Is It Safe to Hold Urine
When you need to urinate, but it’s uncomfortable, your body has a complex system that allows you to hold it until it’s safe. This video explains how this mechanism works and how safe it is to recycle this system.
Simply put, you have a set of pelvic floor muscles that prevent the urinary tract from emptying until the brain decides it’s safe. If your bladder is not very full, you may deliberately decide to keep this muscle closed by trapping urine. However, as your bladder fills, the pressure builds up, sending signals to your brain that things are getting serious. It starts with a feeling of pressure and ultimately leads to pain. If your bladder becomes too full when you try to hold it, your brain may reject any conscious thoughts you might have about holding it, and release the floodgates, so to speak.
As we discussed earlier , the brain knows very well when you hold onto it for too long. If you hold it in your hands for a little while, you are safe. However, holding it frequently in your hands can put undue stress on your pelvic floor muscles. Over time, this can lead to their failure, leading to many problems in old age, such as urinary incontinence or pelvic floor hyperactivity. So, if you need to urinate and you have the option to go, do yourself a favor and just take a bathroom break.
Is it bad to hold urine? | TedEd via Design TAXI