Mini-Article: Key in the Lock Syndrome

Here’s a weird thing bladders do sometimes. Does your bladder do this?

You’ve just pulled into your driveway, or arrived at your front door, and your bladder suddenly says, “PEE TIME!”

You struggle, and perhaps fail, to make it to the toilet in time.

If this has happened to you, you may have thought you’re the only one. But this is common enough that the medical literature has a name for it: “key in the lock syndrome.”

Some women report that their bladders “think” it’s time to pee if they enter the bathroom for a reason other than to use the toilet. You’re putting towels away, and your bladder says, “We’re here near the toilet, it must be pee time!”

The bladder is full of nerve tissue. It’s almost as if the bladder has its own little brain. The bad news is that this little brain can decide that it, not your actual brain, should be in charge of when it’s time to pee. The good news is that you can retrain your bladder to behave properly and put your brain back in charge of when to pee.

If you don’t already have key in the lock syndrome, you can take steps to prevent it. Key in the lock syndrome develops when you form a habit of going to the toilet to pee as soon as you arrive home. When you do this, you’re training your bladder that arriving home equals time to pee.  Instead, take a few moments to do something else first: put the groceries away, tidy something up, or take a walk around the house. Vary the routine you use when you arrive home, so you make it hard for the bladder to recognize a pattern.

If you’re already experiencing key in the lock syndrome, or other forms of urinary urgency, bladder training techniques, combined with kegels, can be an especially helpful treatment. Diet changes can help too.