Is it bad to hold your urine?

Urinary tract infection: (UTI)

Our body has various ways to get rid of unwanted waste materials. One of the ways is urine. Urine is a liquid waste consisting of unwanted materials like water, salts, uric acid, urea etc., The urinary system consists of two kidneys, two ureters, a urinary bladder and a urethra. The two kidneys filter the blood and produce urine which flows through the ureter and gets collected in the urinary bladder. When the urine is fully collected in the urinary bladder, the bladder gets stretched and the nerves of the bladder send this information to our brain. Then, we begin to urinate. Now when we urinate, the bladder contracts and releases the urine through urethra. It's okay to hold the urine for a shorter period but if we hold urine for a prolonged time, it is favourable for the growth of bacteria. The bacteria may grow in our urine and multiplies and cause urinary tract infection. Also, holding the urine cause bladder to stretch and it is very difficult to contract while urinating. As a result, the bladder may not be emptied completly leading to discomfort, pain and other serious problems. 

Sometimes excess holding of urine may even cause urine to flow back to the kidneys causing kidney damage or kidney infection. And in very cases holding more urine results in burst of the bladder leading to death.