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As for how often to poop should matter, experts say the range of numbers depends in part on several personal factors. But is there a uniform prescription for how often you should pee?
The answer is yes, experts say – and to deviate too far outside this range in any direction requires you to take a close look at your lifestyle and health status.
During the day, most healthy people urinate six to eight times, says Dr. Jamin Brahmbhatt, urologist at Orlando Health and CNN contributor.
“For most, it is reasonable to need to urinate frequently (three to four hours) during the day,” Brahmbhatt added via email. “At night, well, you wake up only once or not at all. If you wake up more often, it may mean that something is off.”
What is healthy compared to excessive urination
Some people can urinate up to 10 times a day, especially if they drink a lot of water or other drinks that cause frequent urination, says Brahmbhatt.
That can include alcohol, tea and coffee, which have laxative effects and irritate the bladder, says Dr. David Shusterman, a board-certified urologist at NY Urology in New York City. (If these effects of coffee or alcohol irritate you, try drinking less or make the coffee half strength with more water, and a cocktail with less alcohol and a mixer ingredient, he recommends.)
“The truth is, everyone is a little different, so there’s no magic number that works for everyone,” says Brahmbhatt. “If it’s hot and you sweat a lot, you can pee a little. The important thing is to know what is normal for you. If you’re suddenly running to the bathroom more — or less — it may be worth getting checked out, especially if it’s affecting your quality of life.”
Excessive urination caused by drinking too much water or drinking can have many causes, including overactive bladder syndrome, diabetes, urinary tract infection or medications, says Brahmbhatt. Diuretic medications, often prescribed for blood pressure or heart conditions, are a common contributor.
Urination is controlled by a complex nervous system that involves signals sent between the bladder, urethra and brain, says Dr. Jason Kim, clinical associate professor of urology at the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University in Long Island, New York. Therefore, excessive urination can be caused by stroke, spinal cord injury and certain neurological diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis and tumors of the nervous system.
Pregnancy is another matter, as it requires drinking a lot of water and thus becoming dehydrated, says Shusterman.
Stress or anxiety can also make a person need to urinate more, says Kim, as the fight-or-flight response or the release of adrenaline can cause the bladder to contract or increase urine production, respectively.
An overactive bladder can lead to hormonal problems, too, such as menopausal genitourinary syndrome, says Kim, which is a set of symptoms caused by declining estrogen levels.
“It’s interesting that there are thought to be estrogen receptors in the bladder,” added Kim, who is also director of the university’s Women’s Pelvic Health and Continence Center. Therefore, in many cases we will add vaginal estrogen cream or suppositories to the patient’s system, and it has been shown that it helps with bladder overactivity.
If your urination pattern is bothering you or if you wake up every night to urinate, see a urologist who can help you determine what’s going on and possibly start bladder training. That specialist may refer you to a pelvic floor therapist if your problem appears to be caused by pelvic floor dysfunction, Kim says.
There are several other less invasive treatments available, experts say, including medications, Botox injections into the bladder and forms of nerve stimulation, Kim said.
The injections help to weaken the nerves in the bladder so that “the bladder wall doesn’t stretch as much, so it reduces the number of times your body has to go to the bathroom,” says Shusterman. Behavioral interventions are often more effective than medications, say Kim and Shusterman.
Symptoms and reasons why you are not urinating enough
On the other hand, urinating every six to eight hours, or less than four times a day, could mean you’re dehydrated or have a problem with how your bladder or kidneys are working, Brahmbhatt and Shusterman said.
Abnormally high calcium levels can lead to the formation of stones in the bladder and block urine flow, Shusterman says.
Regarding hydration, the National Academy of Medicine recommends that women consume 2.7 liters (91 ounces) of fluid daily, and that men have 3.7 liters (125 ounces) daily. This guide includes all liquids and foods rich in water such as fruits, vegetables and soups. Since the average ratio of water to liquid in the diet is about 80:20, that amounts to a daily amount of 9 cups for women and 12.5 cups for men.
Not urinating enough can increase your risk of harboring bacteria in your urethra and thus developing UTIs, since frequent urination is the body’s main way to prevent UTIs, Shusterman says.
If your frequent urination is due to holding it in, that habit can harm your health by increasing the risk of many problems such as kidney infection or weakening of the bladder muscles due to constant straining.
If you have your bowel habits down but don’t urinate enough, that also requires seeing a urologist or specialist in endometriosis, the medical term for issues affecting the body’s ability to remove waste. One thing a doctor can check is whether or not the cause is disruptive, Kim said.
“The urine is blocked when it is blocked, for example, the urine is blocked and the urine does not come out,” he explained. “Nonobstruction is a kind of holding behavior, where in men, as they get older, almost always, the entire male prostate increases in size and is usually the cause.”
In older women, that retention may come from a tightening urethra, Shusterman said.
Decreased urinary function, too, can be the result of the same neurological diseases mentioned above or injuries.
Unfortunately, there aren’t that many treatments for an underactive bladder, says Kim, other than self-administered catheterization, long-term catheterization and sacral neuromodulation, a bladder pacemaker. These procedures can be life-changing, he added, so if you need help, don’t wait to seek it.
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