Why Do I Have To Pee More When It's Cold?

Did you ever come inside from the cold and almost immediately need to urinate?

When it is cold your body tries to keep your "core" warm.  The core is your heart, lungs and brain.  The way the body does this is by constricting blood vessels in your extremities like your hands and feet.

The end result is you have the same amount of blood circulating in a smaller area.  This is good for keeping your core warm but your kidneys sense too much fluid so they start making more urine.

By the time you get inside you might have a very strong urge to urinate. This is normal.

If you find that you are more thirsty later that is also normal.  Your body wants to replace the water it lost in that extra urine you made.

So now you know.

Good Urinary Habits and Bad Urinary Habits

Many of us remember Goofus and Gallant helping us learn good and bad habits, courtesy of Highlights magazine.  Unfortunately they did not teach good urinary habits.  Many of the problems we see in the office have their roots in some bad habits... but often they can be helped by adopting some good habits.

Here is a short list of "good" and "bad" habits.  See how many you have... and if you should make any changes.

GOOD HABITS

1. Drinking at least 6 glasses of fluid a day

2. Urinating at least every 4-5 hours

3. Taking your time while urinating.  Relax, close your eyes.

4. Avoiding constipation

5. Urinating before exercising

BAD HABITS

1. Going all day without urinating

2. Hurrying to urinate

3. Putting off urination when you feel the urge

4. Exercising (especially lifting weights) with a full bladder

5. Driving with a full bladder.  It can rupture in an accident if it is full.

Make one of your 2010 New Year's Resolutions to try to adopt at least one good habit and get rid of at least one bad habit!

Happy New Year 2010!

It's been a while since we posted any updates.

Here is the latest news from 4460 Red Bank Road:

1. Our practice is now one year old. We have grown more than we had ever anticipated in such a short time and are as committed as ever to providing you with the best possible experience you could have visiting a urologist.

2. We now have a full time nurse who is charming, sweet, funny and very kind. Many of our patients have mentioned how much they like her and how she puts them at ease.

3. As insurance reimbursement changes and as Medicare continues to make cuts in payments to doctors we have been examining what we are able to offer our patients and at this time, there will be no changes in the services we currently offer.

4. Insurance companies are increasingly shifting more of the cost of healthcare to the patient and this can come as a rude surprise. We not only verify your coverage when you come in for an appointment, we also can check your decuctible and see how much you have met. Many people are not aware of how this works and are surprised that they may be required to pay more in addition to their copay.

5. Our office policy is to collect copays and unmet dedectible amounts that will be due for your care at the time of your visit. What we collect is based upon the negotiated fees with your particular insurance company and the percent you are responsible for. If for any reason we have collected too much, the excess amount is promptly returned to you in a check. Alternatively, if you know you will be back you may keep the amount as a credit towards future visits.

6. All elective surgeries will require a surgical deposit prior to scheduling the surgery. This amount will be based up on your individual policy's negotiated fees for elective surgery.

7. We will be asking everyone for updated information about insurance, medications and any new health problems or changes that have occured over the last year. It is important for us to keep your record as up to date as possible.

Your allergy list is especially important to keep up to date.

8. As always, we welcome your comments and suggestions. Last year we made some significant changes based on patient comments which we feel were all good. For instance, we now have toilet seat covers in the rest room, babywipe warmers in the rooms for comfortable "clean up" and we have better candy, all thanks to patient suggestions.

9. And finally, we are very proud to have been listed in the January 2010 issue of Cincinnati magazine as one of the "Top Docs" in Urology. Check it out on page 188.

10. We hope your new year is happy, safe and healthy. Best wishes!