Your body's physical capacity to keep in urine is based on a few things: "Most of the time women can hold urine for three to six hours, but this will vary," says Brucker.
The amount of time that a person can hold in their pee depends on several factors, such as how much they have had to drink. If a person feels the need to urinate, they should only hold in their pee for as long as it takes to reach a restroom. When a person is awake, they should urinate about every 3–4 hours .
Doctors recommend emptying the bladder often, about every three hours. But we all know there are circumstances in which it is not possible to do this often. While delaying urinating for an hour or two won't pose any threat to your health, you can harm your body by holding it in for too long or forming a habit.
In most cases, holding in urine for a short period of time until there is a time and place to go is not going to be harmful. However, holding in urine is associated with a small increased risk of urinary tract infections or bladder dysfunction (overactive bladder) in the future.
Holding your urine for too long can weaken the bladder muscles over time. This can lead to problems such as incontinence and not being able to fully empty your bladder. Holding your urine for extremely long periods of time can also cause urinary tract infections due to bacteria build-up.
In some cases, holding in pee for too long can cause bacteria to multiply. This may lead to a urinary tract infection (UTI). Many doctors recommend avoiding holding in pee for extended periods of time, as it can increase the risk of UTIs, especially if a person has a history of frequent UTIs.
SUI and overactive bladder can occur at any age, even in your 20s. Incontinence can be set off by certain lifestyle habits, like drinking too much caffeine or alcohol, and health issues, like urinary tract infections, hormonal changes, or having to take certain medications, according to the Mayo Clinic.
So whether it's part of your water-saving efforts or you can't stop the flow sometimes, it's pretty much fine to pee in the shower. Just make sure you are using your own shower. Since pee is supposed to be sterile and is made mostly of water, it likely won't have much of an impact on your or your shower floor.
There's currently no official record set for the longest someone has gone without peeing, but holding it in is not advised. According to msn.com, no serious health problems have been linked to holding urine too long.
Urinary bladder and urethra
The urinary bladder can store up to 500 ml of urine in women and 700 ml in men. People already feel the need to urinate (pee) when their bladder has between 200 and 350 ml of urine in it.
Women are more prone to incontinence or over active bladder. If a woman keeps her muscles strong down there then yes a woman can hold her pee longer even though men have a slightly larger bladder.
Holding it in for too long gives bacteria the chance to multiply and settle in the bladder, leading to infection. Holding urine can overstretch the bladder and lead to voiding dysfunction, which is a lack of coordination between the bladder muscle and the urethra.
Every woman goes on her own schedule, but generally, peeing 6-8 times in 24 hours is considered normal for someone who is healthy, and isn't pregnant. If you're going more often than that, you may be experiencing frequent urination. Frequent urination can happen on its own and isn't always a sign of a health problem.
Call your doctor if your baby or child has a dry mouth, fewer tears than usual, and no wet diapers or hasn't urinated in more than 6 hours. Get emergency help right away if your child or baby is very sleepy and hard to wake up, or if your baby or child hasn't had any wet diapers or hasn't urinated in 12 or more hours.
Post micturition incontinence (commonly known as after-dribble) can occur when the muscles that surround the urethra (the tube that carries urine from the bladder to the penis) do not contract properly. This stops the bladder from fully emptying.
Children normally gain control over their bladders somewhere between ages 2 and 4—each in their own time. Occasional wetting is common even in 4- to 6-year-old children. By age 4, when most children stay dry during the day, daytime wetting can be very upsetting and embarrassing.
In most cases teenagers haven't developed the appropriate brain control of bladder function at night. It is unlikely to be the result of a medical problem with their kidneys or bladder, but they should be checked by a doctor or specialist if this has not already been done.
You may get a sudden urge to pee when you see a toilet or even hear running water. These urges are a symptom of urge incontinence. Urge incontinence is a common side effect in people who have nerve damage — your brain tells the nerves in your bladder to relax, even though you're not ready to pee.
Pain can occur at the start of urination or after urination. Pain at the start of your urination is often a symptom of a urinary tract infection. Pain after your urination can be a sign of a problem with the bladder or prostate.
The normal bladder fills and empties in cycles. Urine production by the kidneys is continuous – about 1ml per minute or 60ml an hour.
Bladder training is an important form of behavior therapy that can be effective in treating urinary incontinence. The goals are to increase the amount of time between emptying your bladder and the amount of fluids your bladder can hold. It also can diminish leakage and the sense of urgency associated with the problem.
Compared with women, men are more likely to have symptoms of frequency, urgency, and nocturia than urinary urgency incontinence (UUI). Frequency, urgency, and nocturia by themselves can be very bothersome and adversely affect quality of life for both genders.