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Q: A urologist recently told me I shouldn’t go to the bathroom “just in case.” Is that true?
As children, many of us were encouraged to pee before we left the house or whenever a bathroom was nearby. There was a good reason: using the bathroom “just in case” can help prevent accidents among children prone to “holding it.”
Urologists call this practice “convenience” or “proactive” voiding, and people of all ages do it, often before heading out the door or going to sleep.
An occasional “just in case” bathroom break won’t do much harm, said Dr. Ariana Smith, a professor of urology at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. But doing it several times a day, she said, can increase the likelihood of bladder issues by disrupting the natural feedback loop between your bladder and your brain.
How does peeing ‘just in case’ affect bladder health?
To understand why proactive voiding can be harmful, it helps to know how the bladder works. As your kidneys filter blood to remove waste, they produce urine, which is carried to your bladder. Women can typically hold up to 500 milliliters of urine, or around two cups, in their bladders; men can store 700 milliliters, or nearly three cups.
We generally feel the urge to use the bathroom well before we hit that limit, when our bladder contains between 150 and 250 milliliters of liquid. As the bladder fills up, it sends nerve signals to the brain, letting us know it’s time to go.
The experts we spoke with said that when you pee “just in case,” your bladder starts alerting your brain too early, before having the standard amount of urine. This disruption can reduce “the volume your bladder can hold over time,” said Siobhan Sutcliffe, an epidemiologist and professor of surgery at Washington University.
As a result, you might experience discomfort when you are in a situation where you can’t use the bathroom right away, Dr. Smith said.
Urinating before the need arises also makes you more likely to strain. Doing so puts extra pressure on the pelvic floor muscles — a muscle group that supports the bladder and other organs — and can potentially weaken them, said Kathryn Burgio, a behavioral psychologist and professor emerita of gerontology, geriatrics and palliative care at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine.
For these reasons, “just in case” peeing may lead people to develop an overactive bladder, a condition marked by a strong and frequent urge to urinate, Dr. Sutcliffe said.
Is it possible to break the habit?
The short answer is yes. Researchers have found that the brain has more control than we might think, or as Dr. Alayne Markland, chief of geriatrics at the University of Utah School of Medicine, likes to tell her patients: “Mind over bladder.”
If you want to reduce preventative bathroom breaks, try deep breathing, distraction or self-statements like “I’m in control,” Dr. Burgio said. A few small studies suggest that mindfulness techniques can reduce sudden, intense urges to pee. More research is needed, but experts believe that methods like these could help you retrain your bladder to send signals only when more liquid has accumulated.
If you’re already experiencing conditions like an overactive bladder or urinary incontinence, however, there are other things you can try:
Work with a pelvic floor therapist. There’s a growing body of research to suggest that physical therapy for pelvic floor muscles can help people have more control over when they pee, Dr. Sutcliffe said. By working with a physical therapist, patients can learn to engage and strengthen those muscles to control the bladder.
“We teach people to wait, take a deep breath and contract the pelvic floor muscles repeatedly,” Dr. Burgio said. That will “help calm the bladder, so the urge goes away.”
Monitor what you drink. Experts emphasized that lifestyle modifications like fluid management can also help. Caffeine, alcohol, drinks with high acidity and even some artificial ingredients, such as sweeteners, can irritate the bladder’s lining and cause more frequent urges. Cutting back on caffeine, Dr. Smith said, “is something we’ve universally seen as helpful,” as doing so can decrease urges and leakage.
Get checked out for other health conditions. Talk with a doctor about your overall health, as conditions like diabetes or sleep apnea can cause more frequent urges. Other interventions, such as medication, may be options in cases like these.
The goal is to tame the “vicious cycle between the brain and the bladder,” said Dr. Smith, who is optimistic that, in most cases, the effects of “just in case” peeing can be remedied. “Healthy bladders are resilient,” she said.
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