- [Narrator] You're about an hour and a half into the movie
and boy are you regretting that large soda.
You can hold it, sure, but should you?
Peeing is pretty important.
Your kidneys filter excess water and waste out of your blood
and that urine needs somewhere to go, your bladder.
Normally, it will hold one to two cups comfortably
but if you make a habit out of holding your pee
for long periods of time,
you can actually stretch your bladder
to easily hold even more.
One study found that nurses who often held it in all day
due to job constraints had nearly double
the normal bladder capacity
and turns out they were totally fine
but that doesn't mean that you should hold it in
if you can help it
'cause your bladder might not be the only thing to stretch.
You may also stretch your external sphincter muscles.
Those are important muscles
connected to the outside of your bladder
that are the gatekeepers of your golden liquid.
Clench them and you hold in the gold.
Relax them and you release the flow
but if you overstretch them, you can actually lose control.
This is rare and it usually takes decades
of holding it in too long to reach that point
but once you do, it can lead to some awkward
and even dangerous situations.
For example, with less overall control,
you risk leaking urine when your bladder is full
and not emptying it all the way when you finally do go.
Not only can this increase your need to urinate more often
since your bladder fills up quicker,
it can also lead to a serious disorder
called urinary retention
where you end up with too much urine
in your bladder for too long
and since your bladder is basically a warm,
wet bag of body waste,
it's the perfect breeding ground for harmful bacteria
that will cause all sorts of damage.
Even worse, if you're really unlucky
and retain too much urine, it may back up into your kidneys.
This can cause kidney failure and ultimately death.
The good news is you're more likely
to just lose control of your muscles and pee
way before your bladder hits this point.
Why not reduce the risk altogether
and just go to the bathroom?
Okay, I get it, the movie is absolutely gripping.
Luckily, you'll be fine if you only hold it in
for a short time every once in a while.
So go ahead, hang in there.
Just don't make a habit of it.
Any other weird science questions you have?
Ask us in the comments.
(screaming)