Pelvic floor secrets for summer: 3 Tips to reduce bathroom stops on road trips
Ahhhhh summer road trips. You’ve got the bumpin’ playlist queued up (or maybe the latest Emily Henry novel on Audible), all the good snacks, and a fun and exciting week ahead relaxing at the beach with the fam, adventuring at a new-to-you national park with your hubs, or toasting with mimosas at a mountain weekend with your girlfriends.
You’re on the road feeling free with the windows down singing Taylor Swift at the top of your lungs… until you feel the urge to pee 30 minutes into the drive. And an hour after that. And every hour after that. Suddenly your 7 hour drive has become 10 and your vibe has gone from Taylor Swift Midnights to Bon Iver For Emma Forever Ago. Ok, maybe not THAT big of a mood shift, but you have definitely got an anxious internal dialogue going on about how long you can appropriately wait to admit you have to pee… AGAIN, and strategizing how to make a joke about it (“speaking of It’s me, hi, I’m the problem it’s me, guess who has to pee again?! Hehe, ME!”
*nervous chuckle*
It’s culturally very common to assume that women have to pee ALL the time, ESPECIALLY if you are pregnant or have had babies. But those frequent bathroom breaks can totally disrupt the flow of your adventure and dampen the joy of your journey.
Bladder urgency on road trips can be a huge stressor, but I’ve got some fine-tuned tips that will reduce the discomfort and anxiety you experience AND maybe even shave hours off your trip.
If you're tired of searching for the nearest rest stop, I’m your resident pelvic floor therapist and summer roadtrip hype girl, reporting for duty! Keep reading for my best pelvic floor tips and bladder insights to reduce the number of pee stops during your summer road trip, allowing you to fully activate vacation mode.
Try these tips to save HOURS on your road trip journey by reducing bladder urgency and the frequency of rest stops.
Why do I have to stop to pee every hour on road trips?
Before we delve into strategies for reducing pee stops, let's take a moment to understand the basics of how your bladder, pelvic floor, and brain interact. Your bladder is a muscular organ that holds urine until it's time for elimination. When the bladder fills up, it sends signals to your brain, letting you know it's time to urinate and you need to get to a toilet soon. A complex cascade of events signals your bladder muscle to contract, your pelvic floor muscles to relax, and voila, you pee!
However, various factors like hydration levels, bladder irritants, pregnancy, and pelvic floor health can influence this signaling pattern and increase your sense of bladder urgency - causing frequent bathroom visits. If you have to pee “all the time,” it is likely that one or more of these variables can be tweaked to make a big difference. So, without further ado, let’s talk about my favorite pelvic floor - informed tips to reduce bathroom trips on your road trip.
DRINK WATER
Back to basics, baby! I find with many of my pelvic floor PT clients that they reduce the amount of water they drink when they have bladder urgency - and that makes total sense! But even though it may seem counterintuitive to INCREASE fluid intake, not being adequately hydrated increases the concentration of your urine which can irritate the bladder and increase the sensation that you need to pee, like, NOW. Which brings me to my next tip…
2. SIP, don’t GULP.
Yep! I just told you it’s a GOOD idea to go ahead and fill up your big-ass 40 oz Stanley Cup. But if you drink without being conscientious of your intake, you may find yourself having to make that bathroom stop realkly soon. You might be surprised that you can drink a full Stanley (or whatever the trendy cup is these days) without having an increased need to pee, but if you drink it slowly, you will stay hydrated enough without overloading your urinary system and having to pee every hour of your trip.
Pro Tip: remove your straw so it’s harder to take big sips!
3. LIMIT BLADDER IRRITANTS
Ok, so you still don’t believe me that drinking water is going to HELP you because every time you drink ANYTHING you have to pee within 20 minutes. But hear me say this - the biggest reason I see with my clients that drinking more water would lead to more bathroom trips is when other beverages BESIDES water are also being consumed.
You probably know that not all beverages are created equal with regard to health and nutrition, but there are certain beverages (and foods) that irritate the bladder more than others and lead to more frequent urination.
The usual road trip culprits in my family: Chick Fil A lemonade/iced tea, La Croix, Coke Zero (my husband’s caffeinated drink of choice), and you guessed it, coffee. Yep, even “healthier” beverages like La Croix cause irritation to the bladder than if you just drank plain ole’ water. Everyone is different in what causes the most bladder irritation, so before your road trip you may want to keep a bladder diary to identify what affects you the most.
And because I’m a realist, if you absolutely can’t road trip without your coffee, try these tips:
Try a latte instead of plain black coffee (or even drip coffee with half and half). The milk in the coffee may help to diminish any irritation to the bladder the coffee may cause.
Similar to the above advice, SIP your coffee.
Drink water along your coffee- alternating sip for sip - to dilute the impact of the coffee on your bladder and reduce stops to go to the bathroom.
Those are my 3 quick tips to reduce bathroom stops on your summer road trip!
Trying these tips will help to reduce bathroom stops and shave time off your road trips to go pee, but you might need to combine them with some pelvic floor muscle retraining and mindset strategies for an integrative approach to long-lasting bladder health. If you try some of these tips and it doesn’t help - OR if you experience bladder pain or leaking when you have the urge to pee, you may need some individualized guidance from a pelvic floor physical therapist on a strategy to reduce discomfort, anxiety, and bathroom trips for long- term pelvic floor and bladder health. If that’s you, feel free to sign up for a complementary call with me to discuss if we are a fit!
Shoot me DM on Instagram to let me know where you are going this summer and if you tried any of these tips!
