Sometimes women put off a trip to the loo. It could be because you’re too busy or not near a bathroom, but, either way, it’s not good. Ignoring your urge to pee for too long can have some serious consequences.
Lauren Streicher, M.D., an OB/GYN doctor told Redbook, “You should be urinating every four to six hours. If you’re always holding your pee in for too long, there are consequences.”
The first one is fairly obvious – you might have an accident. She says, “As your bladder gets fuller and fuller, there’s a good chance you aren’t going to make it to the bathroom on time.”
Another outcome can mean that your pelvic floor muscles gets weaker and can lead to loss of control of your bladder functions. Lauren says, “Pelvic floor muscles contract in a coordinated fashion to help you either release pee or hold it.
“But if you’re continually holding urine, you can end up with some real dysfunction of your pelvic floor muscles.”
Of course, holding it from time to time won’t do any long term damage but constantly holding your pee could lead to weakening of the pelvic floor muscles.
Another consequence for holding your pee is pain. You know that painful feeling when you need to go, then finally do and it disappears? Well, holding on for too long can mean that the awful pain in your lower abdomen continues.
Lauren explains, “Once the pain signals have been trigged in the lower abdomen, the pain may not just go away. Your muscles are clenching and are almost in a spasm, so they’re not able to just relax.”
The final consequence is an over stretched bladder. When that happens your body starts missing the cues that your bladder needs emptying and that can lead to some unwanted accidents.
Lauren does say that we shouldn’t go panicking, though, saying, “You don’t have to urinate the minute you feel the urge to go. A good measure is that it should never get to the point that you’re uncomfortable. Holding it to that point is too long.”
