Urinating in the shower should be avoided to help train your bladder, according to one expert.
Pelvic floor physical therapist Dr Alicia Jeffrey-Thomas started this debate, after posting a video on TikTok about it.
She explained that your brain could associate running water as a trigger to pee.
She told The Hard Shoulder: "I work with people with overactive bladder, or people who experience urge urinary incontinence.
"When I work with these people we look at what common triggers are for that type of leakage.
"One of them often tends to be the sound of running water.
"So when we look at things that might be training your brain to think about urinating at the sound of running water, we think about people who pee in the shower.
"And oftentimes, when I tell people to stop peeing in the shower, they notice an improvement in their ability to hold their urine when they hear the sound of running water.
"You kind of learn to associate that sound of running water even when that specific trigger isn't there".
Dr Alicia Jeffrey-Thomas. Picture by: TikTok/thepelvicdancefloorWhile Dr Thomas says allowing children to urinate in the shower is also a no-no.
"It's not something that I would recommend - I would always recommend if you feel an urge to go before you get into the shower, definitely go beforehand.
"And if you feel the urge while you're in the shower, try and hold back until you're done showering and then go in the toilet - that way you're avoiding that connection".
And for those looking to re-train their brain away from the practice, she has a few pointers.
"You can try urinating before you ever turn on the water to get into the shower.
"If you feel the urge to go to the bathroom while you're in the shower you can try doing a couple of kegel exercises, where you're contracting the pelvic floor muscles.
"You can try taking a couple of diaphragmatic breaths, and you can try doing something that's mentally distracting.
"I usually use the example of counting back from 100 by sevens, or something, to distract your brain away from feeling like you have to pee".
