5 pieces of advice to help your bladder but not only
Alicia Jeffrey-Thomas is a pelvic floor physical therapist at Greater Boston Urology where she imparts lessons to her patients and she’s also on her popular TikTok account. Once, she said, “I was an Olympic-level hoverer”, describing her attitude to not sit on a public toilet. But when she learned more about the pelvic floor (a group of muscles that provide support for internal organs, including the bladder, rectum, uterus, and prostate), during physical therapy school, she stopped hovering.
Hovering is one of several common urination habits, such as holding your urine or going too often, that Jeffrey-Thomas and other experts say may seem like innocuous little things but in the long term could lead to a host of urinary, bladder, and pelvic floor problems. Pelvic floor muscles are also involved in posture, urination, bowel movements, and sex, that’s why they are very important, not only for urination.
Here are some expert recommendations to keep in mind.
1. Don’t go too often or too rarely
Experts advise against going to extremes when it comes to urinating. “Going 12 hours between urinating is not normal; going every 15 minutes is not normal”, said Stephen Freedland, a professor of urology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
Holding your urine and overfilling your bladder on a regular basis can lead the organ to become overstretched and operate less properly over time, according to Freedland. When you eventually go, you may find it more difficult to relax, according to Doreen Chung, an associate professor of urology at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Holding urine (a more prevalent behavior among women) can cause recurring urinary tract infections and, in certain situations, pelvic pain.
Similarly, continuously running to the toilet at the first sign of needing to go or urinating before feeling any desire, according to Jeffrey-Thomas, can have long-term deleterious repercussions on the bladder. She claims that can teach your bladder to become more sensitive to less urine. “A lot of times when they actually go to try to empty their bladder, there’s not a whole lot there, but the intensity of the urge is as if they’re about to have a minute-long pee”.
The bladder muscle might get contracted if you urinate too frequently and never let it fill entirely.
Adults should urinate every three to four hours when awake, according to doctors, though this might vary based on how much and what you’re drinking or eating, as well as whether you’re pregnant.
According to Candace Granberg, a pediatric urologist, and surgeon-in-chief at the Mayo Clinic Children’s Center, children should try to go every two hours, and it’s critical to establish healthy urinary habits as early as the toilet-training years.
2. Take your time and relax
“Straining to urinate is always a risk factor for developing pelvic floor dysfunction”, said Amin Herati, a urologist, and director of men’s infertility and men’s health at Johns Hopkins.
It’s common to try to “force every last drop” of urine out of your bladder as quickly as possible, but that’s not actually allowing that normal reflex of your pelvic floor relaxing and your bladder contracting to empty.
Bearing down, she explained, can affect the pelvic floor muscles, which can lead to pelvic organ prolapse, which occurs when the pelvic floor can no longer support your organs and they fall out of their natural place.
The key, Chung said, “is to relax and not be in a hurry”. She suggested sitting on the toilet for at least one to two minutes and actively urinating for as long as you need.
On average, it shouldn’t take longer than 30 seconds to urinate, Freedland said.
Even how you position your body can help, experts said. The perfect position is almost in a full squat where the hips are below the knees because that will relax the pelvic floor muscles, which will allow the sphincters to relax, which allows you to empty your bladder and empty your rectum.
It’s for this reason that hovering over the toilet isn’t a good idea, Jeffrey-Thomas said. During urination, “the pelvic floor’s job is just to get out of the way so that the urine can flow through”, she said. But in the hovered squat position, the pelvic floor muscles aren’t fully relaxed, causing people to have to push more.
3. Pay attention to what and how you’re drinking
Experts say that caffeinated beverages like coffee and tea, as well as alcohol and carbonated drinks, may cause urinary urgency and frequency. Make sure you’re getting enough simple water, but don’t go excessive.
“When it comes to drinking water, it’s also important how you drink your water, more so than it is how much you’re drinking in a day”, Jeffrey-Thomas said. Instead of “chugging massive amounts of fluid all at once”, try to pace your intake. She suggested drinking a few ounces of water every hour and using time-marked water bottles to help keep track.
For people who have trouble sleeping because they have to get up numerous times during the night to urinate, Freedland recommends reducing or eliminating fluids after dinner, especially diuretics like caffeine and alcohol.
4. Don’t forget about your bowel
“Forgetting about poop can be the N°1 thing that contributes to bladder problems”, Granberg said.
Poop can push on the bladder, and it can cause an overactive bladder but it can also push the bladder out of the way so that you’re unable to urinate altogether, or you’re just not able to empty it all the way.
In addition to optimizing your fluid intake and developing a healthy urination schedule, Granberg said people should aim to have a soft stool daily.
5. Listen to your body
Although many urine and bladder problems can be cured with a change in behavior, experts stressed the importance of paying attention to indicators from your body when something is wrong.
Bladder symptoms can be caused by various medical illnesses, including diabetes, neurological abnormalities, and prostate problems.
“We always encourage people to be proactive rather than reactive”, Herati, the Johns Hopkins urologist said. If, for example, you start noticing that you’re urinating much more frequently, going to your doctor for a urinalysis may provide answers. “There are a lot of other conditions that can predispose somebody to a urinary frequency beyond obstruction or voiding habits”, he said.
Experts believe that those who urinate too frequently can retrain their bladders. There are drugs that can help soothe the acute urge, and pelvic floor physical therapy may also be beneficial, according to Jeffrey-Thomas. People with overstretched bladders from years of holding their urine, on the other hand, may face a more difficult recovery, according to Freedland.
“Once the damage is done, so to speak, we can prevent further damage, the bladder can heal to a certain degree, but only to a certain degree”, he said.
Experts recommend keeping track of your restroom habits and discussing them with your healthcare physician on a regular basis. “I ask people about how often they urinate during the day all the time, and you’d be surprised how many people can’t actually answer”, Chung said.
Source thewashingtonpost.com
