Three Tips to Reduce Urinary Urgency
Do you feel like you have to urge to pee every 30 minutes?
Do you feel like you can't completely empty your bladder or have sudden and frequent strong urges to pee?
Learn some tips on how to help reduce this urinary urgency and how pelvic floor physical therapy can help in this blog below!
Urinary urgency is when you are frequently having the urge to pee, even when your bladder doesn’t need to empty. Typically, it’s considered normal to pee every 2-4 hours. I will say, clinically, I’ve seen that if you are someone who drinks a lot of water this can be more frequent and still normal. But it’s not just about how frequently you urinate, it’s also how much you are voiding. Usually with urinary urgency someone will get a very strong urge to pee but when they go to empty they will pee for only 4-5 seconds. This is another indication that your body isn’t sending you the appropriate signals!
If this is happening to you try out some of the tips below:
Urge suppression technique: If you do get the sudden urge to pee, but you know you don’t really need to go (as in you went 20-30 minutes ago) do 5 quick kegels and then take 3 deep breaths. This should reduce the intensity of the urge and allow you to continue to do what you’re doing (grocery shopping, watching a movie, etc). Panicking and rushing when you get this urgency will make it worse! It’s best to try to slow down and distract yourself with something to reduce the urge.
Stop the “just in case” pees: Your bladder is trainable! If you go “just in case” every time you leave the house, regardless if you need to go, eventually your body associates “leaving somewhere” to needing to pee regardless if your bladder is full. Of course the occasional “just in case” pee isn’t going to cause this, like if you’re about to take a road trip or watch a long movie; it’s when it is everyday and consistent, that this can become an issue.
Start a bladder diary to track how often and when you need to pee, what and when you’re drinking and eating. This can help you see patterns that you may not be aware of. Maybe you always get the urgency everytime you have a certain drink or everytime you have tomatoes. Sometimes it is a simple life style change that can make a big difference.
There are many factors that can contribute to urinary urgency including hypertonic or tight pelvic floor muscles, abdominal tension, weakness within the muscles surrounding the pelvis, etc. These are all things we address in pelvic floor physical therapy along with lifestyle changes and voiding schedules.
Reach out to us for a pelvic floor evaluation if this is something you are struggling with, we can help!
By: Dr. Katie Ihlenfeldt
