Your bladder plays a crucial role in your overall well-being, and taking care of its health involves more than just keeping bathroom breaks in check. In this post, we’ll share seven essential tips that can make a significant difference for your bladder health. Putting these tips into place can help improve urinary control and reduce your risk of infections.
Tip #1 – Maintain good overall health
When it comes to bladder health, start by assessing your overall health. Many basic, healthy practices will help support proper urinary function. These include:
Keeping a healthy weight.
Exercising regularly.
Maintaining normal blood pressure.
Eating a healthy diet.
Tip #2 – Practice good urinary habits
When’s the last time you considered your urinary habits or discussed them with a doctor? While there is often stigma around these topics, it’s important to foster open conversations. Doing so will empower you to make informed decisions about your health.
Here are some good urinary habits to put into place:
Do not hold your urine when you feel the urge to go. Contrary to what you may think, delaying urination won’t strengthen your bladder muscles – it weakens them.
Make sure you fully void when you urinate. We’re often in a rush in life but take a minute to relax and make sure you’ve fully emptied your bladder. Failing to do so can lead to UTIs or weaker bladder muscles over time.
Urinate after sex. Sexual activity can introduce fecal bacteria into the urethra, which can trigger a UTI. Urinating is a simple way to flush bacteria out.
For women, make sure to wipe from front to back. This prevents the introduction of bacteria into the urethra.
These simple measures will go far to help you prevent concerns such as bladder infections and dysfunction.
Tip #3 – Stay hydrated
Staying hydrated is not only good for your overall health, but it can also help reduce your risk of UTIs, kidney stones, and other urinary concerns.
How much water should you drink? The Mayo Clinic recommends that an average adult male drink 15.5 cups of water per daily, and females, 11.5 cups. This total includes water from everything you consume in a day, including all drinks and food. In other words, you probably don’t need to chug 15.5 cups of plain water to get to that total. A good rule of thumb is that your urine should be very pale in color.
Here's one more tip: it’s a good idea to make sure you’ve completed your hydration for the day a couple hours before you go to bed. After that? You could find yourself needing to get up throughout the night.
Tip #4 – Stop smoking
We often associate smoking with lung cancer – but did you know smoking is also the #1 cause of bladder cancer?
One of the best steps you can take for your bladder health is to quit smoking.
Tip #5 – Limit certain food and drinks
Certain foods and drinks may increase your need to urinate or cause irritation. These will vary from person to person. However, there are a few common culprits, including:
Caffeine
Alcohol
Carbonated beverages
Citrus foods
Tomatoes
Spicy foods
Pay attention to how your body reacts to certain food and beverages. While you may not need to cut them out of your diet entirely, you may find moderating intake decreases your bathroom trips.
Tip #6 – Pelvic floor exercises
Pelvic floor exercises, commonly known as Kegel exercises, involve contracting and relaxing the muscles that support the bladder, urethra, and rectum. Contrary to popular thought, Kegel exercises are not gender exclusive. While they are particularly helpful for women dealing with urinary incontinence, especially after childbirth, men can also benefit. This is particularly true for men dealing with incontinence or post-prostate surgery issues.
In brief, here’s the process:
Situate yourself comfortably. Stand, sit, or lie down – whatever is most comfortable to you.
Identify your pelvic floor muscles. For women, you might imagine tightening your vagina around a tampon. For men, imagine preventing gas from passing.
Contract and relax. Contract your pelvic floor muscles for a count of three, and then relax for three.
Aim for 30-40 repetitions daily. It’s most effective to spread the repetitions out over your day. Break into 3-4 sessions of 10.
It may take a few months of consistent practice to see a reduction in symptoms, so be patient.
Tip #7 – If something is “off,” don’t delay medical care
Anytime you notice a change in your urinary tract health or sense that something isn’t right – reach out to a medical professional.
It may be tempting to write off your concern or wait to see if it gets worse. Remember, it’s always in your best interest to get early intervention when it comes to your health. Chances are you’ll have more options for a quicker recovery the sooner you get checked out.
We’re Here if You Have Questions
Incorporating these tips into your daily routine will not only promote a healthier bladder but also prevent common urinary ailments.
However, we recognize that you may have concerns beyond what we’ve shared in this post. When you’re facing a specific concern about your bladder health? We’re here to help. Our team of urologists have experience with a wide range of clinical problems involving the bladder and kidneys. Our specialty covers both male and female urinary tract concerns.
We’d be happy to help answer your bladder concerns. Reach out to our clinic today.