Most people pee several times a day without thinking about it a lot. But if there is a change in the frequency you are urinating or how much you pee every occasion, it could ask you if something is wrong.
It is normal to urinate six to eight times during the 24 hours, explains Dr. Philippe Zimmern, urologist and professor at the Southwestern Medical Center. But you can pee more or less than that one special day, according to what and how much you drink, your age, your time, your stress, your level of physical activity and overall health.
There is actually a fairly wide range of “normal”: in a study published in 2023 in the journal Nursing ResearchFor example, researchers evaluated the urination models of around 2,500 healthy women and found that they peed two to ten times a day and from zero to four times a night. Older women have peed more often than the youngest (especially at night). Research suggests that men tend to pee a little less often.
“A complete bladder should contain at least 300 to 400 milliliters” of liquid, which is equivalent to around 1¼ cup with a little less than two cups, explains Dr. Michael Zell, assistant urology professor at the Western Box University. Given this, if you drink enough liquids throughout the day, having to urinate “every three to four hours during the day is normal,” he adds.
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In addition to the quantity, the quality of your urine is also important. Generally, it is normal for the urine to be light yellow, but if you drink a lot of liquids, it could be clear, almost like water, notes Zimmern. If you are dehydrated, your urine could be more concentrated and darker yellow. (Keep in mind that if you take certain vitamins or drugs, your urine could also be more yellow.)
The urine should not have much smell. “Certain foods such as asparagus can smell it, but if not, smelly urine can be a sign of a bladder infection,” explains Zimmern.
How to say that something might not be
Regarding pee patterns, “some signs of problem are if your urine becomes bloody or troubled, starts to feel or if you have trouble urinating, take a long time to urinate or do it very often,” explains Zimmern. “Pain in the bladder area or pain while urinating is also abnormal and can point out an infection of the bladder.”
If you pee more than eight times during your monitoring hours, it is considered an “increased frequency”, which can be a symptom of an unmatched or poorly controlled diabetes, explains Dr. Nathaniel Barnes, urologist with a Memorial Hermann health system in Texas. “When [excess] Sugar spills into the urine, it attracts water with it, increasing urination. Think of each sugar molecule acting as a sponge, carrying two molecules of water with it. »»
This is generally accompanied by increased thirst (called polydipsia), which makes you drink more, thus perpetuating the cycle of increased urination (called polyuria).
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Other symptoms – such as having a weak or intermittent flow, should pee, feel like you have to pee when you don’t do it and pee several times at night – are also worth studied. If these symptoms disturb you or affect your quality of life, discuss it with your primary care doctor, according to experts.
If you pee a little when you laugh, sneeze, touch, lift something heavy or exercise, it could be signs of stress incontinence. Urine leak when you feel the need to go or have trouble keeping your urine until you can go to the toilet could be symptoms of incontinence.
And if you wake up twice or more during the night to go to the toilet, you can have nocturia, a current condition that becomes even more widespread as people age, according to the Urology Care Foundation. One out of three adults over 30 go to the bathroom at least twice a night, and 70% of them are naturally disturbed by this. (In addition to being worries, going to the toilet several times a night can cause loss of sleep.)
Seek help
Whether you pee too often or you feel one of these other symptoms, “a good basic rule is that if you bother you or cause problems [in your life]He must be addressed ”with a health care provider, said Zell.
Attract these symptoms for your primary care doctor, “which can do a urine analysis, urine culture and basic laboratory tests to check the renal function”, suggests Barnes. Depending on the results, you can be referred to an urologist.
Regarding problematic urinary symptoms, “some people think they should see a nephrologist, but it is for [diagnosed] Kidney disease, “explains Barnes.” Problems such as urgency, frequency and nocturia are treated by urologists or urogynecologists. The bladder infections can be processed by an urologist, an urogynecologist or even your primary care doctor – so it is generally the best starting point.
