Why do I always have to pee when I get home?
Do you find you have to pee the second you get home? Or worse - do you find yourself leaking as you stuff the key in the door? 🔑 There are many names for this - latchkey incontinence, key in lock syndrome or key in the door phenomenon. Essentially what it is, is urge incontinence! 💦
What’s wrong with just going to the bathroom as soon as you get home?
When you rush in the door and stress about needing to make it to the bathroom right away, what you’re essentially doing is making that urgency response greater and greater. You’ve conditioned yourself to need to empty your bladder as soon as you get home (or close to home). This feeling of urgency may increase if you’ve been carrying groceries, are wrangling a child, or towards the end of your day when you’re more fatigued.
So what can you do instead of just going pee right away?
Try these 3 things:
Distract yourself with at least 3 things when you get home. E.g., hang up your coat, put away your things, open your mail.
Unclench your butt, abs and pelvic floor.
Then, and only then, if you still need to go pee, walk slowly to the bathroom and continue to calmly breathe. Slowly unbutton your pants and then sit down on the toilet before you let loose.
Why distract yourself?
We want to break the association between the key in the door and your response of I need to pee right now! Essentially, you want to create more time between "getting in the door" and "peeing."
Why unclench?
Constantly clenching your pelvic floor, abs and glutes can actually make the muscles function less effectively! Imagine how well you work when you’re overworked? Not so well, right? Your muscles are the same. They need to relax in order to effectively contract. So as you’re walking around, relax and unclench your belly, butt and pelvic floor. And make sure to breathe slowly and deeply. 🧘🏽♀️
Why walk slowly?
When you constantly rush, you tell your brain that you’re in a state an emergency. Your body’s stress response increases, you shallow breathe, and you often end up clenching your pelvic floor and butt without even realizing it! Walk slowly and decrease that sense of urgency that’s been conditioned..
As you retrain your brain and bladder, your urge to urinate may decrease over time.
Do you experience urinary urgency or urge urinary incontinence? Try these tips and make sure to book your virtual consultation so I can help you get leakfree!
