VERIFIED CONTENTAuthor: Dominika Wilk
Do you think pissing is a trivial activity that requires no attention? You're wrong. Incorrect urination results in inflammation, an overactive bladder, or urinary incontinence. See what other unpleasant consequences are associated with an incorrect urination technique and how you should do it correctly.
Common mistakes when urinating
Urinating too fast
Rush accompanies us not only during work. We also try to do everything in the toilet as quickly as possible, and this is not conducive to the correct technique of urinating. Bladder emptying is a result of the coordinated and interplay between the bladder detrusor muscles and the sphincter muscles.
First there is a contraction of the former, and then the relaxation of the latter - they have their own pace of work and you do not need to accelerate it. When we tighten the bladder tightly to pee as quickly as possible, we unnecessarily engage the abdominal press.
In the physiological state, intravesical pressure increases during voiding, without the need to involve the abdominal pressure.
Pressure during micturition
Trying to pee to the last drop is also a common mistake we make in the toilet. Usually, when we feel that there is something else in our bladder, we try to force the urine out. However, we shouldn't do this.
As previously mentioned - the involvement of the abdominal press is not recommended, because it engages the abdominal muscles and disrupts the micturition process itself, and disrupts the work of the detrusor and sphincters. The pressure puts additional pressure on the entire perineal area, including the ligaments that support the organs. Over time, this becomes a factor that, along with others, can lead to lower pelvic organs.
In addition, when we have the impression that we do not empty the bladder completely and it happens frequently, then let's go to a urogynecological physiotherapist to remedy the problem, but do not try to force the urine out ourselves.
Bad posture
A visit to the toilet is more and more often done with the phone in hand. Then we bend down unconsciously, which is not conducive to free urination.In order to urinate properly, we must be upright. It's best to rest your whole feet on the floor, so that our posture is stable and the muscles of the urethra can be relaxed.
Stopping the urine flow
Have you heard that stopping the flow of urine while peeing helps exercise your pelvic floor muscles? It's a myth. In addition, it is very harmful.
As emphasizedurogynecological physiotherapist Marta Kotusiewicz : "This exercise is contrary to physiology and may aggravate the symptoms of stress urinary incontinence and urge incontinence - because it disturbs the change in tension between the bladder wall and sphincters causing discoordination between the activity of the bladder and sphincters against the background of erroneous, disturbed nervous information. The practice of interrupting the urine stream, repeated from time to time to check the innervation of the external urethral sphincter after urogynecological or gynecological surgery, is allowed exceptionally, most often during a hospital stay, and cannot constitute a training recommendation. "
In addition, it can lead to pain during micturition, and even lead to increased pain during intercourse.
Incorrect position in the public toilet
Do you use a public restroom and disgust to sit on a seat that thousands of other women used to sit on? We fully understand it. However, your resistance should not force you to adopt an unfavorable posture while urinating - the so-called "skier" position. In it, your buttocks are high above the board, and you are all leaned forward and trying, often with effort, to urinate.
This position is bad for the bladder, which has to overcome resistance in the form of tight and tight muscles to be able to pass urine. In addition, it promotes insufficient bladder emptying and thus increases the risk of infection.
If this happens occasionally, nothing bad will happen. However, if you continue to urinate day after day at work, you can harm your urinary tract and disrupt your bladder.
Too much urination
During the day you should visit the toilet 3-7 times to urinate. Of course, these values may vary depending on the amount of fluids consumed, the physiological state (pregnancy), or accompanying diseases.
However, there are people who go to the toilet even several times a day because they have developed unfavorable habits. These include women who pee "in advance" because they are just leaving somewhere, because they travel and you never know where the next toilet will beetc.
Their bladder gets used to emptying over time, even with a small amount of urine in it. This leads to a situation that even if it is only slightly filled, there is a signal from the body that you need to go to the toilet.
As you can see, too frequent pissing, not related to the actual need (filling to the end of the bladder), may mean that we become overactive bladder.
