I’m a pelvic floor expert and I’ll show you why peeing is dangerous “just in case”.

AN EXPERT has explained exactly why going to the toilet is dangerous “just in case”.

Now and then, a precautionary pee before a long drive is harmless.

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However, if you’re making these trips on a normal day—before you eat, go shopping, or watch a show—then it could pose a problem.

dr Alicia Jeffrey-Thomas, who bills herself as “TikTok’s pelvic floor PT,” explained why in a video that has been viewed nearly four million times.

She said: “[I’m a] Pelvic floor physiotherapist, so I work with a lot of people with overactive bladders, stress urinary incontinence, urge incontinence, all 30 feet.

“And that’s why you shouldn’t go, just in case…”

dr Alicia, who works at Greater Boston Urology, drew a blister on a piece of paper.

It had three lines to indicate “three levels of fullness”.

At the lowest level, if there is some urine in the bladder, this says “there is some urine in the bladder”.

The second middle level asks you to “make a plan to go to the bathroom”.

And the third stage, the “panic button,” represents when your bladder is full and tells your brain to urgently go to the bathroom.

dr Alicia said that when you go to the bathroom “just in case,” your bladder is usually between the first and second full levels — before you would naturally feel the urge to use the toilet.

If you routinely urinate before the bladder is half full, she learns to signal the need when there is less volume.

“If we do this all the time… our bladder starts getting these data points and says maybe we should send this signal sooner,” said Dr. Alicia.

“Now we’re going to get this urge to leave much earlier than before.

“Over time, this compresses those three levels together, and so the difference between feeling like there’s some urine in your bladder and feeling like the panic button is popping, like you’re peeing your pants, becomes much shorter time occur time.”

Fortunately, getting caught in this cycle doesn’t mean the bladder is damaged.

But it means you need to go to the bathroom more often and urgently. Constantly having to go to the bathroom can make daily activities difficult.

Bladder training can help reverse this habit and help you wait longer between trips to the bathroom.

It’s about delaying going to the toilet when you feel the urge, very gradually from about five minutes to 15 minutes and more over time.

Pelvic floor exercises are also beneficial for strengthening the muscles that support the bladder, bowel (and vagina in women).

dr Alicia said there are only three times she would advise using the restroom even when you don’t need it.

This was a car for trips longer than an hour, before bed, and before or after sex — urinating after sex helps prevent urinary tract infections (UTIs) in women.

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