How to have a healthy pelvic floor during the holidays

The holiday season, honestly any type of celebration can throw our pelvic health out of whack. Below are some things to consider to help maintain or even improve your pelvic health during celebrations:

Bladder health

The bladder has to stay hydrated to function properly. It is MADE to store urine and by depriving it of water to decrease the need to pee only makes things worse. Adequate hydration is also necessary to prevent increased urinary urgency/bladder irritation. The bladder needs to be lubricated well to prevent irritation from its natural internal chemicals. If you're drinking alcohol during the holidays be mindful it is a serious bladder irritant so staying hydrated while you're drinking alcohol is crucial to prevent further bladder irritation.

Being too hydrated is possible-shoot to drink a balanced amount (a good rule of thumb is half your body weight in ounces) spread out evenly throughout your day.

Bowel health

The bowels also have to stay hydrated to function properly. Adequate hydration will allow for well formed stool that moves through the bowels well.

Movement is necessary for the bowels to function-after holiday meals a small/light walk will improve the functioning of your bowels in the midst of potentially different foods than normal.

Sleep allows your parasympathetic nervous system (The PNS is in charge of the bowels) to function well and if you're sleeping well it will allow you to poop well too.

Fiber is great to incorporate into your holiday meals to allow your stool to form well and be easier to evacuate.

Anxiety and Stress

The holidays can be a tense time for most and it's crucial to have a solid stress management routine in place for times such as this. This allows you to physically be resilient to the stressors in your life that you might not be able to avoid or change.

We recommend these options:

-daily diaphragmatic breathing

-the tapping meditation app

-facial cold exposure for vagus nerve stimulation

-gentle movement/exercise

All of these tips will help your pelvic floor to be more relaxed and strong so you can navigate the holidays with ease and maybe even more joy than before.