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How often a person should poop is a hot topic, and experts say the range of numbers depends in part on several personal factors. But are there similar rules about how often you should urinate?
Experts say the answer is yes, and if you stray too far from this range in either direction, you may need to take a closer look at your lifestyle habits and health.
Most healthy people urinate about six to eight times during the day, said Dr. Jamin Brahmbhatt, a urologist at Orlando Health and a CNN contributor.
“For most people, the need to urinate once every (three to four) hours throughout the day is reasonable,” Bramhardt added via email. “Ideally, you only get up once during the night, or not at all. If you wake up more often, it could mean something is wrong.
What’s Healthy Compared to Excessive Urination
Brahmbhatt says some people may urinate as many as 10 times a day, especially if they drink a lot of water or other beverages that cause them to urinate more frequently.
These substances may include alcohol, tea and coffee, which have diuretic effects and irritate the bladder, says Dr. David Shusterman, a board-certified urologist at New York Urology in New York City. (If these effects of coffee or alcohol bother you, he suggests, try drinking less coffee or making it half-strength with extra water, as well as cocktails with less alcohol and more mixed ingredients.)
“Honestly, everyone is a little different, so there’s no magic number that works for everyone,” Bramhart said. “If it’s hot and you sweat a lot, you may pee less. It’s important to know what’s normal for you. If you’re suddenly going to the bathroom more or less often, it might be worth getting it checked out. , especially if it affects your quality of life.
Excessive urination that isn’t caused by drinking a lot of water or beverages can have a variety of causes, including overactive bladder syndrome, diabetes, urinary tract infections or medications, Brambhat said. Diuretic medications, often used to treat blood pressure or heart disease, are common contributing factors.
Urination is controlled by a complex nervous system that involves signals sent between the bladder, urethra and brain, said Dr. Jason King, clinical associate professor of urology at Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University in Long Island, New York. Therefore, stroke, spinal cord injury, and some neurological diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and central nervous system tumors, may also cause excessive urination.
Pregnancy is another factor, Shusterman says, because it requires drinking more water, allowing more water metabolism to occur.
Stress or anxiety can also make people need to pee more, King said, because the fight-or-flight response or the release of adrenaline can cause the bladder to contract or increase urine production, respectively.
Overactive bladder can also be caused by hormonal issues, such as menopausal genitourinary syndrome, a set of symptoms caused by declining estrogen levels, King said.
“Interestingly, people thought there were estrogen receptors in the bladder,” added King, who is also director of the university’s Center for Women’s Pelvic Health and Continence. “So, many times we will add a vaginal estrogen cream or suppository to a patient’s regimen, which has been shown to be helpful in treating overactive bladder.”
If your urinary patterns bother you or you frequently wake up at night to urinate, see a urologist who can help you determine what’s going on and possibly start bladder training exercises. If your problems appear to be caused by pelvic floor dysfunction, a specialist may refer you to a pelvic floor therapist, King says.
Experts say there are several other minimally invasive treatment options available, including medications, bladder Botox injections and types of nerve stimulation.
The injection helps weaken the nerves in the bladder so “the bladder wall doesn’t contract as much, allowing your body to go to the bathroom less frequently,” Shusterman says. Kim and Shusterman say procedural interventions are often more effective than medications.
Signs and causes of not urinating enough
On the other hand, peeing every six to eight hours, or less than four times a day, could mean you’re dehydrated or that there’s something wrong with the way your bladder or kidneys are working, Bramhart and Shusterman said.
Abnormally high levels of calcium can cause bladder stones to form and block the passage of urine, Shusterman said.
When it comes to hydration, the National Academy of Medicine recommends 2.7 liters (91 ounces) of fluids per day for women and 3.7 liters (125 ounces) per day for men. Guidelines include all liquids and water-rich foods such as fruits, vegetables and soups. Since the average water intake ratio of liquid to food is about 80:20, that is 9 cups per day for women and 12.5 cups for men.
Shusterman says not urinating enough increases the risk of bacterial growth in the urinary tract, increasing the risk of urinary tract infections because regular urination is the body’s primary mechanism to prevent urinary tract infections.
If you don’t urinate often because you’re holding it in, that habit may be harming your health by increasing your risk for a variety of problems, such as kidney infections or weakened bladder muscles from constant tension.
If you are living a normal lifestyle but are still not urinating enough, this may also require seeing a urologist or a specialist in voiding dysfunction, which is the medical term for a problem with the body’s function of excreting waste. King said one thing doctors will evaluate is whether the cause is obstructive or non-obstructive.
“Obstructive urinary retention means that the urethra is blocked and urine cannot be discharged,” he explained. “Being unobstructed is more of a maintenance behavior, and for men, every man’s prostate almost always gets larger as he ages, and that’s often a reason.”
In older women, this retention may be due to a tightening of the urethra, Shusterman says.
Decreased urinary function may also be the result of the neurological diseases or injuries described above.
Unfortunately, there aren’t many options for treating low bladder function other than self-intermittent catheterization, long-term catheterization and sacral neuromodulation, and bladder pacemakers, King said. He added that these procedures can be life-changing, so if you need help, don’t wait to get it.
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