The holidays are here again — twinkling lights, familiar songs, crowded tables, and the warmth of gathering with people we love. But alongside the joy often comes something far less celebrated: disrupted routines, indulgent foods, extra cocktails, long travel days, and stress.

And for many women, especially those already navigating pelvic health challenges, this season can make bladder symptoms worse.

As pelvic and women’s health providers, we understand the delicate balance our patients work so hard to maintain. Yet even the most motivated clients face setbacks during the holidays. This is where our guidance, reassurance, and education matter most.

Below are clear, evidence-informed tips to help you support your patients — and offer them hope, confidence, and practical strategies — through the season ahead.

Tip 1: Encourage Consistency With Pelvic Floor Exercises

Pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) remains one of the strongest, most reliable tools for improving overactive bladder (OAB) and urinary urgency. But during the holidays, routines often slip.

When the urge hits suddenly — at the dinner table, in the car on the way to see family, or while waiting in line at the store — remind your patients that their body still has the ability to respond and protect them.

Research shows:

• Sustained pelvic floor contractions support urethral closure and can prevent leaks tied to urgency.
  
• Quick pelvic floor contractions help inhibit unwanted detrusor contractions (Reisch 2020).
  
• Quick contractions may also reduce involuntary relaxation of the internal urinary sphincter, supporting continence in moments of urgency.
  

Encourage patients to take a slow breath, stay grounded, and perform several quick PFM contractions when they feel the urge arise. These small actions can preserve confidence and control — even when the holiday schedule feels chaotic.

Tip 2: Revisit Bladder Irritants and Urge-Suppression Techniques With Nuance

For years, reducing bladder irritants was considered a foundational OAB strategy. But the conversation is shifting, and emerging research invites us to approach this guidance with greater clarity and personalization.

What we still know:

• Reducing caffeine to <100 mg/day is linked to fewer urgency episodes, fewer leaks, and fewer voids (Reisch 2020).
  
• Some urge-suppression strategies — like mental puzzles, deep breathing, or distraction — remain helpful for many patients.
  

What newer studies suggest:

• The effect of avoiding irritants may be less significant than once believed (Ha 2025, Miller 2020).
  
• Limiting irritants didn’t always improve outcomes — but maintaining proper hydration did.
  
• It’s possible that consistent fluid intake diluted bladder irritants enough to make a meaningful difference.
  

For your patients, especially during a season filled with coffee, cocoa, wine, and holiday cocktails, the message becomes:

Aim for hydration, practice moderation, and use urge strategies when helpful — but don’t panic if perfection isn’t possible.

Offer reassurance. Encourage tuning into the body rather than fearing every beverage choice.

Tip 3: Keep Bowels Moving — For the Bladder’s Sake

Few things disrupt bladder function like a sluggish gut.

Constipation increases pressure on the bladder, decreases available space, and can trigger urgency, frequency, and leaks. Evidence — and decades of clinical experience — tell us:

• Distended bowels can create unwanted bladder contractions (McAuley 2023).
  
• OAB and urinary incontinence symptoms worsen significantly when constipation is present (McAuley 2023).
  
• When constipation resolves, bladder symptoms often ease dramatically.
  

During the holiday season, encourage patients to:

• Prioritize fiber-rich foods (yes, even alongside pumpkin pie!)
  
• Maintain hydration
  
• Keep up with movement
  
• Use supportive toileting positions when traveling (bring the portable stool!)
  

Supporting bowel health is one of the most powerful ways to support bladder health.

A Final Note for Providers

The holidays can amplify the very barriers women already face in their pelvic health journeys — lack of access, disrupted routines, shame around symptoms, and fear of regression.

Your guidance becomes an anchor during this time.

You help women feel seen.
You help women feel supported.
You help women stay connected to their bodies instead of feeling betrayed by them.

As we move into the season of gathering, may we continue dismantling the silence around bladder health — one conversation, one patient, one community at a time.

Because when providers are equipped, women are empowered.
And when women are empowered, they reclaim their futures.

References:

Ha, B., Seo, Y., Weaver, A. M., Khan, F. Z. A., & Handa, V. L. (2025). Potential Bladder Irritants and Overactive Bladder Symptoms: A Systematic Review. Urogynecology (Philadelphia, Pa.), 31(4), 454–464. https://doi.org/10.1097/SPV.0000000000001567 

McAuley, J. Adrienne PT, DPT, MEd1; Mahoney, Amanda T. PT, DPT2; Austin, Mary M. PT, DPT3. Clinical Practice Guidelines: Rehabilitation Interventions for Urgency Urinary Incontinence, Urinary Urgency, and/or Urinary Frequency in Adult Women. Journal of Women’s & Pelvic Health Physical Therapy 47(4):p 217-236, October/December 2023. | DOI: 10.1097/JWH.0000000000000286  

Miller, J. M., Schimpf, M. O., Hawthorne, K., Hortsch, S. B., Garcia, C., & Smith, A. R. (2022). Fluids affecting bladder urgency and lower urinary symptoms: results from a randomized controlled trial. International urogynecology journal, 33(5), 1329–1345. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00192-022-05090-z 

Reisch, Rebecca PT, DPT, PhD. Interventions for Overactive Bladder: Review of Pelvic Floor Muscle Training and Urgency Control Strategies. Journal of Women’s Health Physical Therapy 44(1):p 19-25, January/March 2020. | DOI: 10.1097/JWH.0000000000000148