Bladder leakage is a common occurrence for many individuals. 30% of people will experience bladder leakage at some point in their lives. Bladder leakage is any unwanted loss of urine. It can come in the form of leakage when you cough or sneeze, run or jump, or when you’re trying to get to the bathroom and can’t make it on time. Just remember, bladder leakage is not normal, no matter what type of leakage you may have!
Below are some common mistakes we see when people are trying to limit bladder leakage.
Do not limit your overall fluid intake. Most people think that if they drink more fluids, they will urinate and leak more. The problem with this is that decreasing fluids will cause your urine to be more concentrated, which will irritate the lining of the bladder and cause you to feel more urgency and potentially experience more leakage. The general rule to follow is to try to consume at least 50% of your body weight in fluid ounces of liquid daily. Your daily intake of fluids should be primarily water. You should aim to have the color of your urine be a very pale yellow; a darker yellow urine color means you need to hydrate more.
Do not empty your bladder “just because.” When people have trouble with urinary leakage, they often start going to the bathroom more often to make sure their bladder is always empty. This practice can unfortunately lead to greater bladder urgency, frequency, and potentially more leakage.
Do not stop activities you enjoy doing! In order to avoid leaking, many people simply stop doing the activities that are causing the leakage, like running or pickleball or “bootcamp.” This can put people into a downward spiral of being less active and contribute to declining health.
What is one of the best things you can do to decrease your urinary leakage? Find a specialty trained Pelvic Floor Physical Therapist. They will be able to evaluate your lifestyle habits, posture, spinal and extremity range of motion, strength, and other factors that may be contributing to your urinary leakage. They should be able to create an effective plan for eliminating your urine troubles!
Do you want to take the next step to eliminate your urinary leakage?
Contact us!
Magic City Physical Therapy
Hoover, AL
Phone (205) 602-1848
Fax (205) 293-3895
