Doctor issues toilet warning and says everyone should follow 'two-hour' rule
Topics: Health, TikTok, Social Media
Lucy Devine
Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Photo
Topics: Health, TikTok, Social Media
A doctor has issued a warning about how often you should be urinating, explaining that if you try to pee too often, you could be doing more harm than good.
Responding to a TikTok clip in which a pelvic floor specialist became frustrated over those who urinate every hour, Dr Karan Rajan explained how often we should be using the toilet and what it could mean for our bladder and brain if we regularly go too often.
He explained: "You should be peeing on average every 2-4 hours even if you're well hydrated.
"If you're peeing every hour you're training your brain to misfire and you could be creating urge incontinence."
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The NHS explains how urge incontinence is when urine leaks as you feel a sudden, intense urge to pee, or soon afterwards.
The most common cause is an overactive bladder, which causes bladder muscles to contract more than they should. Essentially, this makes a person feel the need to pee before the bladder is full.
Symptoms of overactive bladder include, as per Cleveland Clinic:
Dr Rajan added: "Your bladder and brain communicate in a feedback loop. Your bladder fills with urine over 2-4 hours. Stretch receptors in the bladder wall detect the volume increase.
"And when the bladder is half full, so 150-200ml, the stretch receptors send a signal to your brain. And then you get a mild urge awareness that your bladder is filling and that process is normal.
"But if you pee every time you feel even a hint of bladder fullness even at small volumes like 50-100ml, your brain starts learning the wrong pattern.
"When you constantly respond to small bladder volumes your brain recalibrates. It starts thinking bladder at 50-100ml, time to pee now. The urge signal gets stronger and more frequent and more intense. Your stretch receptors become hypersensitive and they start firing at lower volumes. Basically, false alarms."
Dr Rajan explained this is how urge incontinence can develop, however, you can retrain the brain-bladder loop.
"When you feel a strong urge, stop and stay still, tighten and relax your pelvic floor rapidly... This sends a competing signal to your brain to override the urgency," he advised.