3 Tips to Stop Bladder Leakage

Have you ever stood up from the toilet only to notice you have a few drops of urine escape without your control? This has a name! It’s called post micturition dribble, or post-void dribbling. It is a common condition in which a small amount of urine gets stuck in the urethra and then once you stand up or move around it can leak or dribble out. While this phenomenon may be very common, it does not mean it is normal! So what can we do about it?

Causes

There are 2 main causes of Post Micturition Dribble:

1. Pushing or rushing your urine stream
2. A weakened or tight pelvic floor 

Let’s start with the first issue, pushing your urine out or rushing to get in/out of the bathroom as quickly as possible. While you may think a quick and forceful urine stream is efficient it may be causing more harm than good to your pelvic floor. When we urinate our pelvic floor muscle needs to be able to relax to allow for the passage of urine. If we consciously try to push or strain our urine stream it will cause a forced contraction of the muscles that should be relaxing! So how can we fix it?

Tips

Here are a few tips to keep in mind the next time you take a trip to the bathroom:

• Take deep breaths while sitting on the toilet, this will help cue your brain to relax and help your pelvic floor muscles to empty your bladder
• Once your urine stream has stopped, stay there! Sit on the toilet for an additional 5-10 seconds. It can also be helpful to gently rock side to side and forward and back, this slight movement and help any urine sitting the in the urethra to pass
• Breathe again. Once you’ve completed the first 2 steps, stay sitting on the toilet and take a few more deep breaths. Take a deep breath in through the nose and out through the mouth. 

Need more help?

If you’re having difficulty performing any of the above tips or think you may have pelvic floor weakness or tightness consider seeing a pelvic floor therapist. A pelvic floor PT can evaluate and assess your pelvic floor muscles and teach you the proper tools for bladder emptying!