Do you leak after you pee? Here Are 5 Tips On How To Stop.
It may be common(ish) knowledge that urinary leakage with coughing and sneezing is a typical symptom for someone who has been pregnant to experience. It can also happen with running, jumping or even on the way to the bathroom. (That last one is called urge incontinence). But sometimes leakage just happens with no associated movement, no lifting… you’re just sitting there and some urine comes out. Sometimes people know it’s happening. Sometimes they don’t.
So what gives?
Have you ever stood up after peeing, walked over to wash your hands and all of a sudden you feel a few drops come out? This is called post micturition dribble. Post micturition dribble is when a little bit of urine gets stuck in your urethra and then once you stand up and move around it gets pushed out.
The dribble can happen for a couple reasons:
Because your attention is getting pulled away from you or you’re in a rush.
Because you have pelvic floor muscle weakness or tension.
Let’s start with attention.
Does this sound familiar? You’ve had to pee for a while and you finally get a moment to breakaway and rush to the toilet. You sit down but you only have a couple minutes between meetings or your baby is crying for you. Or maybe you’re just generally stressed. When any of these situations occur, your bladder receives a signal to stop your urine stream a little early which means your pee doesn’t get pushed completely out of your urethra. When it gets stuck in your urethra, the pressure from your abdomen when you stand and move around pushes your urine out (usually in the next 5 minutes after voiding).
So what can we do about it? Here are 4 tips to stop leaking after you pee:
Take deep, relaxing breaths while urinating. This will help your brain and body relax to give your bladder more time to empty.
When you think you’re done, spend 10 extra seconds leaning forward, backward and side to side. This changes the amount of pressure sitting on your urethra, giving pee more of a chance to get out before you stand.
Try horse lipped breathing when you think you’re done to get the last little bit out. Once you’re finished peeing, stay seated. Take a deep belly breath in and exhale through your air through your lips while making yourself sound like a horse.
If appropriate, do a few pelvic floor contractions when you’re done, not as you’re peeing, to get the urine that’s stuck in the urethra. Contracting and relaxing the muscles around your urethra helps your body fully relax to fully empty.
Now, about how pelvic floor muscle weakness and tension can trigger post micturition dribble:
Muscle tension can make it difficult to fully empty because the muscles are constricting around the urethra. Imagine trying to let water flow through a straw that you’re pinching shut in the middle. The straw probably won’t empty all the way until you either relax your fingers or shake the straw around so a little can leak out at a time. That’s how tension can impact your urethra.
Weakness in the pelvic floor can create a kink in your urethra, causing urine to get stuck. Imagine that instead of that same straw forming a straight tube, now it’s bent or curved. Water won’t flow through as easily. That’s true for urine, too. But wait, don’t jump straight to kegels! Read this first.
Both tension and weakness are common and if the tips above do not address your leakage, here’s our 5th tip to stop leaking after you pee:
5. See a pelvic floor physical therapist to learn more about your body, what’s causing your leakage and what you can do about it. Personalized treatment makes all the difference and the gold standard of pelvic health care is a one on one appointment with a trained pelvic floor physical therapist. We have an amazing team or pelvic floor PTs who works with folks in Austin, TX and virtually all over the world. Give us a call at 512-766-2649 or contact us here to talk to a member of our team today.
By Dr. Jessica Chastka, PT, DPT, WCS
Jessica (she/her) earned her Bachelor’s in Exercise Science from the University of Louisiana at Monroe, while playing softball. She received a Doctorate in Physical Therapy from University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston in August 2015. In 2019 she became Board Certified in Women’s Health, through the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialists.
For the last five years she has been working as a pelvic floor physical therapist, treating people who have pelvic pain, leakage, urgency, frequency and constipation. This includes the pregnant and postpartum population as well as people with chronic pain. She is passionate about making her patients feel heard and seen, validating those who feel that their problems are not worth mentioning because everyone has them or because embarrassed to talk about them.