Dr. Steven Tijerina is the US Director of Integrated Pelvic Care (IPC), a clinical network specializing in pelvic-floor physical therapy and men's pelvic health education. He directs clinical operations and education programs across IPC's US partner clinics, training a new generation of pelvic-floor physical therapists in the IPC methodology — the same framework that informs the calculations and educational content in this app. A Doctor of Physical Therapy with a Cert. MDT (Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy) credential, Dr. Tijerina brings a movement-science lens to pelvic dysfunction. His clinical work focuses on how postural patterns, breathing mechanics, and pelvic-floor coordination interact to drive the symptoms that bring most men to a urologist in the first place — urgency, weak stream, incomplete emptying, post-void dribbling, nocturia. Many of these patterns respond to physical therapy when they're caught early, before surgical or pharmacologic intervention becomes the default first answer. The earlier the pattern is named, the more options remain on the table. For My Flow Check, Dr. Tijerina serves as medical reviewer for every patient-education article published on the site. His review focuses on clinical accuracy first — does the article match what a clinician would actually teach a patient at the first visit? — and clarity second. He believes patient education has to be honest about what a 3-day bladder diary can and cannot reveal, and what realistic next steps actually look like when a pattern is identified. No oversold promises, no fear-mongering. Just the data and what to do with it.
Affiliations
- Integrated Pelvic Care (IPC)
Articles medically reviewed by Dr. Steven Tijerina, PT, DPT, Cert. MDT
Bladder Diary: What Three Days of Tracking Show You
A bladder diary is three days of fluids, voids, and leaks. Done well, it does not tell you what is wrong; it shows you what your body is actually doing.
Bladder Assessment Tools: Which Ones You Can Use at Home
A bladder or continence assessment tool turns your bladder symptoms into data. Three are patient-usable at home; the diary does most of the work.
Bladder Diary App: What 3 Days Will Show You
Three days of bladder diary data will probably surprise you. Here is what an app shows you, why your care team wants the chart, and how to start tonight.
Bladder Diary PDF: Where to Find One and How to Use It
A printable bladder diary PDF works as well as any app, if you fill it out for three days. Where to find a free one, how to use it, and when paper wins.
Bladder Irritants: Foods and Drinks to Avoid
Caffeine, alcohol, and certain foods irritate a sensitive bladder. So do dehydration, holding too long, and a few medications. A 3-day diary tells which are yours.
Foods That Irritate the Bladder: Evidence-Based Guide
Caffeine, alcohol, citrus, tomato, and spicy foods top the list of foods that irritate the bladder. Use a 14-day elimination test to find yours.
Bladder Training Exercises: Find the Drill That Fits You
Bladder training is not one exercise. It is four drills, mapped to four bladder problems. Match the drill to your bladder type using the 4Is framework.
Bladder Capacity: What's Normal, and How to Find Yours
A healthy adult bladder usually holds 300 to 500 ml. That average tells you almost nothing about yours. Find your own in three days with a measuring cup.
Pelvic Floor Exercises for Men: What They Help and How to Start
Pelvic floor exercises help men with after-dribble, urgency, and leaks. Here is what they actually help, the two moves men are never taught, and how to start.
Urge Suppression Techniques: 60-Second Drill (Printable)
Urge suppression rests on three levers: delay, distraction, technique. The 60-second drill, the squeeze intensity, the breath, and the fluid trap to avoid.
Enlarged Prostate Symptoms: What They Mean and What to Do
Most enlarged prostate symptoms are a mix of two clinically different buckets. The mix tells you what to do this week, no surgery required for most men.
Enlarged Prostate Diet: What Actually Helps (and What's a Myth)
No food shrinks an enlarged prostate, but weight, exercise, and an eating pattern genuinely ease symptoms. Here is what the evidence supports and what is hype.
Enlarged Prostate Treatment: Your Options
Enlarged prostate treatment is a ladder: lifestyle changes, medication, minimally invasive procedures, then surgery. Most men never need an operation. Here is how to choose.
How to Pee With an Enlarged Prostate
How to pee with an enlarged prostate: everyday techniques for a slow stream, the cold-medicine trap, and the one emergency you must never wait on.
Needing to Pee a Lot: Causes, Normal Range, and What to Do
Most adults pee 6 to 8 times a day. If you're going more, the cause is usually one of seven things, and a 3-day diary tells you which one is yours.
Feeling Like You Always Have to Pee
Feeling like you have to pee all the time is usually a signaling glitch, not a full bladder. Here is what it means, the most common reasons, and how to calm it.
Peeing a Lot After Drinking Water: Is It Normal?
Peeing a lot after drinking water is usually normal: your kidneys clear the surplus in 20 to 30 minutes. Here is how to tell normal from a red flag.
Urinary Incontinence in Women: Why You Leak and How to Stop
Bladder leaks are common in women and very treatable. Learn the three kinds of leak, why birth and menopause trigger them, and how pelvic-floor work fixes most.
