Doctors urge people not to pee in the shower – two reasons

Doctor Teresa Irwin stated: “You need to stop peeing in the shower.” And here’s why.

The urogynecologist shared the warning on TikTok, cautioning that you could condition yourself into needing the loo every time you hear the sound of water.

Dr Irwin explained: “You don’t want to do it all the time because, what happens is, every time you hear the sound of water your bladder is going to want to pee, because it’s used to hearing the sound of the water in the shower.

“So whenever you’re washing your hands, washing the dishes, your bladder is going to be salivating so to speak because it wants to go and pee.”

Pelvic floor therapist Dr Alicia Jeffrey-Thomas echoed Dr Irwin’s thought process on the social media platform.

“If you pee in the shower… you’re creating an association in your brain between the sound of running water and having to pee,” said Dr Jeffrey-Thomas.

“[Combine] that with pelvic floor dysfunction, either now or down the line, and that’s going to potentially lead to some leak issues when you hear running water outside of the shower.”

Pelvic floor dysfunction

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) explains: “The muscles and ligaments that support a woman’s pelvic organs (bowel, bladder, uterus and vagina) are known as the ‘pelvic floor’.

“If these muscles are not working properly it can lead to problems like urinary or faecal incontinence.”

To help prevent pelvic floor dysfunction, the NHS recommends pelvic floor exercises.

The health body says: “You can feel your pelvic floor muscles if you try to stop the flow of urine when you go to the toilet.

“[However] it’s not recommended that you regularly stop the flow of urine midstream as it can be harmful to your bladder.”

The NHS says: “To strengthen your pelvic floor muscles, sit comfortably and squeeze the muscles 10 to 15 times.

“Do not hold your breath or tighten your stomach, bottom or thigh muscles at the same time.”

Try to hold each squeeze for a few seconds, and each week you can try to add more squeezes.

Dr Jeffrey-Thomas advised people to “pee before you even turn on the shower”, and “if you get the urge while you’re in the shower, try to ignore it”.