Growing up, your parents may have got you into the habit of trying to go for a wee before leaving the house ‘just in case’.
But you’re an adult now and one expert has a bit of a scary warning for anyone who hasn’t quite managed to rid themselves of the habit and still routinely try for a little ‘just in case’ pee.
Tiffany Sequeira, a specialist pelvic health physiotherapist, says that forcing yourself to have a wee when you don’t really need one could be storing up problems for your bladder later in life. Not ideal.
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Tiffany told the Metro: “It’s actually a really bad habit for your bladder.
“Going for a wee when you don’t feel the immediate need to do so strains your bladder to empty, when it isn’t actually full yet.”
And if you do this repeatedly on a regular basis, you’ll end up confusing the signals between your brain and your bladder.
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Tiffany explained that in general, when our bladder fills, the urine that is pressing against the bladder wall is what sends a signal to our brains to tell us we need to go to the toilet. Pretty simple, eh?
But by going to the toilet before that signal you risk confusing things.
“Going on that first signal to pass urine – or even worse going when you don’t feel the urge to pass urine ‘just in case’ – can result in a bladder signalling dysfunction,” Tiffany explained.
“Over time your bladder becomes accustomed to passing urine at a lower capacity than normal resulting in a ‘weak bladder’, as some refer to.”
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Tiffany also recommends people do some pelvic floor exercises to help support your bladder, bowel and uterus - if you have one.
If you want to find your pelvic floor muscles, the NHS recommends that you imagine you’re trying to stop you wee mid-flow. Got it?
To strengthen, the NHS suggests you get into a comfortable sitting position and then simply squeeze the muscles 10 to 15 times.
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Don’t hold your breath or tighten your stomach, bottom or thigh muscles at the same time.
Once you’ve got them hang of them, you might want to try and hold each squeeze for a few seconds and - as the weeks progress - you can add in more squeezes to your pelvic floor routine.
However, be careful not to overdo and, like any exercise, take a little break between sets.
Claire Reid