5 ‘Loo’ habits that matter!
5 ‘Loo’ habits that matter!
We want to look after your pelvic floor. As females, our pelvic floors are very important and looking after yours can help prevent and reduce problems with incontinence (urinary or faecal) and prolapse down the track.
The following are my five top toileting tips that will you look after your pelvic floor through-out your life:
1. Avoid Straining
A history of constipation or straining to empty the bladder or bowel places you at a higher risk of incontinence or prolapse issues. Straining increases the pressure in your abdomen and places stress downward on your pelvic floor. During this time the muscles should be relaxed.
A history of constipation or straining to empty the bladder or bowel places you at a higher risk of incontinence or prolapse issues #physio Click To Tweet
2. Location, Location, Location
A way to help reduce straining and to reduce the downward pressure on your pelvic floor is to have the correct sitting posture on the toilet. My top tips are:
- to always sit completely on the toilet to allow your muscles to relax (place toilet paper on the seat if you are worried)
- to ensure you keep you back straight/slightly curved (avoid leaning forward and hunching)
- to keep your feet flat on the floor/use a foot stool and relax your arms on your thighs. This helps place your bladder and bowel in easy positions to empty.
Check out the Squatty Potty a terrific stool for toilets that positions the body and bowel in an optimal position-click HERE.
3. Are You Getting Enough Fibre?
Everyone has different habits when it comes to the frequency of emptying their bowel, but one thing you need to make sure is that it is easy to do so. One way is to make sure your fluid intake is adequate and you are having the correct amount of fibre in your diet to help your stool be a soft and easy consistency therefore preventing you from straining.
4. Drinking enough but not too much water
Having adequate fluid intake is important to make sure you stay hydrated, to help prevent constipation and to ensure you are emptying your bladder enough. The catch is you don’t want to be drinking so much water that you are going to the toilet every hour and it has been found that 2-3L per day is a good amount for most people.
5. Try not to go “just in case”
By decreasing the amount of times you empty your bladder “just in case” you will help prevent your bladder getting into a habit of emptying at lower volumes and therefore getting your brain into a habit of going more often.
All the best with your toileting!
Emily Georgopoulos (APAM)
Physiotherapist
Women’s Health Special Interest
