Ways to have a healthy bladder
November is National Bladder Awareness Month. I don't really know what that means exactly, but I do know that I want to spread that word about what it means to have a healthy bladder.
Here are some healthy bladder facts:
Drinking half of your body weight in ounces of water keeps the bladder healthy
The bladder is a muscle which means it can stretch and contract
Your bladder is about the size of your fist
Peeing every 2-4 hours is considered healthy
Peeing about 8-12 ounces of liquid is considered healthy
Bladders are an organ that can truly have a mind of their own. There is a direct connection from the brain to the bladder, meaning that their relationship is very closely linked.
It is important that you let your bladder know who is "boss" of your brain. If you have the habit of going to the bathroom often (more than every 2 hours), you need to override the brain-bladder connection. This can be challenging and it takes time and patience. (Please note, if you have bladder pain or you have been diagnosed with IC, please go to the bathroom when you first get an urge).
How do you override the brain-bladder connection?
1) The first step is to see if you actually need to pee every time you go. When you start the flow of urine, count Mississippi's as the flow is coming out. 1 Mississippi is about 1 ounce of urine. Every body is different, but typically, the bladder can hold 8-12 ounces without stretching too much.
How many Mississippi's did you get to? If you got to less than 8, it means that your brain-bladder connection is strong, and you can train it to calm down. Did you get to more than 12? That might mean that your bladder can hold more than the average person's, or maybe you are drinking more than half of your body weight in ounces of water/liquid.
As long as you are peeing about every 2-4 hours, then you are allowing your bladder to be healthy.
If you went less than 8 Mississippi's and you peed sooner than 2 hours after your last pee, follow the next step to retrain your bladder.
2) When you get the urge to pee, look at the clock and see if you can push your next pee off for about 15 minutes. You can do this 3 ways.
Do calf raises. You can do these sitting, standing, or even lying down.
Do pelvic floor contractions. Do 5-6 of these in whatever position you are in.
If you are sitting, stand up. If you are standing, sit down.
Why do calf raises work?
The nerve that goes to the calf muscles, comes out of the spine the same place that the nerve to the bladder comes out. By using your calf muscles, you are overriding and districting the nerve to the bladder.
Why do pelvic floor contractions work?
I personally don't have much luck with these, however this is what we are taught in our classes. The idea here is that by contracting and then relaxing the pelvic floor muscles, you are overriding the nerve to the bladder by telling it that it isn't time to pee.
Why does changing positions work?
If you are sitting, stand up and vise versa. This changes the pressure on the perineum (the area between the vagina or penis and anus). This is another way to tell your brain and bladder that it isn't time to pee yet.
3) The next step is to distract yourself. Try to focus on whatever you are doing, rather than your need to pee.
4) Then if the urge continues, or when it returns, slowly and calming walk to the bathroom. This is the most important step. If you run the bathroom, it will stimulate your sympathetic nervous system, the flight or fight response. By calmly walking to the bathroom, you are stimulating your parasympathetic response. Your calming nervous system. This tells your bladder and your brain that you are in charge.
Bladder Health Take Aways:
Drink half of your body weight in ounces of water
Go to the bathroom every 2-4 hours
Don't do just in case peeing (read why here)
Sit on the toilet instead of hovering
The bladder is a "nervous" organ and responds with increased urgency to stress
