Urinary Urgency
Urinary urgency is one of the most common symptoms treated with pelvic floor physical therapy. The constant or intense need to urinate or defecate is not normal. For most people, the treatment is simple!
Urinary urgency can happen for multiple reasons. Common causes are infection, muscle tension, bladder irritation, or coordination issues. Most people who test negatively for UTI when experiencing these symptoms have coordination troubles, which is a simple fix. If you’re doing the potty dance on the way to the bathroom, you are unintentionally pushing the urine out. It feels counterintuitive, but you are much more likely to hold your urine if you keep the belly soft.
The next time you aren’t sure you are going to make it to the bathroom on time, try these simple steps:
Pause and take a breath.
Gently squeeze the pelvic floor like you’re trying to hold in gas. Keeping the belly soft is key!
Distract yourself: try counting backwards from 283 by 7 or say the alphabet backwards
CALMLY walk to the bathroom.
If this helps but doesn’t fix the problem, you may have something else contributing to your symptoms. Reach out to schedule an appointment with our pelvic floor experts to get to the deeper cause!