What Are Bladder Irritants? | HER Body PT

Have you ever experienced the need to urinate more frequently?  Have you been woken up at night more than once with that same sense of urgency?   

Urinary urgency and frequency can be driven by a variety of factors including pelvic floor muscle dysfunction, use of certain medications, pregnancy, urinary tract infections and in some cases, the things we eat and drink.

There are some fluids and foods that once consumed, can irritate the bladder.  This can result in a sudden sense of urinary urgency and/or frequent trips to urinate.  Here are a list of some of the more commonly consumed irritants:

• caffeinated beverages

• carbonated beverages

• spicy foods

• juice

• acidic foods

• alcohol

• milk

• chocolate

If you read through this list, and are experiencing any of the above symptoms, you might want to consider making some adjustments.  Try diluting your juice for example or having a 1/2 a cup of regular coffee combined with 1/2 a cup of decaf.  Small changes may make a big difference!  

If you have reduced your consumption of irritants or made some significant modifications without any notable improvement, your pelvic floor may be the culprit.  Of course it is always a good idea to discuss these symptoms with your physician to make sure there is no other medical cause.