# Is it unhealthy to "hold it in"?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-unhealthy-to-hold-it-in/214432
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [November 21, 2003, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-unhealthy-to-hold-it-in/214432 "2003-11-21T02:54:01Z")
**Posts on this page:** 14
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@DirtyKash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DirtyKash)
#### Post date: [November 21, 2003, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-unhealthy-to-hold-it-in/214432/1 "2003-11-21T02:54:01Z")
Until the very, very last moment when you can no longer … Before then, a person can probably hold it in for, I don’t know, a half hour? Is it true that it can be unhealthy for you? What’s the deal with this?
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### Author:  [@frankie\_pentangeli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/frankie_pentangeli)
#### Post date: [November 21, 2003, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-unhealthy-to-hold-it-in/214432/2 "2003-11-21T02:55:54Z")
fart? cum? opinion?
please help.
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### Author:  [@DirtyKash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DirtyKash)
#### Post date: [November 21, 2003, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-unhealthy-to-hold-it-in/214432/3 "2003-11-21T02:57:53Z")
Urine.
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### Author:  [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)
#### Post date: [November 21, 2003, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-unhealthy-to-hold-it-in/214432/4 "2003-11-21T03:04:59Z")
I don’t believe it’s unhealthy to hold it in. Eventually, hydraulic pressure will empty the bladder, whether you want it to or not. It can certainly be unconfortable to hold it but I don’t think it’s actually dangerous in any way.
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### Author:  [@adirondack\_mike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adirondack_mike)
#### Post date: [November 21, 2003, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-unhealthy-to-hold-it-in/214432/5 "2003-11-21T03:15:27Z")
From experience - it may not be unhealthy but I was a hurtin’ pup for a few days.
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### Author:  [@aerodave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aerodave)
#### Post date: [November 21, 2003, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-unhealthy-to-hold-it-in/214432/6 "2003-11-21T03:49:08Z")
A half hour? Bah.
I’ve had to hold it for a few hours at a time…measured from onset of “I think I need to pee” through “Good God I gotta go!” all the way to “Aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…”
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### Author:  [@stockton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stockton)
#### Post date: [November 21, 2003, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-unhealthy-to-hold-it-in/214432/7 "2003-11-21T04:05:24Z")
I think it’s really a case of…
oops!
urgent call on line 1. Gotta go. Hold that thought…
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### Author:  [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)
#### Post date: [November 21, 2003, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-unhealthy-to-hold-it-in/214432/8 "2003-11-21T04:16:41Z")
From [this[/ur] site:
> [@](#):
>
> Holding in urine, then, can cause kidney stones and bladder stones, as. well as lead to heart, circulatory, and metabolic disorders due to reduced kidney function, But there is more it can do, which relates to the distention of the bladder.
From [url=http://yourmedicalsource.com/library/cystitis/CYS\_causes.htm]this]([http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/chris/2003/10/08/kidney\_stones\_bladder\_infection\_prostate\_enlargement.htm](http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/chris/2003/10/08/kidney_stones_bladder_infection_prostate_enlargement.htm)) site:
> [@](#):
>
> What Increases the Risk for Cystitis?
>
> Some things you do or conditions you have can increase your risk for cystitis. These include:
>
> Infrequent urination in both men and women. “Holding it in” causes urine to stagnate, which helps bacteria flourish and grow.
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### Author:  [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)
#### Post date: [November 21, 2003, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-unhealthy-to-hold-it-in/214432/9 "2003-11-21T04:16:47Z")
It’s more of a problem with children. Holding in can lead to an increase in urinary tract infections (especially with girls) as the flow of urine rinses away bacteria. Later in life both boys and girls are more susceptible due to holding in because it stretches the bladder and it may not be able to expel all it’s contents. Mind you problems such as bed wetting are sometimes treated by teaching holding in to stretch the bladder.
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### Author:  [@ronbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ronbo)
#### Post date: [November 21, 2003, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-unhealthy-to-hold-it-in/214432/10 "2003-11-21T04:22:18Z")
Holding it in much longer than you are accustomed to can cause a cramp in your muscles. This can be painful, just like any other muscle cramp.
However, holding it too long or too often can cause more serious problems for the kidneys from the urine back-up.
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### Author:  [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)
#### Post date: [November 21, 2003, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-unhealthy-to-hold-it-in/214432/11 "2003-11-21T05:11:38Z")
I was once told by a doctor that a full bladder puts you at risk for additional injury in a car or plane crash.
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### Author:  [@El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Cid_Viscoso)
#### Post date: [November 21, 2003, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-unhealthy-to-hold-it-in/214432/12 "2003-11-21T08:05:36Z")
I remember a kid getting a DOR from Quantico because of incontinence. He’d always asserted his leaky pipe was directly attributable to the time when our platoon was forced to suffer for hours, without a head-call, inside a warehouse. We were waiting for our orders and I can remember this guy _moaning_, very softly.
For the next week, my soon-to-be-departed compadre had a rough and messy time of it.
So did [this](http://www.medhelp.org/forums/urology/archive/4823.html) guy.
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### Author:  [@El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Cid_Viscoso)
#### Post date: [November 21, 2003, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-unhealthy-to-hold-it-in/214432/13 "2003-11-21T23:01:26Z")
From the link, just FYI:
> [@](#):
>
> A full, distended bladder for long periods of time could cause a stretching of the bladder muscle, thus leading to a more floppy bladder which can not contract as well as before being stretched. This imparts some laziness to the bladder to empty properly. This usually takes a few weeks to resolve.
A call to my urologist confirmed the “lazy bladder” story.
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### Author:  [@Armilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Armilla)
#### Post date: [November 21, 2003, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-unhealthy-to-hold-it-in/214432/14 "2003-11-21T23:14:04Z")
Well, there’s always the rumours about how [Tycho Brahe](http://www.darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin1994-09.html) checked out.