Comprehensive Guide to Understanding Your Bladder

6. How We Know When to Go

A healthy bladder can hold up to 600 milliliters of urine. As mentioned previously, it can also expand to many times its original size. This expansion is part of what alerts us to the fact that the bladder needs to empty itself. When our bladders contain 200 to 300 milliliters of urine, we start to feel the need to use the restroom, as the expansion places pressure on surrounding structures. Most people can continue to hold it at this point, but it is better to empty the bladder without putting unnecessary stress on it.

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