If you make a quick trip to the bathroom “just in case” before getting in the car, hopping on a work call, or starting a workout even if you don’t have to go, today's blog is for you! It’s such a common habit and it’s easy to think we’re just avoiding future discomfort, but pelvic floor physical therapists want you to reconsider. We asked Dr. Sara Reardon to break down why this seemingly innocent ritual may be doing more harm than good. As the Vagina Whisperer, a pelvic floor PT, and author of Floored: A Woman's Guide to Pelvic Floor Health at Every Age and Stage, we figured if anyone knew the answer, it would be her.
Peeing When You Don’t Have To Go: What’s the Big Deal?
According to Dr. Reardon, “The normal frequency to urinate is every 2-4 hours during the day and 0-2 times at night.” When your bladder fills to a certain point, it lets you know through the urge to pee that it’s time to go. “Your urinary sphincters contract to hold urine in and reduce strong urges until you can make it to the bathroom,” she adds.
So, when you pee “just in case” (or before that natural signal kicks in), you interrupt this system. Regularly peeing without feeling that natural urge can actually disrupt your bladder’s way of communicating with you!
“This can lead to more frequent urination,” says Dr. Reardon. “Over time, your bladder can become more sensitive and start responding to smaller amounts of urine. This can make it feel like your bladder is getting ‘smaller’.” Really what’s happening is that it’s been trained to signal urgency too early! That means instead of comfortably making it a few hours between visits to the toilet, you may feel like you’re always keeping an eye out for a bathroom, even though your bladder’s not truly full. If your bladder has been trained to respond to these small amounts of urine, the solution is to retrain it.
How to Retrain a Sensitive Bladder
To break that just-in-case habit, “I encourage my patients to wait until they feel a real urge, ideally between the 2 to 4 hour mark during the day,” says Dr. Reardon. That might mean building up your ability to hold your urine for longer periods of time. Scheduled voiding or using a voiding diary can help, as can removing any foods or beverages that you know irritate your bladder (such as carbonated beverages, caffeine, or alcohol).
Try Scheduled Voiding
Scheduled voiding involves timed visits to the bathroom. “Set a timer to go every hour, whether you have the urge to go or not,” says Dr. Reardon, then over time, increase the increment between bathroom visits by 15 minutes. “Eventually, you are able to suppress the urge to make it to the 2-hour mark.” As you’re increasing your time between pees, you’re likely to feel some urges. Here are Dr. Reardon’s suggestions for getting through those urges, whether you’re retraining your bladder or just caught in traffic unexpectedly.
Use Urge Suppression Techniques
Urge suppression techniques can wake up your urinary sphincters to reduce that feeling of needing to pee when your bladder’s not really full, but feels like it is. Dr. Reardon suggests trying to space out your bathroom visits and retrain your bladder to hold more without those false alarms:
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Take deep breaths
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Distract yourself
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Do pelvic floor muscle contractions (kegels)
Try to delay the urge for at least 15 minutes. If the urge returns, repeat the techniques again. Over time, this can help retrain your bladder and stretch the interval between bathroom trips back to a healthy rhythm.
When Is A “Just-In-Case” Pee Perfectly Fine?
Dr. Reardon acknowledges that many women feel more comfortable peeing before or after certain activities even if they don’t feel the urge, such as:
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Before exercise
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Before and after sex
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Before pelvic exams
“There can be times where a just-in-case pee is okay,” she says. “But they shouldn't be your normal pattern throughout the day.” When you do pee, try to truly empty your bladder by fully sitting down, avoiding pushing (AKA power peeing), and double-voiding to totally empty out.
Here’s the Bottom Line, Ladies.
Look, we’re women. We’re smart, we’re capable, and sometimes we pee every time we go anywhere because it seems like harmless planning ahead. But, over time, these just-in-case bathroom visits are actually teaching your bladder the wrong things, making it more sensitive, more urgent, and harder to manage. By listening to your body’s real cues and using strategies like urge suppression and scheduled voiding, you can restore those urge signals to the way they’re intended to work. And if you’re worried about leaks on the go? We can help with that.