A lot of people tend to avoid really taking care of themselves until something goes wrong. We go about our days and continue living with our current lifestyle filled with bad habits, not realizing how big of an impact they have. Many people think living a healthy lifestyle is hard or boring, but it’s not! While making big lifestyle changes can seem daunting, we all know how quickly we would change if a problem occurred. It’s always better to make some changes, regardless of how big, than live with chronic conditions or undergo surgery. What many people don’t realize is that small changes have huge impacts on our health. The act of drinking water alone can banish headaches caused by dehydration, aid in digestive health, help clear skin problems, and more. The same can be said about hundreds of other small, yet effective habits.
In this article, we’ll focus on habits that help your urologic health—many of which also help improve other systems. If you talk to someone about urologic health, a lot of people are surprised when they learn how much urology includes. Our urinary tract system and the male reproductive system are major parts of everyday life and need to be taken care of to properly function. Rather than waiting until something goes wrong, here are 10 simple steps to take better care of your urologic health that you can start right now.
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Transition into a Healthy Lifestyle—Permanently
Regardless of how old you are, it’s important to take care of your health. The best way to do this is to make sure you eat a diet that’s rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean protein. Avoid unhealthy fats and overly processed foods to limit inflammation and avoid excessive free radicals. By eating a healthy diet, you’ll not only improve your urologic health, you’ll help improve the overall health of your body. A healthy diet is beneficial for every single system in your body and improves the function of all of your organs.
While a lot of people think that living a healthy lifestyle means constantly being on a diet, that’s not how it should be. As long as you eat health most of the time, you can still indulge in your favorite foods. The key is enjoying what you love in moderation. In addition to a healthy diet, make time to exercise regularly. Experts recommend aiming for at least 30 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise 3-5 times per week paired with a few days of strength training. If you’re not used to working out, start slow and build your way into a routine. The important thing is creating a habit that will last, not overdoing it and quitting after a week.
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Ditch the Sugar
One of the best things you can do for yourself is to ditch the sugar. Eating healthy will inevitably lead to a lower sugar intake, but should you fall off the wagon, don’t go back to sugar. Sugar is one of the most harmful things for your body. It increases your risk of cancer, causes obesity, raises your risk of a heart attack, stroke, and hundreds of other short-term and long-term conditions. To help you get a better understanding of your current sugar intake, start reading nutritional labels more thoroughly and write down your sugar consumption for a week. You’ll be surprised at how fast it adds up. Sugars can be hidden in the label but will always be clear in the nutritional information. If you have a sensitive stomach, artificial sugars can cause problems, so be mindful of what you eat and listen to your body.
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Stay Hydrated
Drinking enough water is one of the best ways to keep your urologic health at its best. Water helps to flush out your urinary system and decreases your chance of developing kidney stones.1 For the best results, aim for about ten 10-ounce glasses of water—more if you’re working out rigorously or living an active lifestyle.1 If you can’t stomach plain water, don’t try to increase your hydration using sugary sports drinks or sodas. Instead, try adding lemon, lime, or orange slices with a few mint sprigs to naturally enhance your water. Limiting your caffeine intake will also help you stay hydrated, as caffeine-laden drinks like coffee increase your dehydration levels.
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Practice Healthy Bathroom Habits
Practicing good urology health means practicing healthy bathroom habits. When you have to go, avoid holding it for too long. Holding your urine can be problematic for your health and may lead to incontinence issues. If you’re traveling, find the nearest bathroom and give yourself time to make a pitstop. When you use the bathroom, make sure that you empty your bladder completely. If you don’t empty your bladder when you use the bathroom, you increase your risk infection.2 Women should make sure to always wipe front to back to avoid spreading bacteria and increasing the risk of a urinary tract infection.
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Strengthen Your Pelvic Floor Muscles
Women are more prone to urologic conditions if they have weak pelvic floor muscles. To keep your body strong and healthy, strengthen your pelvic floor muscles using kegel exercises throughout the day. Kegels are great because you can do them at any time during the day without anyone even realizing you’re doing them. Kegels are beneficial for urologic health because they strengthen the muscles needed to support your bladder and bowels.3 As an added bonus, many women report an improvement in their sex life after doing kegels regularly.
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Get a Prostate Exam
As men age, their prostate continues to increase in size. This can lead to a condition called benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) or enlarged prostate disease and other prostate conditions. Prostate problems affect close to 30 million men and every year more than 230,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer.4 To make sure that you’re taking care of your health and being proactive, get a regular prostate exam. Prostate screenings and exams allow you to catch any problems before they turn into dangerous situations. When prostate cancer is caught early, surgery can eradicate the cancer completely. Don’t neglect your prostate health and always see a urologist if you feel like you’re experiencing any problems.
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Don’t Ignore Sexual Problems
If you’re having trouble in the bedroom, it could be a sign that your urologic health is suffering. Many men who experience erectile dysfunction don’t realize that it could be caused by an underlying urologic condition like low testosterone. If you have symptoms of erectile dysfunction, or other conditions like Peyronie’s disease, low testosterone, or male infertility, see a urologist—don’t ignore these problems. There are plenty of ways for you to manage the symptoms, but until you address any underlying problems, they’re going to persist. While it might be uncomfortable to talk about, your urologist is well trained in these conditions and is here to help, not to embarrass you.
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Don’t Ignore Pain
If you experience any pain or feel a persistent urgent or frequent need to urinate, don’t ignore it. While a lot of people see these symptoms as simple inconveniences, they could be an indication of infection or a common urologic condition. Pain is your body trying to tell you that something is wrong, so listen to it. If you notice any blood in your urine, have pain while urinating, feel a pain in your abdomen, incontinence, or notice any significant changes to your urinary patterns, contact your urologist immediately. Getting a proper diagnosis will allow you to formulate a treatment plan that eliminates not only the pain, but whatever’s causing the pain.
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Quit Smoking
If you smoke, quit. Smoking is one of the worst things you can do for your body and has a huge impact on your overall urologic health. While many people have trouble quitting, it’s well worth the effort in the long run. Today, there are hundreds of smoking cessation tools available online that can help you quit for good. If you’re still struggling, talk to your doctor about how they can help.
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See Your Urologist
Finally, make sure that you schedule regular visits with your urologist. Having a urologist is important and while a lot of people think of them as a specialist, your urinary tract system is a system that your body relies on every single day. If you’ve never visited a urologist, now is the time to find one and start making regular visits. This gets even more important as you get older, but the best time to start is now.
Conclusion
Taking care of your urologic health doesn’t have to mean completely changing your life. By making small changes, you will see a huge impact. Start slow and work on one thing at a time. Pretty soon, these healthy habits will become second nature and you’ll start feeling better, have more energy, and reduce your chances of undergoing urologic problems or complications. In the meantime, if you have any symptoms of a urologic problem, call your doctor immediately. Byram Healthcare is proud to offer full-service urological care and we have all the high-quality urological supplies that you need. All of your orders can be discreetly delivered to your home, at any time of the day. If you’re looking for personalized, confidential services, our teams of knowledgeable urological customer service specialists are here to help.
Sources:
1 https://www.urologyhealth.org/living-healthy/10-healthy-tips-for-urologic-health
2 https://www.urologyhealth.org/careblog/six-healthy-tips-for-bladder-health-month
3 https://www.urologycentersalabama.com/urologic-health-tips-resolutions-for-2018/
