Holding urine until you urinate blood, you don’t know enough about the harm of holding urine...

People lined up at 3 a.m. to buy internet celebrity dolls, and were so tired that they urinated blood. The recent Shanghai Disney incident topped the Weibo hot search list, sparking heated discussions among many netizens.

I guess many people have experienced holding urine: sometimes it is because you are too lazy to go to the toilet, and sometimes it is because the situation does not allow it and you are forced to test your bladder tolerance. Only those who have experienced it can understand the sad feeling of being on the verge of bursting out, being restless, and being extremely uncomfortable, and how "painful" it is.

If holding urine once is an experience, then holding urine for a long time is harmful to the body. We often hear that a living person cannot be killed by holding urine, but little do we know that this seemingly harmless behavior can really cause "injury".

What is considered holding urine?

Our kidneys continuously filter waste from the blood to produce urine. The urine moves downward through the ureters and is temporarily stored in the bladder, a professional urine storage facility. It holds a lot of "fresh" urine every day.

When the urine it stores gradually increases to a certain amount, it is excreted from the body through the urethra.

The urination process is a complex reflex activity controlled by the central nervous system. A normal adult urinates an average of 4 to 6 times during the day and 0 to 2 times at night after going to bed.

Under normal circumstances, the human bladder can store 200 to 300 ml of urine. When the bladder urine accumulates to 300 to 500 ml, the various pressure sensors on the bladder wall will be excited because the bladder is filled with urine, and then produce the urge to urinate, and at the same time tell the brain to solve the problem.

If there is no toilet nearby, the brain tells you to hold it in.

When the urine reaches 500-600ml, the "faucet of the reservoir" - the urethral sphincter begins to contract and guard tightly. At the same time, the transitional epithelium of the bladder will expand and flatten, and the bladder will be inflated like a balloon to maintain a certain capacity and prevent urine from flowing out.

But when the urine in the bladder reaches the threshold of 800ml, at this moment, the urine will either gush out or the urethral sphincter spasm and the detrusor muscle over-expands and contracts weakly due to holding urine for a long time, causing difficulty in urination or even urine retention.

Holding back urine is medically known as "compulsive urine retention". If the bladder stores more than 400ml of urine for a long time, it is considered long-term urine retention.

Why does holding urine cause blood in the urine?

Generally speaking, holding urine will not cause hematuria.

In very few people, when the bladder is overfilled, the bladder may be emptied too quickly suddenly, causing a sudden drop in bladder pressure and resulting in bleeding of the bladder mucosa or rupture of small blood vessels. At this time, they need to drink more water and urinate more frequently.

If there is persistent gross hematuria, you should be alert to possible problems with the urinary system and go to the hospital for a routine check-up and targeted treatment.

What kind of “injuries” will be caused by holding urine for a long time?

As the saying goes, running water does not rot. Normal urination not only has a self-cleaning effect on the urinary system, but also can excrete metabolic products from the body.

If the urine stored in the bladder remains in the body for a long time, the urine containing bacteria cannot be discharged in time. At the same time, holding urine for a long time will cause the bladder to expand, the blood vessels in the bladder wall to be compressed, and the bladder mucosa to be ischemic. At this time, bacteria from outside can easily take advantage of the situation and multiply in large numbers, inducing diseases such as cystitis and urethritis, and causing urinary pain, hematuria, etc.

Women are at greater risk of urinary tract infection due to their short, straight and wide urethra. If bacteria flow upstream, it can cause pyelonephritis, and urine reflux can cause hydronephrosis and even damage kidney function.

Frequent holding of urine can cause the prostate gland to contract, resulting in chronic congestion, increased urethral pressure, and increased prostatic fluid congestion. At the same time, bacteria in the urinary tract can retrograde through the prostate duct to the prostate and cause infection, resulting in prostatitis, hematospermia, premature ejaculation, etc.

Holding urine can make people irritable, and for special groups of people who usually have high blood pressure, arteriosclerosis, coronary heart disease, etc., it is like adding fuel to the fire. When holding urine, it will cause both physical and psychological tension, which is very likely to cause high blood pressure, cerebral hemorrhage, arrhythmia, angina pectoris, and even sudden death.

Prostate hyperplasia is a common disease in elderly men. If you hold your urine for a long time, the already enlarged prostate will be made worse, and phenomena such as frequent urination, urgency, and incontinence will become more obvious.

If female compatriots hold their urine for a long time, the overfilled bladder may cause the uterus to be compressed and shifted. The displacement of the uterus may cause menstrual disorders, and in severe cases, even infertility.

After holding urine for a long time, once you urinate forcefully, the intrathoracic pressure increases and the bladder pressure suddenly decreases, resulting in a decrease in the return blood pressure and a decrease in the cerebral blood flow supply, which can cause temporary ischemia and hypoxia in the brain and syncope. When urine is emptied quickly, bradycardia caused by the vagus nerve reflex may also cause urinary syncope. Urinary syncope is often a reflex syncope, which usually occurs in the elderly when they get up at night to urinate or at the end of urination, and there are usually no signs before the onset.

Foreign research data also shows that the frequency of urination is closely related to the incidence of bladder cancer. The less frequent urination, the greater the risk of bladder cancer. People who habitually hold urine are 3-5 times more likely to develop bladder cancer in the future than the average person. This is because holding urine increases the time that toxic, harmful, and carcinogenic substances in urine stimulate the epithelial cells of the bladder mucosa, which may induce bladder cancer.

If you hold your urine for a long time, your bladder will become overfilled and if it is suddenly hit by external force, it is likely to cause bladder rupture, which can even be life-threatening in severe cases.

Holding urine is a relief

Bladder crematorium

Hurry up and pee

Source: Science Popularization China