The bladder and peeing

The elusive normal bladder

What can you expect from a normal bladder?

There is obviously variation and a spectrum of what is considered normal and healthy for a bladder. Here are some basics:

• peeing 5-8x/day (every 2-4 hours)

• 0-1x overnight or 0-2x if you’re age 65+

• at least 8 seconds of a strong stream

• normal void volume: 10-15oz

The bladder muscle (detrusor) pushes urine out and the pelvic floor just needs to relax.

Some of us have been pushing our pee out for as long as we remember. Maybe you lived in a place with one bathroom and thirteen roommates and someone was always banging on the door? Maybe you’re a teacher or nurse and it’s just expected that you hold your pee and rush to go when you need to so you can get back to your students or patients as fast as possible.

I’m here to tell you to please stop pushing and let your bladder do that.

If you have no clue how much you’re peeing, you can try keeping a bladder diary for a couple days noting specifically:

• how much you drink

• how much you void (use a measuring cup or count seconds)

• if you leak, when does it happen?

There are certain food and drink ingredients that the bladder doesn’t like. Unfortunately, a lot of these are in the “fun” category of food and drink.

Bladder irritants

For most people:

• coffee

• caffeine

• carbonation

• alcohol

• smoking

And for some unlucky or more sensitive bladders, this list might include:

• dairy

• acidic foods

• spicy foods

• chocolate

• artificial sweeteners

Because these can irritate the lining of the bladder, it might tell you it needs to pee when it’s not full. Irritants can also increase leakage because the bladder just wants the irritating urine to go away. This also doesn’t mean you need to cut all these things out if you’re experiencing urgency, frequency, or leakage. It can just give you a better idea of what might be happening and why your symptoms might be worse sometimes and better other times.

You can try making a “fun bev” sandwich by drinking some water before and after to help dilute the urine and make it less irritating.

Good bladder habits:

• drink half your body weight (lbs) in oz of fluid per day

• more if you’re active or it’s hot. Watery foods count too.

• 2/3 of your total fluid intake should be plain (not bubbly) water because carbonation can be irritating (so annoying)

• this may seem counterintuitive, but water makes urine less concentrated and therefore less irritating, so easier for the bladder to hold without getting mad

• space fluids out! The body is bad at hydrating if fluid comes in all at once. Ideally, you’ll take a few sips every half hour or so.

• Check your pee color for more info on hydration status; it should look like lemonade.

• try not to pee just-in-case; wait until you actually feel a strong urge. Just-in-case voiding trains the bladder to think it’s full at smaller amounts and then it will lie to you about urgency.

• it’s normal to have a little urine left in the bladder after peeing; you can rock your hips side to side and relax again if you don’t feel empty, but don’t push to try to get more out after you feel done.

• this may feel frustrating if you’re someone who leaks, but pushing can make things worse long term.

I believe in you. Feel free to schedule a discovery call if you’d more information or are considering working with me and I’ll do my best to help!

This content is for informational purposes only and is not medical advice. Please consult your qualified medical provider for an individual assessment or plan of care.