Bladder training. Your doctor may recommend bladder training — alone or in combination with other therapies — to control urge and other types of incontinence. Bladder training involves learning to delay urination after you get the urge to go. You may start by trying to hold off for 10 minutes every time you feel an urge to urinate. Then try upping the waiting period to 20 minutes. The goal is to lengthen the time between trips to the toilet until you're urinating every two to four hours.

Bladder training may also involve double voiding — urinating, then waiting a few minutes and trying again. This exercise can help you learn to empty your bladder more completely to avoid incontinence. In addition, bladder training may involve learning to control urges to urinate. When you feel the urge to urinate, you're instructed to relax — breathe slowly and deeply — or to distract yourself with an activity.

Nighttime bladder training may be reinforced with devices such as moisture alarms, which wake you up when you begin to urinate. They are particularly helpful for children who wet the bed at night. The devices consist of a fluid-sensitive pad worn in pajamas, a wire connecting to a control, and an alarm that sounds or vibrates when moisture is first detected. Moisture alarms help children learn to awaken when their bladder is full, in time to go to the bathroom.

Scheduled toilet trips. This means timed urination — going to the toilet according to the clock rather than waiting for the need to go. Following this technique, you go to the toilet on a routine, planned basis — usually every two to four hours.

Pelvic floor muscle exercises. These exercises strengthen your urinary sphincter and pelvic floor muscles — the muscles that help control urination. Your doctor may recommend that you do these exercises three or four times a day to treat your incontinence. They are especially effective for stress incontinence, but may also help urge incontinence.

To do pelvic floor muscle exercises (Kegels), imagine that you're trying to stop from passing gas. Squeeze the muscles you would use and hold for a count of three. Relax, count to three again, then repeat. You can do these exercises almost anywhere — while you're driving, watching television or sitting at your desk at work.

Fluid and diet management. In some cases, you can simply modify your daily habits to regain control of your bladder. You may need to cut back on or avoid alcohol or caffeine, if either causes you incontinence. If acidic foods irritate your bladder, cutting back on such triggers may rid you of your problem. For some people, reducing liquid consumption before bedtime is all that's needed. Losing weight also may eliminate the problem.

Electrical stimulation. In this procedure, electrodes are temporarily inserted into your rectum or vagina to stimulate and strengthen pelvic floor muscles. Gentle electrical stimulation can be effective for stress incontinence and urge incontinence, but it takes several months and multiple treatments to work. And it can cause side effects, such as abdominal cramps, diarrhea and bleeding. Electrical stimulation is usually reserved for people with severe urge incontinence who don't respond to other behavioral techniques or medications.

Other techniques. For stress incontinence, contracting your urinary muscles to hold urine in or crossing your legs at certain times — such as when you feel a sneeze coming — may help.