As a result of holding back pee too often, what will happen?
Urination (pee) is important in the urological system because the body needs to remove waste and excess fluid from the body. However, sometimes it is necessary to hold on to urination due to certain factors, especially when there is no bathroom nearby. So, what are the consequences of holding back pee too often?
Can you hold your pee?
The bladder is a reservoir for urine that is ready to be excreted by the body. This organ is elastic, so it can stretch more if it contains more and will return to its normal size when empty.
Normally, an adult can hold about 450 ml of urine in the bladder. Meanwhile, children under 2 years of age can store up to 113 ml. This means that the more mature, the higher the ability to accommodate urine.
According to Nazia Bandukwala, DO, a urologist from Piedmont, she recommends urinating every three hours. This habit needs to be done, regardless of whether you want to pee or not.
You may be able to hold your pee for a while, especially when you are traveling. However, that does not mean it can be done as often as possible.
Not urinating right away can actually cause various disturbing diseases and health problems.
The result of holding back pee too often
When you decide to hold your pee because you are busy or there is no toilet nearby, the sphincter muscles in your bladder will be tightly closed. This is done so that urine does not leak through your urethra.
You may be able to collect urine which will need to be passed for a while. However, accustomed to delaying urination for a long time can cause a number of problems and even cause symptoms of urological disease.
You see, all the blood that enters the body is filtered in the kidneys. Then, metabolic waste products (waste) from the blood will be excreted through urine.
If you choose to hold your pee, your body is at risk of experiencing an imbalance of metabolism and electrolytes. This condition can certainly cause a number of serious health problems, such as long-term kidney disease.
Apart from kidney disease, there are several health conditions to watch out for if you frequently hold your pee. Anything?
1. Urinary tract infection (UTI)
One of the diseases that often occurs due to holding urine too often is a urinary tract infection. This condition is caused by a buildup of bacteria around the opening of the urethra. As a result, bacteria get into the urethra when you don’t urinate.
Urinating is one way to get bacteria out of the body. If you hold it in, the bacteria can multiply and cause infection in your urinary tract.
However, this bad habit does not automatically lead to urinary tract infections. The risk of a UTI is higher if you don’t drink water as needed.
This is because the bladder will not be full enough to send a signal for you to urinate. As a result, the bacteria that may have been in the urinary tract multiply and cause an infection.
2. Urinary incontinence
In addition to the risk of UTIs, holding back urine too often can also cause the bladder muscles to weaken. How come? When you try not to urinate, the muscles in your bladder tighten.
If done too often, of course, the muscle strength will relax and not be as elastic as before. The bladder is weakened and you are at risk for urinary incontinence, which is frequent leakage of urine.
If you recently feel that you are unable to collect urine, you should consult your doctor.
3. Kidney stones
Did you know that people who hold their urine frequently, regardless of reason, are at risk of developing kidney stones?
Kidney stones are small ‘stones’ that form in the kidneys as a result of excess sodium and calcium. Mineral deposits that are not excreted regularly through urine can form kidney stones.
Generally, kidney stones that are small in size can be passed through the urinary tract without causing pain. However, when you delay urinating too often, the mineral and salt content in the urine can actually develop larger stones.
If this happens, the stones can block the urinary tract and block the flow of urine from the kidneys in the process of urine formation. As a result, you may feel pain when you urinate.
4. Swelling of the bladder
The bladder in healthy adults can usually hold up to 440 ml of fluid. If you drink eight glasses per day, the amount of fluid you are consuming is about 2 liters of water.
This means that the average bladder can hold up to a quarter of the water you drink each day. Even if you drink lots of water to keep your body and kidneys hydrated, you need to balance it with regular urination.
If you are accustomed to holding urine, it is not impossible that urine will accumulate and cause swelling to disease in the bladder. The reason is, you continue to drink water without removing fluids that are no longer needed by the body. As a result, the bladder is overloaded and can swell.
In some rare cases, this bad habit can also cause the bladder to burst. For example, there was a patient who did not urinate for about a week. At the time of examination, these patients had more than two liters of urine in their bladder.
If the bladder is put under too much pressure as a result of the accumulation of urine, this organ can rupture and can be fatal.
5. Low back pain
The result of holding back urine is not only harmful to the urinary tract organs (urology), but also to your waist. Delaying urination can actually cause low back pain, how come?
By the time the bladder is half full, the nerves around the organ are active. You may experience symptoms of frequent urination.
If you hold it, it means the body is trying to fight signals from the nerves of the bladder and brain. As a result, the hair on the neck shuddered (goosebumps) and the abdomen felt full to the point of feeling pain.
This behavior should not be practiced as the pain can radiate from the lower abdomen to the waist. This is because the pain arises due to the fact that most of the muscles around the bladder and kidneys continue to tighten.
However, the pain may be replaced by relief some time after you have successfully urinated. Therefore, holding back pee is not recommended because it can cause various annoying problems.
Tips to prevent the dangers of holding urine
Although your body can manage to hold pee, too long delaying it can cause illness. Therefore, it is recommended that you urinate regularly every three hours, regardless of whether you are dying or not.
You may also need to watch for signs when the bladder is ready to pass urine. For example, feeling bloated or full in the bladder is a good time to urinate.
In addition, you are also advised not to drink too much when traveling, especially to places where toilets are not available.
If you experience signs and symptoms due to frequent urination, see a doctor immediately. That way, your doctor may recommend that you undergo a urine test to diagnose the condition you are experiencing.
Hello Health Group does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
