Holding your pee can have dangerous health risks, experts say

Get inspired by a weekly roundup on living well, made simple. Holding your pee in every so often generally can be harmless, but there are some cases in which the behavior can pose threats to your health, especially if it’s a regular, learned behavior, said Dr. Jason Kim, clinical associate professor of urology at the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University on Long Island, New York. I’d say normal bladder capacity is about 400 to 600.” Once the bladder is about half full, nerve receptors tell the brain it’s time to pee, and the brain tells your bladder to hold it until a socially acceptable time to urinate, Kim said. Over time, holding pee in too often can strain, and thus weaken, your bladder muscles, which then cannot generate enough force to empty the urine, experts said. If you’re holding your pee because you’ve noticed you’re running to the toilet unusually often, that could be a sign of overactive bladder syndrome, diabetes or a UTI, experts said.