Like, I’m at work, and I have to have a squat, but I’ve got a nice book at home so I’d rather wait. Is that bad for me? I mean, my innards won’t reabsorb my, uh… poo, right?
And what about the morning commute, after I’ve had 5 or 6 cups of coffee at home and then I’m stuck in traffic for 90 minutes and really have to pee? I never just pull over somewhere and go. I just hold it till I get to work. Is that bad for me? I’m not gonna rupture my bladder or anything, am I?
I’m sure I’m not the only one who does this. Am I?
I have wicked bladder problems (polyps, frequent infections, etc), so I need to avoid holding it at all costs. I don’t know if letting it mellow in there just allows more time for bacteria to start gettin’ frisky or what - I’m just following doctors’ orders. I doubt it’s as much of a concern for boys, however.
Can’t speak for the pooping, though now I’m curious too.
As far as pee goes, I normally can comfortably go just twice a day…unless I’m drinking coffee. Then, I swear, I’m in there every 10 to 15 minutes until about an hour after my last cup.
Apparently there is health value in not holding it for too long. IANAD, so hopefully Qadgop will chime in.
I seem to recall in my father’s work running a prostate-cancer support group that there was emphasis on “don’t avoid voiding” - it was such a silly phrase that it stuck in my head - so I guess it was effective! Apparently it lessens risks for some conditions like colon cancer, but I have no cite for that…sorry.
I thought that if you held in your poo, your intestines could continue absorbing water from it thus making it, well, “harder” on your system in the long run.
I also thought that I just read in my women’s health book that you should try to hold pee in for a little while at least to help build the muscles around your bladder. If you pee every time at the slightest provocation then pretty soon you won’t be able to hold it in even when you have to.
Way I see it, if you’re holding a pee for a long time, you stand a much higher chance of actually pissing yourself if someone says something really funny, or you get tickled or something startles you.
Medically, of course its a bad idea to hold it. I just lack the medical knowledge to tell you why.
Your body is designed to trigger the sensation of needing to urinate or defecate at significantly lower pressures than it actually would take to rupture anything.
However, your body is designed to tell you to go at that pressure, because it is in your interest not to hold it until the sphincters are about to give way under the strain.
Not defecating when you feel the urge can lead to a dilation of the rectum, which can, after all, only hold so much. Eventually the rectum gets used to the “stretch” and the sensation of needing to defecate won’t be triggered at normal pressures. This leads to constipation, and eventually to faecal incontinence as you no longer get a feeling you have to go- your bowels just open without warning.
So, holding it in for 15 minutes every so often while you find a bathroom is fine- holding it in for several hours every day because you only like to use your own bathroom- not so great in the long term.
[QUOTE=Winston SmithAnd what about the morning commute, after I’ve had 5 or 6 cups of coffee at home and then I’m stuck in traffic for 90 minutes and really have to pee? I never just pull over somewhere and go. I just hold it till I get to work. Is that bad for me? I’m not gonna rupture my bladder or anything, am I?[/QUOTE]
According to Why Do Men Have Nipples? by Mark Leyner and Billy Goldberg (Goldberg is a MD), holding your urine won’t cause your bladder to rupture. Your body will make you piss yourself before your bladder ruptures (provided you aren’t getting hit in the bladder, of course).
[tangent]
Is it possible for the water in urine to be reabsorbed?
Occasionally I neglect to visit the bathroom prior to a long run (e.g. >10mi) and I have noticed that the semi-full-bladder sensation doesn’t seem to worsen at all. In fact, it often seems to go away.
Am I simply cutting off production at the moment the strenuous exercise begins or does the body actually begin to take back some of the water to address the sudden need for water?
[/tangent]
Or Johannes Kepler murdered him. Kepler’s sometimes named because A) it’s known he had contact with Tycho, B) they were working in the same field, and C) it’s really hard to have much conclusive evidence when the crime is a couple hundred years old.
From what I understand (IANAD), once urine leaves your kidneys, your body is done processing it. Thus, urine in the bladder does not get readsorbed. What likely is happening is that your body is slowing down urine production (by volume) as it diverts more blood to your muscles and your mind is ignoring the “I’m full” signals your bladder is sending to your brain.
one potentially dangerous outcome from driving with a full bladder is severing the connection between your urethra and your bladder in an accident. i worked in a rehabilitation hospital for several years and saw many a patient on a catheter while their surgically repaired bladder healed… think of a large water balloon connected to a piece of linguini both travelling at 60mph. Now, slow everything down from 60-to-0 in about 1-5 feet… not a pretty picture… after all the coffee, stop and make a pee-pee.