Did you know that your bladder can hold up to 500ml of fluid?
Did you know that if we drink up to 2 litres of water per day then we probably should only be going to the toilet every 2-3 hours?
Did you know that when you empty your bladder first thing in the morning that is usually your longest twinkle of the day?
I attended physio recently and I was asked about my bladder control, I explained I emptied my bladder before I came to my appointment so I didn't have an urgent need to go on my journey due to the amount of water I consume. I was told that if it was a just-in-case toilet trip I was creating bad habits by teaching my bladder to be overactive.
That made me think to myself there are a lot of women who have probably created some unhealthy toilet habits. The good news is we can undo those habits by re-training our bladder especially if there are no medical conditions associated with incontinence.
This is where the strength of our pelvic floor muscles can help us, even if yours may be weak due to childbirth etc. You can try training the pelvic floor muscles by doing your long and short pelvic squeezes, introduce a gentle Pilates routine as it helps to strengthen your core, avoid straining when you open your bowels as it can weaken the pelvic floor and where possible avoid caffeine, spicy and acidic foods as they can irritate the bladder
If you think you have a few bladder issues think about creating a bladder diary to see how many times you go within 24 hours, you can also count how long you spend on the toilet by counting using the Mississippi method { if you count between 8-10 Mississippis this is probably a just in case tinkle}. If you find you are going too often try and aim to go every 2-3 hours when it is safe to do so as your bladder can hold up to 500ml.
#empoweringwomenonhealth&wellbeing #understandingourbladder