“Can We Stop? I Have To Go!” Traveling and Your Urinary System

Does Travel Effect Your Urinary System?

Whether you’re hitting the road for work or some much-needed R and R, traveling can impact your urinary tract in a variety of ways. Travel can put a lot of stress on the body. If you’re flying, you may be up at odd hours, eating snack or junk foods, and drinking less water than normal. If you’re driving, everyone hates the stop and starter who has to go every 30 miles, so you may be inclined to hold off on number one to avoid any back and forth from the backseat. Road trips also mean gas station food, lots of caffeine, and a little less water than you probably would drink normally.

The hustle and bustle associated with travel plans and vacations, coupled with lack of sleep, lack of water intake, bad diet, and a change in your workout and diet regimens may cause trouble for your urinary health (especially if you are prone to these issues!)

Staying Healthy When You Travel

Your urinary health is critical to your overall wellbeing. Keeping that in mind, there are several steps you can take tp keep your urinary system in good shape when you hit the road.

1. Hydration is Key! 

No matter if it’s a beachside villa, a ski slope resort, or just back at mom’s for Christmas, vacations, and staycations can wear heavily on your urinary system. Often, we may consume more alcohol than usual on vacation, neglect our diets, and consume much less water than usual. This shock to our bodies can cause UTIs and potentially kidney stones, which can be dangerous and are always painful and difficult to deal with.

Make sure you’re drinking at least 2 liters of water per day, even on road trips! There is no shame in saying “Hey I gotta go!” Even if the driver is being annoying about it.

2. Eat Good, But Eat Well!

Indulging is one of the best parts of a vacation. No work schedule, no lunch break, just good times. Because of this, it can be easy to throw off our body’s eating schedule with late-night pizza and an early morning mimosa brunch. All of this is fine and good, but it is important to moderate our indulgences when we are traveling.

This is especially true when traveling to places where the food is traditionally spicier than you are accustomed to, or places that have issues with water purity and food safety concerns.

If you’re prone to UTIs, these drastic changes may exacerbate them. Something else to consider: sexual activity typically increases on vacation. This can also cause urinary health issues for both men and women. Make sure you are staying on top of your hydration, hygiene, and diet while traveling to avoid these issues.

3. Sleep Is Good! 

Jet lag and time zone changes can be a real pain. Long layovers, flights across the pond, and nights spent out enjoying the sights, sounds, and local libations can have disastrous effects on our sleep schedules. The impulse to live it up can sometimes be overwhelming, but it is important that we maintain our sleep schedules when traveling and vacationing. Lack of sleep combined with dehydration can cause a litany of different urinary health problems in men and women. If you are bringing the kids along, lack of sleep can cause incontinence and bed-wetting in children, even if they aren’t prone to these accidents at home.

4. Stay Active When You Can 

If your vacation or work travel means a lot of time spent sitting and sipping or cooped up in offices, it is important to make sure you are still getting adequate exercise. Vacation and work travel can mean lots of weird and random dietary choices brought on by necessity or too much of a good time. Managing the physical and mental stress of travel can be difficult. A good run on the treadmill or 30 minutes of weightlifting can do wonders for our physical and mental health.

5. Stay Prepared 

If you know you’re going to be gone for a while, make sure to bring any prescriptions you may need. If you know you are prone to dehydration, UTIs, or other urological conditions, make sure you pack any vitamins you may need to stay healthy.

Travel Well, Be Well! 

It is easy to not think about what our bodies need when we are on vacation. However, indulging and neglecting our bodies can make us sick and more prone to injury, which can ruin a vacation pretty quickly! If you know you’re traveling for work or leisure soon and want to schedule a check-up, contact AUI today to set an appointment.