Uncomfortable conversation? Toileting is an activity that we engage in about 10x per day and, yes, it's private but it's still important to talk about! There are good and bad ways to spend your time on the toilet and some of them depend on your particular body, your particular resting and active tone, patterns of movement and breath and the health of your digestive system. It depends on whether or not you've had surgery, have scar tissue, are rushing, have privacy, how you were taught about toileting as a child….so many factors. Let's start with "normals": It's normal to void (release your bladder, urinate or pee) 6 - 8 x per day, including night time voids. You shouldn't be voiding at night unless you're over 60 and then only once. After 80, twice is acceptable. You should never need to rush and you shouldn't leak en route. You should also be able to tell your bladder to wait. Traveling to the toilet to void every 3 ½ to 4 hours in a calm, controlled and easy manner is awesome. You should enjoy a painfree exit of clear unscented urine and never needing to push or be effortful. It should take 15 - 18 seconds and be in a Bell Curve, starting slow, building to a crescendo and ending with ease. There should be no post-void dribble, no double voiding…..wipe and go dry until next time! It's normal to empty your bowels (BMs or pooping) 1 - 3x per day up to every 3 days. Optimum is a full, complete and satisfying BM soon after waking up/eating your breakfast. Again, you shouldn't need to rush, but you should pay attention to the nudge to go to the loo for your morning BM. Don't ignore it and don't delay it. Spend 5 - 10 minutes enjoying bowel release. Toilet position for bowel release is seated comfortably, with support, either in a slouched posture or with your elbows on your knees as if you're reading a newspaper on the floor. The posture that's just right for you is dependent on the angle of the Puborectalis muscle that slings around the Anorectal Canal. Are your knees slightly higher than your hips with a raise under your feet? Squatty Potties are trendy, but for some people they raise the knees too high, tightening up their pelvic system making release of BMs more difficult. In addition, the consistency of your BMs matters. If you have loose, liquidy BMs (5 to 7 on the Bristol Stool Chart), the message that your internal anal sphincter sends to your brain when stool lands in the rectum is "Run!". If you have normal BMs (3 and 4), the message will be a calm nudge, "It's time now." If you have stodgy, dried out stool (1 and 2), the message gets distant…..it's your job to waken it up and pay attention to the faraway call, "It might be time soon.". You can waken this up with gentle heat on your lower tummy and belly massage upon awakening/during breakfast. This doesn't move stool along the passageway, but it does awaken peristalsis, the gentle squeezes that move stool through the colon. Having a tap-hot glass of water at night while you do your last tooth brushing just before bed can keep your stool hydrated overnight. A shot glass (2 T.) of prune juice along with your water may help. Avoiding all dairy, especially cheese, can help some people, along with reducing meat and increasing nuts and beans. Increasing fibre needs to be applied with caution. Recent studies show that increasing your fibre (leafy green vegies, ground flax seeds, psyllium, whole grains) needs to be done in 10% increments per week. Too much fibre makes for sticky stool, making exit more challenging and wiping truly "a pain". Not rushing is important. Take time to breathe into your belly, teaching your pelvic floor to release, opening your anal sphincters, creating ease. If you're sensitive to sound, turn on the fan or music. If you're sensitive to smell, keep a candle/scented spray nearby. There is no one answer to happy toileting, but it pays in good longterm health to find yours!
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