Gotta Go Right Now? Tips for a Happy Bladder

Urinary leakage, aka Incontinence; let’s dive in. 

I will probably never comprehend how it’s s become normalized. If your child was leaking urine wouldn't you be concerned? What about your husband? Leakage of urine is NEVER normal, and don't let anyone convince you that it is. 

Urinary incontinence not only affects women physically, but it also makes an emotional impact. Many of my patients complain of feeing embarrassed, ashamed, nervous to participate in certain activities, or even hesitant to leave the house to do errands. 

Let's break down the two main types of incontinence. There's stress incontinence & urge incontinence. 

Urge incontinence is an is involuntary loss of urine that occurs with a strong desire to urinate. This is usually acquired by women and moms with busy schedules and are unable to make the appropriate time aside to use the restroom. 

Some common symptoms of urge incontinence are:

• Feeling like you need to go the second you unlock your front door

• The sound of running water makes you leak

• Cold temperatures bring on an urge to go

• You leak on the way to the toilet/while pulling you pants down

• Feeling like you have to rush to get to the toilet

If you have this type of leakage, it means that your bladder is contracting when it should be relaxed. Most of the time, its caused by poor habits and under active pelvic floor muscles. One of the first things I do with my patients is teach them how to retrain their bladder.

Some techniques from a bladder training program involves:

• Keeping a bladder diary. It can be a helpful tool that can help us analyze your habits and patterns to get to the root of the problem. 
• Urge control strategies:
  • If you experience a strong sudden urge to urinate, stop whatever you are doing. Don’t run to the nearest bathroom. Stop where you are, relax (sit down if possible) and follow the steps I listed here. We want to calm down the bladder and teach her that we run the show!
    • Do 3 deep diaphragmatic breaths
    • Perform 10 quick flick pelvic floor contractions. Do this by activating your pelvic floor and releasing it. Hold for one second, release for one second.
    • Once the urge calms down, relax your muscles. Take another deep breath (diaphragmatic breath) and SLOWLY walk to the restroom.
    • Go through the cycle 1-3 times

1.  Keep in mind that normal frequency is 3-4 hours or 5-7x/day. PLEASE don’t go to the bathroom before you leave the house just because you are leaving. Don’t go right when you get home just because you get home. Avoid going as soon as you get somewhere if this is habit for you.

2. Notice what your triggers are (like pulling into your driveway or unlocking the door). Once you realize what your trigger is, do not go to the bathroom right away and go through the above steps.

3. Sit on the toilet with relaxed posture (no hovering!)

4. No pushing to pee! Check out my blog post on that. 

5. Stay hydrated. Drink half of your bodyweight in ounces per day.

6. Limit bladder irritants- i.e. caffeine, alcohol, citrus and tomato based products.

7. Get your bowels on board too. Avoid constipation! Poop should be looking like a banana, not pebbles or blobs.

8. A stream of urine should be at least 7 MISSISSIPPI long.  

9. Never try to stop the flow once you are start peeing! I don't care what magazine told you to. 

10. Try double voiding to make sure you are emptying your bladder:

    • To make sure you are emptying your bladder fully: When you are done urinating, tilt yourself forward while staying relaxed to get more urine to pass. Stand up , wait up to 20-30 seconds, sit back down, and see if you can urinate again. 

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