intermittant self-catheterization question

[wishforchange]

Just a quickie, I hope.  I am female and have been intermittantly self catheterizing now for a couple of years, because of chronic retention.  The problem is worsening and I do this several times a day now.  Although this has reduced the number of bladder infections I get, I still get a lot.  I suspect some of the problem is finding the right and most convenient method of cleansing the area prior to insertion, as I think I sometimes introduce bacteria when I put it in.  Can you recommend good products for this purpose?  Need something I can also take out with me so if I need to do the 'job' in a public convenience I can be hygenic.  I am UK based if that is any help regarding suggesting product names.  Everything my pharmacist/doctor has suggested to date has been unworkable, messy or just not user friendly.  Thanks

[Lennox Hoyte, M.D.]

Your best bet is probably hitting the target exactly right every time. Usually, if you put 2 fingers around the urethra with one hand, you can use the other hand to guide the catheter directly into the meatus without touching the sides, and that might be the best way to reduce infections.

Dr. Hoyte

[wishforchange]

I only just noticed your post.  Thanks for thinking or me.  I don't have a prolapse as far as I know.  My bladder problem is neurological.  Strangely leaning backwards sometimes helps with voiding, so maybe there is a structural element too.  I have very poor balance and weakness in the legs so would be unable to even attempt the position you suggest.  I actually recently found a great pharmacist who sorted me out with the right products for cleansing the area and have not had an infection since.  But it's early days.  
Dr. Hoyte of course you must be familiar with femal anatomy.  I have been doing this procedure for over a year, and still find it tricky.  As women our vaginal and urethral openings are so close it is like threading a needle getting the right one, and when you are doing it yourself you cannot see what you are doing.  Even now I get it wrong.  I always dispose of the catheter and start afresh if it accidently goes into the vagina.  It is a tricky, fiddly procedure, and always will be, and because of this the whole area needs to be sterilized, as mistakes are so easy to make.  But as I said I have got the right products now, so problem solved, hopefully

[katika29]

Do you have a bladder prolapse.  I don't know if you have the same problem that I do.  I have bladder, uterus prolapse, and have difficulty urinating.  What I have found very helpful is to pee standing and stooping over the toilet.  Imagine, just sit down first, then stand up with your legs on either side of the toilet, and then bend your body forward and pee.  It  basically allows the urine to come out like lets say the water coming out of the spout of a teapot when it is being poured.  This has helped, and I do it all the time, and no longer have urinary tract infections. Let me know if this helps.