Pelvic floor expert explains why you need to pee immediately after going to the toilet
Glad to know I’m not the only one who feels the urge to go to the loo right after going to the loo.
The good news is that it’s actually a fairly common thing, according to pelvic floor expert Elizabeth Stryker.
In a recent video, the personal trainer explained that the bladder is ‘super habit-forming’, meaning it quickly adapts to the patterns we create.
Perhaps the most common example is ‘just in case peeing’ when you empty your bladder before you actually need to, such as before leaving the house to avoid using a public toilet.
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“So you're on your way to the grocery store, and you're like, 'I'm gonna go to the bathroom before I go, so I don't have to go in the gross bathroom', you have three ounces in your bladder, you pee it out,” she said in the clip posted on her Instagram page (@pelvicstabilitypt).
“The bladder thinks, 'This is what we're doing now'," Stryker explains.
“It wants to make you happy by signalling when it reaches the volume you've trained it to recognise.”
As a result, people may feel confused when the urge to urinate returns almost immediately after they have just been.
Rather than indicating a full bladder, it's reflecting the bladder's new expectation of when it should send those signals.
To help break the cycle, Stryker advises avoiding unnecessary trips to the toilet whenever possible.
So instead of automatically going before every outing, she recommends allowing the bladder to fill to a more normal capacity so it can relearn healthier patterns.
If you're preparing for a long car journey or a flight where bathroom access may be limited, planning ahead can be helpful.
Rather than making multiple ‘just in case’ trips, Stryker suggests timing your final bathroom visit so your bladder is genuinely full before you leave.
“So the way I tell people, if you're going on a long car ride or you're getting on an airplane, you want to really plan out your day for that,” she added.
“So if you're leaving at 10:00 am, then around 8:00 am you're going to be like, 'This is the last time I'm going to go to the bathroom, because I want that last pee before I leave to actually be with a full bladder, so that my bladder can fill all the way up before it starts to bug me and give me urges'."
If you do have persistent issues, however, it’s always advisable to speak to your GP.
Topics: Lifestyle
Anish Vij