Constant Urge to Urinate: Causes, Symptoms, How to Fix It

Having a constant urge to pee isn’t necessarily something to worry about. It might be happening because you’re having certain food or drink, and don’t realise that it’s causing an issue. This is fairly common.

But if you’re finding that you always need to go to the toilet – regardless of what you eat or drink – it may suggest a deeper-rooted issue. And in some cases, a constant urge to urinate can even lead to social anxiety, a loss of self-confidence – or potentially more serious conditions.

Let’s start by looking at some of the reasons why you might be taking regular trips to the loo.

Why do I always need to pee?

As we’ve touched upon, certain foods and drinks can trigger trips to the toilet. These include:

• caffeinated drinks such as tea, coffee and fizzy drinks
• spicy food
• acidic food and drink such as pineapple, lime, cheese, seafood and processed meat

Cutting down on these foods and drinks should also mean cutting down on toilet trips.

If you’ve cut down on these things but still need the toilet regularly, there could be other reasons behind it.

When should I start to worry about it?

If your symptoms persist after cutting out certain food and drink, you may have a medical condition related to your bladder, urinary tract or pelvic floor. Some of the most common include:

• Urge Incontinence. This is when you involuntary leak urine from your bladder. It can happen quickly and without warning, meaning you’re unable to prevent it.
• Stress Incontinence. This is a similar condition to Urge Incontinence, but instead happens when your bladder is placed under stress. For example, urine might leak out when you laugh, cough or sneeze.
• Pelvic Organ Prolapse. This is when one of your pelvic organs slips down from its natural position and into your vagina. This could disrupt the flow of urine from your bladder.
• Urinary Tract Infection. If you need to pee regularly and it’s quite painful when you do, it could suggest a Urinary Tract Infection (UTI).

These conditions are most common amongst women in their menopause, after childbirth, and those who are overweight. So if you fall into one of those categories, there’s a higher chance you’ll experience one of these conditions.

Lesser-known side effects

As anyone who’s experienced a constant urge to urinate will testify, the regular trips to the toilet are often only part of the problem. Involuntarily leaking urine can be hugely embarrassing, especially if you’ve done it in public. Even the fear that it might happen is enough to cause social anxiety and affect your self-confidence.

The side effects might also extend into the bedroom. Some of the conditions we mentioned above can lead to painful sex, dryness in the vaginal area and an inability to orgasm.

Conditions related to your pelvic floor may also lead to back pain and pelvic pain.

Constant urge to pee: how to fix it

If you suspect that you have a UTI, you should speak with a medical practitioner to decide on the next steps. That’s because it has different causes to other pelvic floor issues, and needs a different course of treatment.

If you have a constant urge to pee because of a weak pelvic floor, the problem can normally be fixed by strengthening your pelvic floor muscles. Here’s how to do that.

Pelvic floor exercises

Although there are a range of exercises that help to strengthen your pelvic floor muscles, Kegels have been proven to be the most effective. By performing Kegels regularly, you should see an improvement n your condition in around 2-4 months.

However, it’s worth pointing out that you’ll only see improvements if you perform your exercises correctly and consistently. Studies have shown that 30% of people perform Kegels using the wrong technique, so it’s vital that you get it right.

Pelvic floor trainers

If you’re struggling to perform Kegels correctly, or simply not seeing any improvement, you might want to consider a pelvic floor trainer. A number of these devices have been approved by the FDA as a safe and effective treatment for pelvic floor disorders.

Each trainer works slightly differently. Some are inserted into the vaginal canal. They help you locate your pelvic floor muscles to make sure you’re doing them properly.

Some devices are also inserted into your vaginal canal, but instead of showing you how to do Kegels, they send low-level electrical signals to your pelvic floor muscles. Essentially, these devices perform Kegels for you.

Other pelvic floor trainers are non-invasive, meaning they don’t have to be inserted into the vaginal canal.

There are limited clinical studies to support the effectiveness of these devices, however.

Electromagnetic therapy

The most effective solution for a constant urge to pee is electromagnetic therapy. You have a number of treatment options, but the most popular is probably the Emsella.

When you sit on the Emsella chair, it sends electromagnetic waves through your body. This stimulates contractions in your pelvic floor muscles. It can perform the equivalent of 11,200 Kegels in one 30-minute session.

A number of clinical studies have been carried out to assess the effectiveness of the Emsella. In one study, 81.33% of patients using the Emsella reported a ‘significant improvement’ in their symptoms.

Summary

If you constantly need to go to the loo then you may be suffering from urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse or a Urinary Tract Infection (UTI). Because a UTI is a bacterial infection, you should speak with a medical practitioner to decide on the best course of treatment. You can alleviate the symptoms of incontinence or pelvic organ prolapse by strengthening your pelvic floor muscles. You can do this by performing Kegel exercises, using a pelvic floor trainer or having electromagnetic therapy.