5 tips to help reduce urinary urgency!

To always have to urinate and to have moments when it is so intense that you think you won't make it... is this normal? Well, yes, when you have a urinary emergency, but it's certainly not what you want! So how do you calm your urges and stop going to the bathroom all the time?

Here are a few tips to make your life a little easier. Physio promise.

#urinaryincontinence #urinaryurgency #pelvicfloor #urgeincontinence

Urinary urgency

Urinary urgency is characterized by frequent and urgent urges to urinate. Often, the urgency is triggered by certain factors in your daily life. For example, putting the key in the door while walking backwards, taking a shower, or doing the dishes and hearing the water running. Urgency can sometimes be accompanied by incontinence, meaning that the feeling is so urgent that you can't get to the bathroom in time. Oopsy.

Urinary urgency can have several causes. Often, it is an amalgam of several small components that irritate the bladder. Here are some examples:

• tension in the abdominal muscles

• an overly tense pelvic floor

• poor hydration (not drinking enough water)

• bladder irritating foods (coffee, tea, alcohol, spicy foods)

• a history of abdominal surgery

Sometimes the emergency is insidious. Some people have symptoms that relate to urgency and are not even aware of them. Always having to go to the bathroom before leaving for an appointment, at the appointment itself, then before leaving the appointment... or getting up more than once in the night to urinate are behaviors that come directly from urinary urgency.

What can you do when you have urges and your bladder dictates your life? Here are 5 tips to try!

Tip #1 - Breathe!

Okay I know, it sounds too simple. But I swear it works. Abdominal breathing helps to calm the nervous system, to reduce the feeling of panic related to the urge. Belly breathing also creates a small abdominal massage through the ryhtmic back and forth movement of the diaphragm. This reduces tension and thus reduces pressure on the bladder.

This is particularly useful at night. If you wake up with a craving, before getting up take deep breaths through your belly. Wait 5 minutes. More often than not, the urge subsides and you go back to sleep! Yippee!

Tip #2 - Pelvic floor contractions

Repeatedly contracting the pelvic floor helps to create what is called an inhibition signal to the bladder, which means it helps to calm the sensation of urge. The goal is to make between 8 and 10 pelvic floor contractions. Hold the contraction for about 5 seconds and release. YOU RELEASE COMPLETELY. I know, we are afraid to release... if we release we will pee ourselves, right? No, not really. The release portion is important. It's what allows for an effective contraction. Try it, it will be fine.

Breathe in. Breathe out and contract your pelvic floor for 5 seconds. Relax completely. Repeat 8 to 10 times.

Tip #3 - Abdominal massage

Yes, you read that right. Massaging her belly. Or more precisely, her belly button. It's easy, requires no equipment and helps remove a layer of tension from the abdomen muscles that push towards the bladder. This is another good exercise to do at night, but it can be done pretty much anywhere. It can be very discreet, but very effective!

Tip #4 - Don't go "just in case"

We are often "drilled" from a young age. We have to go pee before we go somewhere. But did we really have to? If the answer is no, then you didn't have to go! Emptying your bladder when it's not really full sets a precedent that then becomes a habit. The more the habit is recurrent, the more the bladder thinks it's full before it really is. And we're always in the little corner.

So avoiding going "just in case" pays off in the long run!

Tip #5 - Mind over bladder!

It's not your bladder that decides. It's you! Your bladder follows you, not the other way around. You have to remind yourself of that. Often. There's clearly a big psychological component to the emergency problem. So you have to talk to yourself, often. It's not easy, but over time it helps a lot!

So we keep telling ourselves that we'll be fine, that we have time to get to the bathroom. That we are stronger than our bladder!

Pas certain de savoir où commencer?

N'oubliez pas! La physio ets toujours là pour vous guider dans la bonne direction. Mais rapplez-vous, votre urgence n'est pas là pour toujours! C'est à vous de jouer! :)

Écrit par: Andrée-Anne Lorrain, physiothérapeute et infirmière clinicienne