Foley Catheter Home Instructions

What is a catheter?
A catheter is a tube placed into the bladder to drain urine.  After the catheter is inserted into your bladder, a small balloon is inflated which prevents the catheter from coming out.

Use these guidelines to take care of your catheter and yourself:

• Drink 8-10 glasses of water or other liquids each day unless otherwise instructed.
• Wash your hands with soap and water before and after caring for your catheter.
• Keep the catheter and the area where it enters your body as clean as possible. Soap may cause irritation. You can take a shower with the catheter in place. Sitting in a tub is not recommended. Leave the catheter attached to the bag while showering.
• Be sure that the tubing to the drainage bag is not bent or clamped off. Do not lay or sit on the tubing.
• Use the large drainage bag at night. Hang it at the side of the bed so that it is below the bladder. Put the drainage tubing on top of your leg so it will not be blocked off by the weight of your leg.
• Attach your catheter tubing to a leg strap. This will prevent the catheter from tugging at and possibly injuring your bladder. Be sure that the strap is tight enough to stay in place, but not too tight as it may interfere with your circulation or cause a blood clot in the lower leg.
• The catheter drains by gravity so the collection bag always needs to be lower than your waist. Never turn the drainage bag upside down or hold it above your bladder as this will allow the urine to run back into the bladder. Backflow of urine can cause an infection.
• A small amount of Neosporin will provide lubrication so the tip of the penis doesn’t stick to the catheter. It can be applied multiples times per day.
• Empty the bag when it is 1/2 to 2/3 full. Catheter bags should never be allowed to fill up completely as this will increase the pressure on the bladder.
• The urine can be drained into the toilet.
• It is not necessary to measure the amount of urine emptied unless your caregiver instructs you to.

Urinary leg bag:

• During the day, you may wear a leg bag. It will not be noticed under slacks.
• Strap your leg bag to your thigh or calf. The bands should be snug enough to hold the bag securely, but not so tight that they reduce circulation.
• Always keep the leg bag below the level of your bladder.
• The leg bag is smaller than the overnight bag, so always change to your overnight bag before you go to bed.

To change from one bag to the other:

• Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water.
• Disconnect the catheter and tube.
• Clean the end of the tubing and the end of the catheter with both soap and water OR an alcohol pad. Do not let the ends of the tubing touch anything before being connected.
• Connect the catheter and tube until it feels secure.
• Clean the empty catheter bag after every use. Squirt a small amount of liquid soap into the unused catheters tube and rinse water through the tube. Then empty the water into the toilet and place the cap over the end of the tubing. Lay the bag in a clean and dry place.

Problem solving:

• If your catheter isn’t draining: check to see if the tubing is twisted or bent. Make sure the urine bag is below waist level. Check the device that is used to secure the catheter tube to your leg to make sure it isn’t blocking the tube.
• If your catheter is leaking: Check all connections and make sure they are all intact. Locate the area that is leaking to see if the tubing or drainage bag has a hole. If it does, it will need to be replaced.
• If urine is leaking around the insertion site and there is still urine going into the bag, then the leaking may be due to bladder spasms. Bladder spams are contractions of the bladder which generate an urge to urinate and sometimes can be painful.