If you’re anything like me, you have zero issues relieving yourself while showering. After all, a shower is a space with water, cleaning supplies and a drain. But apparently, some people find it gross and refuse to listen to their bladder while getting clean.
According to one expert, those who “just say no” to peeing in the shower might be in the right. Here’s why.
Your Body Knows When You Have To Pee
According to Dr. Alicia Jeffrey-Thomas—aphysical therapist known as @scrambledjam on TikTok—your brain tells you when you have to pee when it notices the walls of your bladder stretching. This indicates your bladder is full, and it’s time to go.
However, your brain can use other signals––some of them learned––to tell you that you have to pee. This is where Dr. Jeffrey-Thomas says that regularly peeing in the shower can cause problems.
“Your bladder relies on signals it gets both from the stretch of the bladder walls as it fills, as well as signals from the brain which let it know when to contract to urinate,” Dr. Jeffrey-Thomas told BuzzFeed.
Here’s The Catch To Peeing In The Shower
Because of this, Dr. Jeffrey-Thomas claims there can be “huge consequences” to peeing in the shower. She says it’s a bad idea because the presence of running water can affect you psychologically.
When you regularly pee in the shower, it can cause your brain to associate the sound of running water with the urge to pee. This is one of those “learned” signals, and it can transition into a bigger problem.
“We want to avoid training our bladder to associate certain signals with the urge to pee. In this case, peeing in the shower associates the sound of running water with urination or with submersion in water,” Dr. Jeffrey-Thomas explained.
Dr. Jeffrey-Thomas makes it clear that this can be just an “annoyance” for many of us. But for people who have any kind of pelvic floor dysfunction, peeing in the shower regularly could end up contributing to incontinence.
Should Women Pee Standing Up?
The doctor also noted that those of us with vaginas don’t really have the pelvic anatomy to pee while standing up. This is because there’s no bladder support.
Guys, on the other hand, have the prostate to support the bladder, which makes standing up to urinate okay.
To maintain continence and avoid peeing your pants, Dr. Jeffrey-Thomas says that the pelvic floor wants to remain contracted when you are in a standing or hovering position. For ladies who want to pee standing up while in the shower, they have to “bypass these normal continence mechanisms.” She says this “can be problematic down the line.”
“Deep squatting all the way to the ground in the shower avoids this and allows the pelvic floor to relax, but then you’re still doing the water/peeing association,” Dr. Jeffrey-Thomas added.
So, if you pee in the shower, it might be time to make a change. This is just one of those small habits that can contribute to your overall bladder function as you age. And making a change that can keep you from peeing your pants later in life is probably a good idea.