Doctors share healthful habits for managing urination and debunk misconceptions about trips to the bathroom
rination is a vital human function and often occurs without much fanfare or thought – but age, sex, medications and a host of other factors can influence how you use the bathroom. Because there can be so much variation, patients must not ignore what seems out of the norm for their bodies, says Dr Vannita Simma-Chiang, a board-certified urologist and associate professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York.
“If something seems strange to you, one of the best things you can do is just go in and chat with a medical professional about it,” says Simma-Chiang.
Issues may stem from different phases of the bladder, such as urine storage, excretion and what remains afterward, explains Dr Aqsa Khan, a board-certified urologist at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, Arizona.
“I often describe myself to patients as a kind of human plumber,” says Khan. “When the plumbing is good in our homes, we don’t think twice about it. But when something goes wrong, it can be terribly problematic.”
