Imagine this, you are getting ready to leave the house, the kids are all ready and loaded in the car, and you stop to think, “Let me go pee just in case.” Ever been guilty of this? I know I have!!
Urinating “just in case,” or JICing, is a behavioral problem that we need to address, and here’s why. Your bladder is a muscular tank that has communication with your brain. As your bladder fills through the day, it sends signals to the brain to tell you to when to stop and go to the bathroom. For example, let’s say your bladder is 1/3 full. It sends a signal to the brain that there is some filling, but we can continue doing what we are doing. Then, when the bladder is about 1/2 full, a signal is sent that we may need to come to a stopping point soon so we can go to the bathroom. Now, our bladder is 2/3 full, so the bladder sends a signal to the brain to go ahead and go to the restroom. We follow our bladder and brain commands, sit on the toilet, and urinate.
Now, if we make a habit of “just in case” peeing, we actually retrain our bladder to start sending those signals earlier. In other words, we may start actually going to the bathroom when our bladder is only 1/2 full. That leads to more frequent urination throughout the day. If you feel like you are urinating too frequently (meaning more than 11 times a day), evaluate your habits and see if you are JICing. There are many other reasons for increased urinary frequency, so having an evaluation by a pelvic floor physical therapist is very important to find out the underlying reason for this.
If you would like to chat about frequent urination, just let me know! Schedule and online appointment and we can discuss your habits and behaviors, and see how we can improve your urinary lifestyle!
Take care and be well.
~Dr. Steph
