Before I created Road Trip Potty, I held it even though I clearly knew I had to pee. This was before I knew that holding your pee is bad for you. Sometimes I held it because I was in a meeting or was in class and leaving to go pee would have caused a disruption. Other times, like when I was traveling in a vehicle, a restroom option wasn’t readily available. And then there were the other occasions when I told myself, “Nah, you can hold it a little bit longer because you really don’t have to go that bad.” Had I known then what I know now about why holding it is bad for you, I would have NEVER gotten into the habit of discounting that feeling of needing to pee.
Holding your pee is bad for you. Here are two reasons why:
- You keep bacteria in your body longer. Why is this bad? The longer bacteria remains in your bladder, the more you increase the possibility of getting a bladder and/or kidney infection. I once took a five-hour flight and did not get up to the bathroom (window seating). Because I was sitting at the window, I also didn’t drink water because I knew this would make me have to go as well. When we landed, I went to the bathroom, but I knew I had waited too long to go. By the afternoon of the next day, I had to go to my doctor, who confirmed I had a urinary tract infection. She said it was probably from not going to pee when I was on the flight.
- You have pain and discomfort. Why is this bad? Pain and discomfort is the body’s way of telling you that something is wrong. By constantly ignoring the need to pee, you may be creating damage to the bladder, kidneys and/or urinary tract system. One of my girlfriends used to frequently hold it instead of going to the bathroom. She ignored the discomfort until it became so painful that it was impossible to ignore it any longer. When she finally went to her doctor, she was sent directly to the hospital where she stayed for over three days because of the damage she had done to her urinary tract system.
So, the bottom line is you know when you have to go so stop holding your pee!
