Unidos (Español) Estados Unidos (Español) Argentina Argentina Canada Canada Chile Chile Colombia Colombia Ecuador Ecuador México México Perú Perú Belize Belize Guyana Guyana Jamaica Jamaica Venezuela Venezuela Costa Rica Costa Rica Curaçao Curaçao República Dominicana República Dominicana Guatemala Guatemala Honduras Honduras Nicaragua Nicaragua Panamá Panamá Puerto Rico Puerto Rico Suriname Suriname El Salvador El Salvador الإمارات العربية المتحدة الإمارات العربية المتحدة البحرين البحرين مصر مصر ישראל ישראל ایران ایران الأردن الأردن عُمان عُمان قطر قطر پاکستان پاکستان لبنان لبنان الكويت الكويت المملكة العربية السعودية المملكة العربية السعودية Suid-Afrika Suid-Afrika العراق العراق New Zealand New Zealand 日本 日本 Australia Australia India India Malaysia Malaysia Singapore Singapore 대한민국 대한민국 中国大陆 中国大陆 中国台湾 中国台湾 ไทย ไทย Indonesia Indonesia Việt Nam Việt Nam Philippines Philippines Hong Kong SAR China (English) Hong Kong SAR China (English) 中国香港特别行政区 (中文(简体,中国香港特别行政区)) 中国香港特别行政区 (中文(简体,中国香港特别行政区))
False /oidc-signin/en-us/ Convatec Group Contact Us България България Bosna i Hercegovina Bosna i Hercegovina Česko Česko Danmark Danmark Österreich Österreich Schweiz (Deutsch) Schweiz (Deutsch) Deutschland Deutschland Ελλάδα Ελλάδα United Kingdom United Kingdom Ireland Ireland España España Eesti Eesti Suomi Suomi Suisse (Français) Suisse (Français) France France Hrvatska Hrvatska Magyarország Magyarország Ísland Ísland Italia Italia Lietuva Lietuva Latvija Latvija Северна Македонија Северна Македонија Malta Malta Norge Norge België België Nederland Nederland Polska Polska Portugal Portugal România România Slovensko Slovensko Slovenija Slovenija Srbija Srbija Sverige Sverige Türkiye Türkiye Україна Україна Brasil Brasil United States (English) United States (English) Estados Unidos (Español) Estados Unidos (Español) Argentina Argentina Canada Canada Chile Chile Colombia Colombia Ecuador Ecuador México México Perú Perú Belize Belize Guyana Guyana Jamaica Jamaica Venezuela Venezuela Costa Rica Costa Rica Curaçao Curaçao República Dominicana República Dominicana Guatemala Guatemala Honduras Honduras Nicaragua Nicaragua Panamá Panamá Puerto Rico Puerto Rico Suriname Suriname El Salvador El Salvador الإمارات العربية المتحدة الإمارات العربية المتحدة البحرين البحرين مصر مصر ישראל ישראל ایران ایران الأردن الأردن عُمان عُمان قطر قطر پاکستان پاکستان لبنان لبنان الكويت الكويت المملكة العربية السعودية المملكة العربية السعودية Suid-Afrika Suid-Afrika العراق العراق New Zealand New Zealand 日本 日本 Australia Australia India India Malaysia Malaysia Singapore Singapore 대한민국 대한민국 中国大陆 中国大陆 中国台湾 中国台湾 ไทย ไทย Indonesia Indonesia Việt Nam Việt Nam Philippines Philippines Hong Kong SAR China (English) Hong Kong SAR China (English) 中国香港特别行政区 (中文(简体,中国香港特别行政区)) 中国香港特别行政区 (中文(简体,中国香港特别行政区))

Reasons You May Need to Self-Catheterize

Your healthcare professional may prescribe the use of an intermittent catheter for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to:
  • 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

UTI Prevention

UTI Prevention

As an intermittent catheter user, you may be prone to developing a urinary tract infection at some point during your cathing routine.

Read more

Having a Self-Catheterization Routine

Having a Self-Catheterization Routine

With the common distractions of everyday life, it can be easy to find reasons why sticking to a routine may be difficult.

Read more

Staying Hydrated

Staying Hydrated

Whether you're new to self cathing or have been cathing for some time, at no point should you drastically alter your daily intake of fluids.

Read more

Enroll in me+™ or Request Product Samples

The me+™ support program offers tools to help make life as a catheter user completely your own. Enroll in me+™ or request free product samples. Experience the latest technology and discover answers to the most commonly asked cathing questions.

Adjusting to cathing can be tough, with a range of practical, physical and emotional challenges. You don’t have to figure it out alone.

Speak with a member of the me+™ support team today.

Call 1-800-422-8811 (M-F, 8:30 AM-7:00 PM ET).

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