Hydrate they say, drink fluids all the time and flush your system. But how much should you be peeing and should your output be different from others?
What is a ‘normal’ wee schedule?
According to Healthline, a healthy adult should be urinating about seven times a day, but it’s not necessarily a sign of something being wrong if your number is either side of that figure.
Your volume and amount of wee also depends on your age, how much you drink a day, medical conditions such as diabetes, medication and bladder size. Itturns out having a tiny bladder is a thing.
Now you’ve worked out how often you should be weeing, how long should each session last?
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Well, there’s this handy guide, and the shortened version is count eight ‘Mississippis’ – or is that Mississippees – if you have girl bits and 12 to 15 Mississippis for those with boy bits.
If you have much shorter pees, about five seconds or shorter, there may be problems, but before you head off to the doctor, here’s a few simple tips to improve the situation.
Are you drinking enough? America’s Mayo Clinic recommends about 15 cups of fluid a day for men and about 11 cups a day for women.
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If this sounds like a lot and you are nowhere near the target, relax, about 20 per cent of daily fluid intake is from food, so you may be closer than you think.
A good indicator you are keeping hydrated is if your urine is a pale yellow. Take a look back at the bowl and adjust your intake accordingly.
And don’t wee just because you can. If you are constantly emptying your bladder you are not preserving the strength of your pelvic floor and may be setting yourself up for failure as you age.
If you want to build up some pelvic floor strength, try to hold it in as much as realistically possible and aim for three or four trips to the toilet a day.
But don’t worry if this is an unrealistic target. If you regularly wee more or less than seven times a day, that’s fine, but if you see a change either way it may pay to visit your doctor.
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If you are weeing too much, there could be several contributing factors.
- You love your hydration. It follows that if you are one of those people constantly sipping from a water bottle, there’s going to be more wee.
- You are pregnant. Elevated hormone levels during pregnancy will increase the frequency of your toilet trips as will the baby pressing on your bladder.
- You have a UTI. A urinary tract infection can make you feel an urgent need to urinate and it’s often accompanied by a burning sensation. Go to your doctor if it gets too bad, but often a few doses of Ural and plenty of water will clear it up.
- You have diabetes. People with diabetes often wee more than usual, it’s the body’s way of getting of the extra sugar in the bloodstream.
- Medications. There are plenty of medications that will increase your urine flow, probably the most likely is diuretics which work to help kidneys filter out more fluids.
- Some foods and drinks will make you wee more. We all know caffeine in tea and coffee will increase trips to the toilet, but so will watermelon, grapes, berries and celery and of course, alcohol.
Indications you should see a doctor include fever and back pain, blood in your urine, white and cloudy urine, discoloured urine and a strong or abnormal smell.
Disclaimer: This article contains general information about health issues and is not advice. For health advice, consult your medical practitioner.
