It is 11 a.m. and I have already peed four times today. I would like to submit this as evidence that I am, in fact, the most frequent pee-er at Man Repeller. This is a longstanding debate in our office, with each of us claiming the title on a near weekly basis. While we’ll never know who truly rains supreme (not a spelling error) — my idea of a paper tally was shot down by HR — the critical question at the root of our debate remains: Are we peeing too much?
I can’t speak for everyone else, but today I learned I do pee too much. And it’s probably my fault. According to Medical News Today, I ought to be peeing between six and eight times a day, also known as about a third of my current status quo. Apparently, an excess of trips to the bathroom could mean I’m “failing to completely void my bladder,” which is my new favorite way to sound fancy.
Medical News Today reports many of us are failing to properly empty our tanks. The cool news is there are both explanations and solutions for this particular problem. Which I’m going to tell you about right after I pee for a fifth time before lunch.
For one, we may be waiting too long to pee. “When the bladder is stretched excessively,” says MNT, “it may not ‘snap’ back as effectively. This results in further difficulty with complete voiding.” We may also be rushing or distracted. That’s a yes, yes and yes for me. Failing to void our bladders isn’t just inconvenient, though, it also puts us at risk of UTIs or, worse, kidney infection.
The presented solutions include double voiding, Credé’s maneuver, bladder percussion, stimulation therapy and vibration therapy, which all sound so much more intense than they are. To that end, consider shouting that you’re doing any one of these next time someone knocks on the bathroom door and you want them to go away.
Double voiding, which is explained in detail here, essentially involves waiting on the toilet for 20 to 30 seconds after you finish finish peeing, leaning forward to place your elbows on your knees or thighs and then urinating again. More often than not, there’s a little left in us that we didn’t feel. “The Credé maneuver involves sitting on the toilet and leaning slightly forward before urinating. A person should place each hand above their pubic bone, press slightly inward toward their stomach and begin urinating.” Both merely require patience.
Other methods, like bladder percussion, are a little more active: “Tapping on the bladder with slight pressure can cause contractions that will help pass urine.” And for stimulation therapy, consider the frightening task of “pulling on the pubic hairs” or massaging your lower stomach or inner thighs. For the very brave/desperate/hedonistic, bring your vibrator into the bathroom with you and engage in some vibration therapy, as “the vibrations can stimulate the bladder and encourage emptying.” Frankly, these approaches sound fun for all involved.
If you’re not bothered by urinary frequency, ignore all of this. But if you are, consider bringing a little more focus into the picture next time you’re peeing (and maybe stop Instagramming or something). Now please weigh in: Do you think you pee too much? DO YOU THINK YOU PEE MORE THAN ME? (Bring it.) Have you ever tried any of these bladder hacks? I’ll meet you in the comments right after I head in for #6.
Photo by Frederic Lewis via Getty Images.
