Portable Urinals
There are a range of portable urinals on the market which will fit into a handbag or the glove box in the car. There are a selection of helpful products in the COB Shop
Protective Underwear (Pads)
Not all those with OAB have a leakage issue, but for those that do, wearing a pad can help with any leakage of urine from mild, medium to heavy. There is a wide range of specialised pads/pants and it is important to find the correct pad that fits you and your circumstanc
Many people need to take medication to help to try and control the bladder contractions. The use of anti-cholinergic drugs, which have been developed to alleviate these bladder contractions, may have a side effect of a dry mouth. Many people with OAB, have in the past, put up with a dry mouth in order to keep up with their medication. Others have found the problem too uncomfortable and have been forced to choose between continuing with the medication or keeping their mouth dryness under control
Fluid Intake: Ideal fluid intake for an adult is 2 - 2.5 litres a day. If night time frequency is an issue, lessening fluid intake during the evenings may help. Prolonged fluid reduction causes concentrated urine, not drinking enough can lead to bladder irritability.
Smoking: Nicotine can irritate the bladder muscle, causing bladder contraction and urgency. Coughing, as a result of smoking, may cause urinary leakage.
Stress: It may be helpful to learn basic relaxation techn
Lifestyle changes - Small changes that can make a big difference.
Dry Mouth - products developed specifically for medication side effects.
Products than can help living with OAB - there are many products which can help when living with OAB.
Medication - You may be prescribed medication to relieve bladder spasms, frequency and leakage.
Other treatments and therapies - These include bladder retraining, Tens units, acupuncture, alarms and surgery.
What is Overactive Bladder?
Overactive bladder (OAB) is a common medical condition where the bladder muscle (detrusor) contracts too often or spontaneously and involuntarily. You may feel the need to pass urine more frequently and/or urgently than is necessary and some may also experience incontinence.
Most commonly OAB is found in neurologically normal individuals.
What Causes Overactive Bladder?
It is not always easy to identify a common feature responsible for bladder over-activi
To Date – Proposed New Survey
No further survey of Interstitial Cystitis has been produced since 1999, so current statistic are a little unclear. The COB Foundation is hoping to update their information and conduct a new survey of its members. If you are interested in funding this work or helping with a proposal, please contact Alison Irving, Business Manager at COB Foundation: 0121 702 0820
If you wish to use our survey statistics for research or clinical studies, please cont
Bladder Distension/Bladder Stretch
As well as a diagnostic procedure of IC/PBS, a bladder distention can also help to improve symptoms in some. A ‘Bladder Distention’ can be performed under general or local anaesthetic. The bladder is filled with sterile fluid and kept distended for 5-10 minutes.
Directly after the procedure there may be some temporary bleeding or burning during urination. Some may experience a decrease in frequency and urgency soon after this, whilst others may have
Lidocaine-Heparin Bladder Instillation (Parson’s Solution)
Parson’s Solution can be used for alleviating painful symptoms associated with Interstitial Cystitis / Painful Bladder Syndrome (IC/PBS)
What is Parson’s Solution?
Parson’s Solution is a single vial solution for bladder instillation via an intravesical procedure involving instilling a therapeutic solution into the bladder to help treat the pain and other associated symptoms of IC/PBS. Parson’s Solution works by adm
Cystilieve™
A NEW product may help patients with cystisis or painful bladder syndrome who have had no relief using other treatments.Cystilieve™ has been made available as a “special” – a product that can be ordered by doctors specially for named patients from Medicines By Design Ltd.Although Cystilieve™ is a novel formulation, the active ingredients – lidocaine and simple sodium bicarbonate – have been widely used for many years. Lidocaine solutions are already approved for local anaest
This treatment involves instilling DMSO into the bladder by a small catheter.
Some patients find they have a garlic-like taste and odour for 1 or 2 days after treatment, this is due to the product odour being excreted through the lungs. Initially, there may be cystitis-like symptoms with urethral burning during voiding but these usually settle down within a day or two.
The treatment is usually given for 6-8 weeks at fortnightly intervals. A catheter is placed into the bladder an