Proper urination techniques
In order to urinate properly and not suffer from later ailments, it is worth following the following tips:
- We pee upright, legs resting on the floor. Thanks to this, our urethra and the muscles around it are relaxed, and we do not have to push.
- We let the body act on its own. This means that we do not put extra effort into urinating, do not wash, but wait for the muscles to relax themselves and the urine will flow freely from the urethra.
- We don't use the phone, newspaper or book when we sit on the toilet. In this way, we assume the wrong posture and put strain on the pelvic floor muscles. When we urinate, we focus only on that one activity and don't drag the toilet seat indefinitely.
- We don't go pee in advance. We go to the toilet when we feel a stronger pressure, and not as a result of fear that it will not be possible to use the toilet later.
- We also don't keep urinating indefinitely. When we have felt a strong pressure on the bladder for a long time, let's go to the toilet.
- In a public toilet, put special covers on the toilet seat or spray them with an antibacterial spray, and then sit on them. It is unfortunate to urinate in the air with a bent belly.
Consequences of inappropriate urination
Improper urination can contribute to the development of an overactive bladder and urinary incontinence with / without urgency, and weaken the entire pelvic floor. If this happens, it is worth going to a specialist in order to correct the mistakes made.
Overactive bladder
As a result of using the toilet too often and urinating "spare", we can teach our body that even with a small amount of urine collected in the bladder, we will feel the need to go to the toilet.
Bladder overactivity can then take two faces: either we look for a toilet everywhere and make it on time to urinate in the toilet, or the pressure becomes so urgent that we start to urinate. It all depends on the strength of our muscles and on additional disorderson the part of the nervous system.
Here are some tips on how to recognize an overactive bladder:
- We urinate more than 8 times a day during the day,
- We get up at night to urinate (nocturia),
- We urinate in small amounts, ranging from 50-200 ml (the norm is 300-500 ml).
Overflow incontinence
Overflow incontinence occurs in 3-4% of women and is usually caused by impaired central nervous system function due to illness or medication.
It can, however, develop on the basis of our abnormal behavior, when we hold back urine for hours and the bladder stretches to such an extent that the muscle called the detrusor eventually begins to contract and overflow incontinence occurs.
Weakening of the pelvic floor muscles
Repeated inappropriate toilet habits (e.g. pressure) may cause pelvic floor muscle weakness. This, in turn, may result in an increased tendency to incontinence of urine, faeces or prolapse of the reproductive organs at a later time. The reduced functionality of the above-mentioned muscles can lead to a reduction in sexual satisfaction.
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How to counteract the effects of inappropriate urination?
If, as a result of improper urination, the bladder is disturbed and we have too much frequency of visits to the toilet, when the first symptoms of urinary incontinence appear or we feel the effects of weakening of the pelvic floor muscles, then it is worth going to a urogynecological physiotherapist, who, after a detailed interview, will suggest appropriate therapy and exercises that we can perform to get rid of troublesome ailments.
How to prepare for the first visit to the urogynecological physiotherapist?
When visiting a urogynecological physiotherapist for the first time, it is worth writing down on a piece of paper the issues that you want to raise during the visit or he alth issues that concern you. You can also take with you the current results of vaginal ultrasound and abdominal ultrasound or other diagnostically important results of tests that were previously ordered and described by a urologist or gynecologist, e.g. urine tests, morphology, urodynamic tests.
It is also a good idea to bring a completed mictions diary with you. The first visit consists mainly in collecting an interview by the physiotherapist and performing, if recommended, functional tests.
So you can observe more about toilet issues a few days before the visitand write down:
- how often do you go to the toilet,
- what is the average amount of fluids we drink,
- when there is pressure on the bladder etc.
During the visit, the interview is supplemented with functional diagnostics.
As emphasized by the physiotherapist Marta Kotusiewicz: “just like at the doctor, the patient is examined functionally, manually, using EMG, ultrasound - depending on the qualifications of the physiotherapist. Such comprehensively collected information makes it much easier for the physiotherapist to plan the therapy according to the diagnosis made by a specialist doctor. "