When the bladder becomes full it sends a signal to the brain, prompting us to urinate. Sometimes when we are busy we may ignore that signal until it becomes far too strong to ignore any longer. But holding in your urine can be problematic for many reasons.
4 reasons why you should never hold in your pee
You can have an accident: This is more common among seniors whose bladders are much weaker than in younger adults. Unfortunately, as you age, your holding capacity decreases, which raises the risk of leaks. Although urine leaks aren’t necessarily a problem they are incredibly embarrassing, and you don’t want to be out in public with wet pants. Just go to the nearest toilet when the urge strikes.
Your pelvic floor weakens: The ability to hold in urine has a lot to do with your pelvic floor, which contracts accordingly to hold in urine. If you frequently hold in your urine, this ability to contract can get weaker over time, increasing the risk of leaks.
You experience pain: Not only will it become painful to hold in your urine, but even after you release it you may find that the pain is lingering. This is because the muscles in the lower abdomen are spazzing and 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. Frequently holding in your urine can make your bladder overextended. When this occurs, the signals from the bladder to the brain may get lost, meaning, you can’t always recognize when you need to go.
As you can see, it can be very problematic to hold in your urine, so you’re better off just finding the closest bathroom to relieve yourself instead and save yourself from any bladder problems.