Treatment Options

Doing Nothing

You don't have to treat bedwetting; most bedwetters will eventually grow out of it.  But there is no way to know when that will be, and if your child is over 6 and concerned, or over 7, we advise you to treat it now.

Enuresis Alarm Therapy

This is the most effective treatment available for bedwetting.  It is also the only treatment that can result in a permanent cure, as it triggers the connection between wetting and waking.  If it is done correctly, by a motivated child, supported by a commited family, the success rate is excellent.   If you buy the Dri-Sleeper enuresis alarm from us, we will advise and support you for the duration of the treatment, and provide you with a full programme to follow.

Prescription Drugs

These are widely used in South Africa for the treatment of bedwetters.  Their effectiveness is very limited, and leading Urologists and Paediatricians believe that they should be last resort treatment only if alarm therapy has failed or is impractical.

If the child has daytime incontinence in addition to the bedwetting they may well need drug therapy for those symptoms.  For mono-symptomatic bedwetters, ie. those with no daytime incontinence, the less invasive alarm therapy should be tried first.  Some drugs which are commonly prescribed have toxic side effects and are very dangerous in overdose.  Although the drugs may remove the symptoms of bedwetting in some children, they do not cure the problem, they merely mask the symptoms, and when the drug is removed the bedwetting usually resumes.

Bedwetting alarms have been very difficult to get hold of in South Africa in the past which is why many more doctors here have resorted to drug therapies than in other developed countries.

We STRONGLY recommend that you do not allow a Doctor to prescribe drugs for your child's bedwetting without further research, and at least one other opinion.  We have research articles available for your information.  Please e-mail us if you would like further details.  If you need a referral to a Doctor who specialises in the treatment of childhood enuresis, please contact us.

For more information on Enuresis Alarm Therapy, go to our next page.   [ Next ]   

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Last modified: September 22, 2000