Doctor reveals how you’re peeing WRONG – and why it’s bad for your health
A DOCTOR has revealed the huge mistake people are making when they pee.
The habit can lead to painful urinary tract infections (UTIs), and is often the cause of recurring UTIs.
UTIs make it painful to urinate and give a constant urge to pee, meaning you feel you need to be on the toilet for hours of the day.
They aren’t usually serious. But repeatedly, they can affect somebody’s daily life.
In serious cases UTIs can lead to kidney infections.
There are many ways to prevent UTIs, one of them being to urinate properly.
Dr Shree Datta, consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at MyHealthcare Clinic in London, explained many people do not properly empty their bladder.
If they are in a hurry, it’s possible they are leaving a significant amount of urine in there."One way to address this is to use the double-voiding technique,” Dr Datta told Metro.
“That means you pee, or ‘void’, then take a moment while you stand up.
“You then sit down and void again, and very often you can pass a further significant amount of urine.
“It’s as simple as that and can make a huge difference in the longer term.
“Other techniques for emptying your bladder include taking your time and making sure you are sitting on the toilet in the correct position, with your knees apart and leaning forward.”
When urine stays in the bladder too long, bacteria can build up, raising the risk of a UTI.
A UTI is when the lining of the bladder and urethra become red and irritated, which gives the sensation of needing to urinate as well as pain.
As well as this, if the bladder does not empty properly, the muscles could stretch and damage, causing even more problems.
But intimate Health Expert and Founder of Kegel8 Stephanie Taylor, warned that taking too much time on the toilet could also be harmful.
She explained that your pelvic health can suffer while hovering on the loo for too long can weaken the muscles and encourage urine to dribble intermittently, rather than just start and stop.
BATHROOM HABITS
She explained: “This can eventually cause incontinence or even prolapse, so try to keep the process succinct to avoid long-lasting damage.
“It can cause problems on the other end, too. 10-minute toilet sessions could give you haemorrhoids by putting extra pressure on the veins that are at risk of bleeding.”
People normally need to pee when their bladder is two-thirds full, with the organ holding up to 600ml or liquid.
“Normally people go to the toilet every three hours or so, so around seven times during the daytime,” Prof Stergios Doumouchtsis, a leading expert in urogynaecology based at Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust, told The Sun.
If you find yourself peeing more often than this, it may signal you are storing urine, rather than emptying properly at each trip.
Sometimes people have no idea their bladder may be holding onto urine for reasons including constipation, fear around privacy, or for women, if they “hover” over the toilet seat instead of sitting on it.
Urinary retention is a condition in which the bladder is unable to properly empty and affects both men and women.
It can be a side effect of medicines or a nerve issue due to diabetes, childbirth or stroke.
You should see a doctor if you are unable to pee or have severe pain in your abdomen.
How can you avoid UTIs?
If you follow these steps you are less likely to suffer a UTI:
- Make sure you have fully emptied your bladder when you pee
- Wipe from front to back when you go to the loo
- Always pee after sex to flush out any bacteria that may have entered the urinary tract
- Wear loose fitting, cotton underwear to avoid any irritation down below
- Drink plenty of water to keep everything flowing down there
- Opt for showers instead of baths - bacteria can sit in the water and enter your urinary tract in a bath
- Drink cranberry juice - although there is no hard proof this works, there is no harm in doing it, Mayo Clinic says
- Avoid using diaphragms or spermicidal coated condoms as a birth control method
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