As we get older our bathroom habits can change. Some of this might be due to illness, but much of it can be traced back to our daily routines and how we take care of our bodies. Experts are now saying that there is a certain amount of time it should take you to pee, and that if your routine deviates from that you might want to look at your daily habits.
According to urologists it should only take you about 20 seconds to empty your bladder. The amount of time it actually takes many of us to go can vary, but research shows that in nature most mammals take about 20 seconds to go.
From smaller animals to elephants each mammal over 3 kilograms took about the same amount of time: 21 seconds or so. Smaller animals urinate through droplets and don’t generate a stream of urine like larger animals do.
Since the animals above 3 kilograms don’t have extreme social or health habits that might create variations in this bodily function, this provides a baseline for how humans should also go.
So what does it mean if your urination isn’t 20 seconds? Humans have a lot of behaviors that can change how our bodies function. If you go to the bathroom too often, say because of nerves or “just to go” before a trip, then you’ll find that there isn’t always very much in your bladder.
The same could be true if you’re using bathroom breaks as a place of respite, say if it’s the only place you’re alone when you’re at home or at work. If that’s something you do then you might try to find other times to be alone and unwind, even for just a few moments.
On the other hand if you hold it in too long you can take a much longer time to pee. So pay attention to how long it takes you using the 1-watermelon second and you might learn something useful about your habits. Ignoring bathroom breaks can lead to changes in how you go over time, in some cases causing urinary dysfunction from a stretched out bladder.
Water also plays a role here. The amount of water each person needs varies according to their weight and activity levels. But, presuming that a person drinks 8 8-ounce glasses of water a day a 20-second stream would empty 8 of those 64 ounces, meaning that the person would be making about 8 trips to the bathroom to pee each day.