When the bladder needs relief, many often ignore their body’s cues for the sake of productivity or even leisure activities.

While occasionally delaying a trip to the restroom is harmless, there can be serious health consequences when it becomes a habit.

“Initially, you’re training yourself to not go, but eventually the urinary distension and stretching the bladder weakens the bladder wall,” Dr. Jason Kim, clinical associate professor of urology at the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University, New York, told The Epoch Times.

Understanding Your Bladder’s Function

The urination process involves a complex neurological system. Urine produced in the kidneys travels through tubes called ureters to the bladder, which has a limited capacity.

“Normal bladder capacity is 400 to 600 ccs [cubic centimeters],” Kim said. “But in patients with compromised voiding function, that might be elevated to a few hundred ccs or more.”

When the bladder reaches half capacity, nerve receptors signal the brain. The brain then instructs the bladder to hold until an appropriate time, Kim noted.

Kim noted that once we decide to relieve ourselves, the brain sends signals that relax the urethral sphincter muscle keeping urine in and then make the bladder muscles contract to push urine out.

Health Risks of Chronic Retention

Younger or middle-aged people, especially in professions with shift work or limited access to bathrooms, often hold their bladders for longer periods, Dr. Anurag K. Das, chairman of the Department of Urology at Northwell Staten Island University Hospital in New York, told The Epoch Times.

“Over time, their bladders stretch out and can hold quite a bit—and these people only urinate every 8 to 12 hours,” Das said. This includes truckers, teachers, and nurses.

While young, healthy people might not experience immediate issues, “as they age, the bladders no longer empty fully, which can lead to higher rates of infections, feeling of not emptying, and sometimes more frequency as the bladder only empties halfway or even less,” Das added.

Some people, termed “pathologic holders of urine,” develop Hinman syndrome (non-neurogenic neurogenic bladder). These people struggle to relax after learning to hold their bladder for long periods. Extended holding can cause the bladder to back up to the kidneys. “In some cases, this can lead to severe kidney damage and kidney failure,” Das said.

Why You’re Having Trouble Peeing

Although holding in your pee is a risk factor for bladder problems, there are many other reasons why you may have difficulty urinating, according to Kim.

For example, in “virtually every” older male, the prostate enlarges and causes “what we call outflow obstruction or constriction of the urethra,” Kim said. He compared it to the urethra being like a garden hose, “imagine putting your foot on it to constrict the flow,” and that’s what happens with an enlarged prostate.

Women can experience conditions such as pelvic organ prolapse, “where the bladder drops,” he noted. “It could kink the urethra and cause some outlet obstruction.”

How well voiding dysfunctions from delaying urination are treated depends on how soon the problem is addressed, said Kim.

Treatment Options and Prevention

For younger patients, Kim recommends timed bathroom visits every three to four hours, even without urgency. If you don’t feel like it, “force yourself,” he added. Pelvic floor exercises may also help improve bladder control.

Delaying urination repeatedly stretches the bladder, potentially leading to recurring urinary tract infections.

“If you think about warm, infected urine sitting around, it just kind of festers,” Kim said. “And even if you chew the antibiotics, [the infection] keeps coming back.”

“In cases where none of that works, we sometimes recommend something called sacral neuromodulation, which is almost like a bladder pacemaker,“ Kim said. ”Where we implant the electrode near the nerves and attach it to a device that stimulates those nerves.”

If that doesn’t help, Kim pointed out that patients can consider learning how to perform intermittent catheterization, where they put a catheter in their bladder several times a day to drain the urine.

Early intervention is crucial.

“Many holders begin as children or high school,” Das said. “It is important to see these people early and explain how the urinary system works, and the problems holding can cause in the long run.”