Let Waters Roll

If you’re peeing in small sprinkles instead of big showers, you might be going too often. If you tinkle before your bladder is full, then you are training your bladder to get the urge to pee when it isn’t full. If you’re sprinkling instead of showering, you might want to tune in to your body signals, turn on to filling your bladder and drop out of preventative peeing.

Half-Litre Piddle

A normal bladder holds about half a litre, but some bladders hold more. Adults usually empty the bladder 5—8 times a day, depending on how much liquid you drink and how much you sweat. If you don’t drink too much, you should be able to go 6 hours without peeing. At night, the bladder fills slower, so you can last longer.

Whizzing When You Needn’t

If you go too often when your bladder is not full, your bladder can start to shrink, and then you will have to go more often. If you’re peeing less than a cup at a time, you’re probably going too often. When the bladder is full, it stretches slightly. This stretching triggers nerves that send the signal that it’s time to take a whiz.

Most of the Time

What matters is not what you do once in a while. What matters is what you do most of the time. When you’re going on a trip or going to be away from a bathroom for a while, say on a long walk, it makes sense to empty your bladder before you leave. But if you’re peeing all the time, when you really don’t need to, your bladder is not really doing its job. Some animals, such as mice, have no bladder, so they are going all the time. People are not like that.

Stretch Your bladder

On the other hand, if you’re holding it too long all the time, it can stretch your bladder. A stretched bladder loses some of its stretchiness, so when it gets full, it becomes an emergency. Occasionally, letting your bladder get full doesn’t cause any problems. What is a problem is not emptying it fully.

Empty Completely

Sometimes it takes a bit of time to empty your bladder. It takes an extra few seconds, but take time to fully empty your bladder. Pee that stays in the bladder increases your chance of getting an infection. Anyone who has had a bladder infection knows you don’t want another. Empty your bladder completely when you relieve yourself.

Bladder Muscles

Peeing actually involves several muscles. Of course, there is the muscle that opens and closes the valve, so to speak, for peeing. There are actually 2 valves that open and close. But there is also a muscle in the bladder wall itself. Normally, it is relaxed to allow the bladder to fill. But to empty the bladder fully, this bladder muscle has to be tensed. This is not something you can do willfully. This muscle can cause leakage when it malfunctions by squeezing the bladder when it shouldn’t.

Overactive Bladder

Sometimes the bladder gets overactive. It starts to contract either before it’s full or without warning when it’s full. Usually, the need to pee gets stronger as the bladder fills, and the first signal comes well before it is full. But with an overactive bladder, the messages get garbled. Nerve damage can cause the signals to get garbled.

Bladder Infection

Under age 50, women get bladder infections about 50 times more often than men. This is because most infections work their way up the urinary tube, which is shorter in women. After 50, men start to get infections because their prostate swells. Very often, the bacteria that cause infections live on your skin most of the time with no problems, but when they work their way into the bladder, they cause problems. Peeing washes the bacteria out. Urine itself is normally bacteria-free, so it is good at cleaning the exit plumbing. After menopause, some body changes make bladder infections more likely, so take extra care.

Bladder Bacteria

When you have an infection, it causes the bladder to become inflamed. That is what causes uncomfortable symptoms. Most bladder infections are caused by bacteria, but some are caused by a fungus or even a parasite. They can also be caused by a venereal disease (STD). If you do get a bladder infection, try to get rid of it on your own for only a few days. If you can’t get rid of it in a few days, it’s time to see the doctor. You may need to get an antibiotic. Bladder infections can spread to the kidneys.

Help Prevent Bladder Infections

To help prevent bladder infections, make sure you are drinking enough. Regular peeing keeps the plumbing clean. Drinking too little makes your pee more concentrated, which irritates the plumbing. It also helps to take Vitamin C. Some Vitamin C goes right through you, and it makes your pee a little acidic, which assists the cleaning process.

Cough, Cough, Leakage

Some leakage is common, especially in women. One out of 4 women over 60 have some leakage. At 80, men are as likely as women to have the problem. Often, it is due to a sudden increase in pressure in the gut from coughing, laughing, or lifting something. You may be too embarrassed to tell your doctor, but it’s common. Your doctor has seen it many times.

Prevent Leakage

There are a few things you can do to limit leakage. Make sure you’re not going too often. Going too often, the just-in-case peeing, trains your body to get the need to pee even when the bladder is far from full. If there is only a small amount of urine when you pee, you should wait. When you do go, take the extra time to fully empty the bladder. Leaving urine in the bladder when you go is the worst thing you can do. Also, drink water in moderation. Drinking water is good, but when you’re worried about leakage, don’t overdo it. A total of 6 cups of water a day might be enough if you are not sweating. Avoid too much caffeine, as it tends to dehydrate you and can make your bladder jittery.

Bladder Training

And finally, you can do some training. It is possible to strengthen the muscle that pinches off the flow. In both men and women, the muscle that stops the flow is at the very bottom of your trunk between your legs. It takes a bit of practice to flex this muscle. The next time you go, try to flex the muscle a few times to find it, but only after your bladder is empty. To strengthen this muscle, flex it for 10 seconds, 10 times, 3 times a day. At first, it will be tough to isolate, but with practice, it gets easier. You can make the exercise part of your routine, say every morning after you brush your teeth. It takes a while to see results, but after a month, you should see an improvement. Also, women can take this to the next level by getting a special set of weights called Kegel weights. Strengthening this muscle helps with leakage and emptying.

House Training

You can’t make radical changes to your peeing schedule. Instead, make small shifts over time. Next time you are going to pee, ask yourself, do I really need to go? If the answer is no and you will still have access to a bathroom, wait a bit. It also doesn’t hurt to track when you answer the call of nature. Track when you pee and what you eat, there may be a link between food and bladder irritation. Learn to listen to your body. Sometimes your body is telling you to pee now, sometimes it’s telling you to wait and sometimes it is telling you to get some medical advice.