It’s football season: tips for the porta potty
Football is back 🙌🏼 which means the return of tailgating, going to games, and the dreaded use of the porta potty. Aside from the annoying trash talk from the other team’s fans, probably not much is worse than having to use a nasty porta potty. They stink. It’s either hot, cold, or muddy in there. There’s probably no toilet paper or hand sanitizer. And you have to worry about someone trying to open the door because no one can ever tell if the latch is green or red.
Your bladder hates this.
While the process of peeing actually involves some complex neural signals, I’ll break it down in simple terms for you. Your pelvic floor muscles have to relax to pee properly. It’s hard for these muscles to relax when you’re worried about peeing to begin with and you’re having to hold yourself up in a squat (in other words, you’re hovering over all the nastiness). If you have to engage your core and legs to hover over that toilet seat, your pelvic floor muscles can’t do what they’re supposed to do - relax!
It also leads to some other bad peeing habits: power peeing and incomplete emptying. I get it, you want to pee faster to get out of there as quickly as possible. But pushing pee out is really bad for your pelvic floor and those 5 seconds you’re saving yourself aren't worth it. Power peeing can contribute to problems like prolapse. Also, if your pelvic floor muscles can’t relax like they should, you may not empty completely, which can set you up for problems like urinary tract infections or urgency issues.
“There’s no way I’m sitting on that porta potty seat!” 😷🤮
I hear you!
So get creative:
If you’re lucky enough to have toilet paper, make a barrier around the seat.
Carry your own toilet paper. A small roll can be easily shoved into a purse or bag. (It also comes in handy when your team loses and you just have to cry it out.)
Carry toilet seat protectors in your bag. These can even be folded up and put in your pocket.
If you’re really adventurous (and flexible), get up over that seat and get into a deep squat. This is better than hovering because the deep squat position doesn’t require your pelvic floor and core muscles to engage as much and allows for more relaxation.
My personal favorite: get you a device like the pStyle that allows you to pee standing up. They have the cutest carrying cases for them so no one has any clue what you’re carrying around. They can be found at camping stores or, of course, online.
If you’re still on the fence, let me leave you with just a couple more tidbits. According to some experts, your gym equipment has 400 times the amount of bacteria as a toilet seat and your cell has about 10 times the amount. I don’t see any of us protecting our hands from cell phone usage 😉
Drop us a line in the comments and let us know what other creative ways you’ve found to manage that porta potty pee!
Thanks for reading! If you found this helpful, help promote awareness of pelvic floor issues and SHARE it! Let’s normalize talking about peeing, pooping, and sex.
