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Here you will find information and advice about catheterisation, and how you can make ISC easier in different situations.
Drinking
You should drink at least 6 - 8 glasses of (non-alcoholic) liquid a day. When you drink a lot, you reduce the risk of developing UTIs.
Bowel Habits
It is important that your bowel functions regularly for you. This makes it easier to empty your bladder completely as a full bowel can press on the bladder, meaning that it can't empty properly.
Eat a well balanced diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables. If you become constipated, contact your doctor or nurse for advice, as constipation may interfere with your ISC.
Before Catheterisation
Whenever possible, always try to pass urine the normal way before you use a catheter. Try to relax your pelvic floor and avoid pressing down with your abdominal muscles. Sometimes a running tap can stimulate urination.
Number of Catheterisations
The number of times you need to use ISC will be decided by your Healthcare Professional. It varies from person to person, depending on your type of bladder problem, how much you drink, and different medications that you may be taking.
To avoid infections, it is important that you follow the instructions of your Healthcare Professional. As a rule the bladder should not contain more than 350 - 400 ml of urine.
Difficulties Inserting the Catheter
When you are unable to insert the catheter, it is usually the sphincter muscle that is the obstruction, especially if you are tense and cannot manage to relax. A good tip is to cough a couple of times, which will relax the pelvic floor and the catheter will pass the obstruction. You can also apply light but firm pressure on the catheter. After a while the sphincter muscle will relax and the catheter will slide in easily.
If you have problems removing the catheter, leave it for a few moments and try again. If it still will not come out, try coughing, as this will often help. Never tug on the catheter as this can cause trauma to your urethra.
Fitting ISC into Your Life
In order to fit ISC into everyday life as smoothly as possible, we recommend you create certain fixed habits. For example, it is best to start the day by catheterising. Other situations when it may be suitable to fit in ISC are during coffee breaks or before lunch. This way you can both easily control the number of times you catheterise each day and manage your ISC without it interfering with your work, school or other activities.
Be sure to always have catheters available. Perhaps leaving some extra catheters at places where you often go, such as work, friends’ homes, holiday homes or with relatives.
UTIs - Urinary Tract Infections
It is common for people who use catheters to have a higher bacteria level in their urine. However, if you suffer a urinary tract infection with symptoms such as a high temperature, pain when urinating, frequent urge to urinate, back pain, fever, smelly or cloudy urine or blood in your urine, you should consult your doctor.
If a few specks of blood should appear in your urine, do not worry. This sometimes happens and should clear up in a couple of days. Seek urgent medical advice for persistent bleeding or if clots appear in your urine.
Travelling
Take your LoFric catheters and any other handling aids with you when you are away from home. Always bring more catheters with you than you plan on using, so you are not caught without a catheter if something unexpected happens.
Unfortunately, lost baggage when you are flying is not uncommon. Always keep enough catheters for a few days' use in your hand luggage.
If you do not trust the quality of water, use bottled mineral water. Convenient alternatives when you are travelling are LoFric Primo and LoFric Hydro-Kit II, which both come with an integrated sachet of sterilised water. Lofric Hydro-Kit II also has an urine collection bag which can be very useful if you don't know where the next toilet might be, this can be emptied straight away or sealed and emptied at your earliest convenience.
If you are travelling abroad, ask your Healthcare Professional for a medical validation certificate which states that the catheters you are taking with you are for emptying your bladder; this may save you any trouble with customs officials.
Outdoor Activities
During outdoor activities it may be difficult to get hold of both a toilet and tap water. There are a number of LoFric products designed for outdoors activities.
If there is no toilet, you can use LoFric Hydro-Kit II, with both a water sachet and a collection bag. If there is a toilet but you don't trust the water supply (as a rule, if you wouldn't drink it, don't use it for ISC), we recommend LoFric Primo, which is a catheter that comes complete with an integrated sterile water sachet.
When the Water Quality isn't Good Enough
If you do not trust the water's quality, use bottled water, a saline solution or sterile water. Alternatively you can use LoFric Primo, which is a LoFric catheter complete with an integrated water sachet.
You could also use LoFric Hydro-Kit II, which comes with both a sachet of sterilised water and a urine collection bag.
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