Why you shouldn’t hold in urine

Sometimes there’s no restroom in sight, or you’re not just comfortable using public restrooms and so you decide to hold in urine as long as you can. Doing this once or twice is not really an issue, but doing it frequently is causing more damage than you bargained for. When the bladder becomes full it sends a signal to the brain, prompting us to urinate. When we ignore that signal it disrupts the excretion process.

Your pelvic floor weakens: The pelvic floor is the organ that allows you hold in urine and it contracts accordingly to hold in urine. According to Dr. Miriam Oreouwa a Gynecologist, if you frequently hold in your urine, this ability to contract can get weaker over time, increasing the risk of leaks; for women, the leaks become worse after childbirth.

You experience pain: Not only will it become painful to hold in your urine, but even after you ease yourself, you still feel the discomfort after a while. This is because the muscles in the lower abdomen are unable to relax. For some, this pain may be temporary, but for others it may last for days. Your bladder can become stretched out: Your bladder is a muscle and like any other muscle it can become stretched out and worn out. Frequently holding in your urine can make your bladder overextended and weak. When this occurs, the signals from the bladder to the brain are cut, and this is very dangerous. You are prone to kidney stones: People who are prone to be diagnosed with kidney stones are those who frequently hold in urine. Kidney stones are tiny “stones” that form in the kidneys from excess sodium or calcium, and if they are not regularly expelled via urine, these stones will try to leave the body via the urinary tract. This is extremely painful.