Rhiannon Ingle
I'm sure many of us have picked up the habit of forcing out a wee just because you were leaving the house, because it's your lunch break or simply just for the sake of it.
Well, it seems this habit is actually pretty harmful as one doctor has since put an end to the whole 'just in case' practice once and for all.
Dr. Rachel Peck, who goes by the handle @drpeckpelvicpt online, took to Instagram to issue an urgent warning on why you shouldn’t go to the toilet unless you really need to.
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Rachel began the video saying: "What happens to your bladder when you do a lot of 'just in case' peeing?"
She explained the 'just in case' wee phenomenon which can strike 'right before you leave the house', 'just because you're passing a bathroom' or because 'you're worried that you're not gonna find one later when you don't actually have to go to the bathroom'.
The doctor continued: "I see this a lot with some of my patients who have increased urgency and frequency and, sometimes, leakage and the reason that this happens is because, normally, the bladder fills at a certain rate.
"Once we get to a certain point, we'll kind of get the first urge to go and we usually ignore that urge."
This urge, Rachel explains, is just letting us know that our bladder is 'filling up' adding: "It gets a little bit farther, and it sends some stronger urges and we may kind of ignore those as well and then once it gets full, that's when it sends us the urge, like, 'Hey, you actually need to pee now'."
OK - so that's the right way to have a waz but, Rachel warns, when we get into the habit of always peeing 'just in case' we're going when it's not totally full.
Doing this means that we start to 'train' the bladder that this point is the 'appropriate filling spot' which is, instead, where we should be getting some of those 'stronger urges'.
So then once it fills to that spot, it will start to send you the urges that are normally reserved for when it's a lot more full," the doctor carries on. "And that kind of tricks your brain into believing that you're much more full than you actually are."
In turn, this means that your bladder stops storing as much urine.
Rachel did, however, accept that there are a couple of times that it's 'appropriate' to pee 'just in case' including right before bed, before a long car ride or movie, and after sex.
"Otherwise, wait until you actually need to go!" she adds.
People have since rushed to the comments to share their reactions to the information with one Instagram user admitting: "Lol I have done this my entire life now what?"
Rachel then assured: "It’s pretty common! If you’re not having any other issues, I would say just try to avoid frequently going when you don’t actually have to.
"If you find yourself having frequent strong urges to pee, stay tuned because I’ll put another video up about urge suppression techniques!"
And another asked: "I’ve ruined my own bladder. Any tips on how to reverse the damage?"
"Not ruined, just trained," offered the doctor.
Well, you know what they say, whatever can be learned can also be unlearned...