Stress Urinary Incontinence: Why You Leak When You Cough, Sneeze, or Lift
A stress leak is urine that escapes when you cough, sneeze, laugh, or lift. Learn why it happens and how pelvic-floor work fixes it for most women.
Urinary Incontinence in Men: Why You Leak and How to Stop
Bladder leaks in men are common and very fixable. Learn the three kinds of male leak, why prostate surgery is the usual trigger, and how pelvic-floor work wins back control.
Why You Wake Up to Pee at Night: Bladder vs Kidney
Nocturia has two completely different root causes. One yes/no question on a 3-day diary tells you which one is yours, and which doctor can fix it.
Waking Up to Pee at Night: Find Your Pattern in Three Days
Waking up to pee at night more than once is rarely just aging. It splits into two paths, bladder or kidney, and a 3-day diary tells you which.
Overactive Bladder in Men: Causes & Relief
Overactive bladder in men is common, treatable, and often confused with an enlarged prostate. Learn the symptoms, the real causes, and what actually calms it.
Overactive Bladder and Diabetes
Overactive bladder and diabetes are linked: high blood sugar and nerve damage make the bladder act up. Here is the real connection and what actually helps.
Overactive Bladder & Premature Ejaculation
Overactive bladder and premature ejaculation share the same pelvic-floor muscle and nerve. Here is how they connect, and what actually calms both.
Overactive Bladder in Your 20s and 30s
Yes, you can have an overactive bladder in your 20s. It is rarely dangerous and usually very treatable. Here is why young adults get it and what calms it.
Post-Prostatectomy Recovery: What Your Bladder Does Next
After prostate surgery, the bladder relearns how to work. Most of the leaks, urgency, and frequency are treatable. A 3-day diary tells you which path is yours.
Kegel Exercises After Prostate Surgery
How to do Kegels right after prostate surgery: find the muscle, avoid bearing down, train two ways, and learn the knack to stop leaks.
Peeing a Lot After Surgery: When It's Normal, When It's Not
Peeing a lot after surgery is normal for the first week. After prostate surgery, persistent frequency is a different problem with a different fix.
Urinary Urgency: The 4 Roads, Decoded
Urinary urgency is a sudden, hard-to-defer urge to pee. Most cases fit one of four functional patterns. A 3-day diary tells you which one is yours.
Medications for Urinary Urgency
Medications for urinary urgency: the two main drug classes, how they work, side effects, the memory caution in older adults, and where pills fit in the treatment ladder.
What Causes Urinary Urgency? The 4 Patterns Behind the Urge
The causes of urinary urgency cluster into four functional patterns. A three-day bladder diary tells you which is yours, and what to try first.
Urinary Urgency in Men: Why It Happens and What Calms It
Urinary urgency in men is usually a treatable signaling problem, often tied to the prostate, not a sign of disease. Here is why it strikes and what actually calms it.
Urinary Urgency in Women: What Helps
Urinary urgency in women is usually a treatable signaling problem, not a sign of disease. Here is why it strikes at different life stages and what actually calms it.
Voiding Symptoms: Slow Stream, Hesitancy, and Trouble Emptying
Voiding symptoms describe the part of urination after the bladder decides to go. Slow stream, hesitancy, incomplete emptying. A 3-day diary tells you which fix is yours.
Why Does My Bladder Feel Like It's Not Empty?
Feeling that your bladder isn't empty after peeing is often a signal problem, not a plumbing problem. The diary plus a scan sorts which version you have.
Pee Dripping After Urination: Real Fixes
Pee dripping after urination is post-void dribble. In men it is urine left in the urethra; in women, urine pooled in the vagina. Both have quick fixes.
Trouble Starting to Pee
Trouble starting to urinate: why the stream is slow to start or stutters, what to do at the toilet (never strain), and the emergency to never wait on.
Underactive Bladder: The Muscle That Lost Its Squeeze
An underactive bladder is a tired bladder muscle that cannot empty fully. Track three days in a diary to see the pattern and skip the wrong meds.
A Weak Urine Stream Is a Clue, Not a Diagnosis
A weak urine stream is a clue, not a diagnosis. The cause may be plumbing, the bladder muscle, or pelvic-floor coordination. A 3-day diary tells which.
Nocturia
Nocturia means waking from sleep to urinate. One trip can be normal; two or more nightly often signals an underlying pattern worth understanding.
Overactive bladder (OAB)
Overactive bladder is a pattern of urgency, often with daytime frequency and nighttime waking. Here is what it means and what tends to help.
Post-void residual (PVR)
Post-void residual is the urine left in the bladder right after you finish urinating. Measured by ultrasound or catheter, it tells a clinician how completely the bladder empties.
Urinary frequency
Urinary frequency is going to the bathroom more often than typical, usually defined as 8 or more daytime voids. Here is what counts and what tends to drive it.
Urinary urgency
Urgency is a sudden, hard-to-defer need to urinate. It is the most diagnostic symptom of overactive bladder and the symptom most likely to interfere with daily life.
This article is for educational purposes only. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a qualified health professional regarding any medical condition.