|
Let's talk about controlling or delaying the urge to pee in adults.
I think of the bladder as a muscular water balloon. Yes, the bladder is a muscle and it contracts when we pee, once the pelvic floor muscles relax. This happens through a series of sophisticated reflexes. This is why the habits like peeing "just in case" (when you don't really need to), hovering over toilet seats, doing pelvic floor muscle contractions while peeing and straining to pee interrupt these reflexes and lead to bladder dysfunction.
The bladder fills at a rate of 15 drops per minute and takes 2 to 4 hours to fill. The storage capacity for the bladder is about 500 mL.
The first desire to urinate is about halfway full (150-200 mL). We should be able to ignore or suppress that sensation to urinate and let the bladder keep filling.
The urge that doesn't subside means it's time to pee. If you urinate with every little urge you feel, your bladder becomes more sensitive to filling and you may feel the urge to go more often than you should.
Urinating every 2-4 hours is typical for adults. Bladder irritants increase the rate at which the bladder fills, making you actually need to urinate more often (keep that in mind). For a review of bladder irritants click here for a PDF document --> Download now
Declining estrogen in the body also increases bladder urgency and frequency because the bladder has estrogen receptors. Using topical vaginal estrogen cream can counteract this hormonal decline and help you control urinary urgency!
Other urge delay techniques are to "freeze, squeeze and breathe."
When a strong urge hits, sit or stand still instead of rushing to the bathroom.
Contract your pelvic floor muscles quickly a few times. This increased muscle contraction of the pelvic floor muscles tells the bladder muscle to calm down.
Distract your brain from the urge to pee. (Try counting backwards from 100 by 7's)
Take a few deep breaths to help you calm down.
Slowly make your way to the bathroom.
Try this technique as often as you need to help control your urinary urgency and build up time between voids. Remember vaginal estrogen cream helps tremendously with bladder control as well and changing or limiting your bladder irritant intake also helps.
Please email me with thoughts and/or questions!
Here's to Wellness For Your Pelvis and Embracing Health,
|
