When you go to a movie or you are about to take a long car ride, the one thing you will do before you go is to use the bathroom because that will help prevent you from having to use it. Or, if you are out somewhere and you are about to go to the theatre or about to do something where you will not want to be disturbed because of having to use the bathroom and you pass by a bathroom just so you could use it to prevent any interruptions from happening. What if you don’t really need to go to the bathroom but you feel it is important to relieve yourself anyway so you don’t have to go later? Doctors discourage anyone from doing that because it can have long-term complications for your health. What can possibly happen if you force yourself to relieve yourself when you don’t really have to go to the washroom? Let’s talk about that more.
Why Forcing Yourself To Relieve Yourself Is A Bad Idea To Do It In The Longterm
If you force yourself to go to the bathroom on an occasional basis, it is fine. However, if you make a habit out of it, that is a problem. If you make it a habit where you are urinating on a partially full bladder, eventually you will make your bladder think it is full even if it is partial. The fact of the matter is, your bladder can hold more urine than you think, and it really needs to be full for it to correctly release.
Unless you have an overactive bladder, a normal bladder can hold 400 to 600 milliliters and it takes about two hours after drinking liquids to make it there. Therefore, if you drink 600 milliliters of water, it will take about two hours for you to need to use the bathroom.
Therefore, if you force yourself to use the bathroom before your bladder is full, then you are going to cause the bladder muscles to work harder than they need to. Therefore, it can cause the bladder to spasm and contract in a more aggressive and inappropriate way. That will lead to confusion in your body about when it needs to urinate. If you keep emptying your bladder before it is full, it will cause your bladder to empty in uncoordinated ways. You will struggle to go to the bathroom. However, the good news is, you can reverse the damage done if you are facing that.
You Can Reverse Bladder Damage But A Doctor Will Need To Help
The good news is that the damage is not permanent but you may need help from a doctor to help reverse the damage done to your bladder by causing it to become uncoordinated. It takes you to have to learn to recognize signs of whether you need to go to the bathroom after a small urge to urinate versus a large urge. That will take some time to do. That means staying away from the bathroom if you feel a small tinge to go to the bathroom. You may need to see a pelvic floor specialist if you are struggling to do that.
Therefore, the best thing to do is to wait it out if you are going to the movies or a theatre, or a long drive. You will need to take a break during the show and head over to the bathroom. Or, if you are taking a long drive, you will have to make a stop to use the facilities on the way to your trip. The best thing to do is to resist the urge to empty your bladder if you do not really need to go.