Bladder Frequency and Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy

This may have been something you’ve typed into Google recently if you’ve noticed that you’ve been urinating more frequently.

While it is a common question, it’s something rarely discussed until something seems off. When we don’t talk about these things, it results in people living with worsening conditions, instead of receiving the help they need. In this article, we discuss what you should know about bladder frequency, healthy bladder habits, and how pelvic floor therapy can help those with overactive bladders.

So, How Often is Normal When It Comes to Urinary Frequency?

While certain phases of life have somewhat different “normals”, generally normal urinary frequency is about once every 2-4 hours. 

In cases where we are consuming more fluid than is typical, such as during a heavy workout or while spending time in the sun, a temporarily increased frequency of once every 1-2 hours can be considered normal. 

Having to use the restroom frequently on a daily basis can be disruptive to our daily activities. For many people, this issue worsens overtime due to not knowing to ask about it, or being overlooked. 

Urinary frequency and your bladder

The bladder is designed to be able to fill sufficiently, while providing a gradual sense of that filling, and then gently alert us when it’s getting to be time to empty. 

When we create bladder habits that encourage emptying prior to reaching that fullness, sometimes the bladder can start sending our brain the signal to empty before it is actually time. 

This can progress overtime to worsening issues, such as urinary urgency (quick, sudden urge without warning) or urge urinary incontinence. Any of these issues with frequency or urgency can contribute to anxiety with using the bathroom, or hyper-awareness of locating bathrooms and planning your day around it. 

Unfortunately, this feeds into a cycle of worsening symptoms and increased concern for using the bathroom more frequently. 

Healthy bladder habits

A tip for promoting healthy bladder habits is avoiding “just in case” voids. A common example is when you leave the house and don’t have the sensation to empty, but do so anyway. On the flip side, avoid holding off the urge to urinate for hours on end. This can feel difficult to those of us who work in fields such as education or healthcare. 

We often hear from women that they do not like to go to the bathroom in public, and will wait until they get home no matter how long that takes. The unfortunate truth is our bladder does not understand why we are holding, or why we are emptying before we are full, it just adapts – for better or worse.

Urinary Frequency and The Pelvic Floor

This adaptability can be put to good use! The pelvic floor muscles, brain and bladder are intimately connected. This is why pelvic health physical therapy is such an important piece of bladder retraining. 

Pelvic health PT may involve a voiding diary, urge deferral techniques, pelvic floor mobility exercises and/or manual muscle release. Stress, dietary factors and daily routine all play a part, which warrants discussion and in some cases referral to another specialist. 

When you work with a physical therapist, they will review medical history and medications, and screen multiple body systems. Your medical provider should also know about symptoms of bladder frequency, as changes can be a side effect of medications or sign of other medical conditions. This is yet another reason for building yourself a strong team of providers who are competent in communicating and working together as a team. 

We should not accept bladder symptoms as punishment for our age, gender nor profession.

At Pillar Kinetic, we provide pelvic floor therapy exercises to address several health issues, including frequent urination. If you have any questions about frequent urination, and how pelvic floor PT can help, we invite you to contact our Las Vegas physical therapy clinic with any questions.