Everyone holds it in sometimes: in a meeting, on a long drive, or because the only toilet available is not one you want to use. Doing that now and then does no harm. The trouble starts when it becomes a habit, because ignoring the urge to go is one of the recognised causes of constipation.
What happens when you hold in your poop?
When stool reaches the rectum, the stretch triggers the urge to go. If you tighten the muscles and wait, the urge fades after a while and the stool moves back up a little. While it waits in the bowel, the body keeps drawing water out of it. The longer it stays there, the drier and harder it becomes, and the more difficult it is to pass later.
If you put it off repeatedly, the rectum gets used to being stretched and the signal that tells you to go becomes weaker. That is how an occasional delay turns into ongoing constipation.
How long is too long?
There is no reliable hour-by-hour timetable, whatever you may have read. People’s bowels differ, and going anywhere between three times a day and three times a week can be normal. As a rough guide:
| How long | What to expect |
|---|---|
| A few hours | Nothing harmful. The urge usually returns. |
| A day | Possibly bloating, wind and discomfort. The stool will be firmer when you do go. |
| Two to three days | Hard stools, straining, cramps and a feeling of not emptying fully. This is constipation. |
| Regularly, over weeks or months | Ongoing constipation, with a risk of the complications below. |
Does poop get harder the longer you hold it?
Yes. The large bowel’s job is to absorb water, and it keeps doing that for as long as stool sits there. Hard, dry, lumpy stools are one of the defining signs of constipation.
What about holding in diarrhoea?
Holding in diarrhoea for a short time until you reach a toilet is not harmful, but it is uncomfortable and not always possible. It will not turn into a normal stool by waiting. Diarrhoea is the body moving something through quickly, usually an infection, so the priority is to replace the fluid you are losing. See a doctor if it lasts more than a few days, or if there is blood in it.
What can go wrong if you keep holding it in
- Constipation: fewer than three bowel movements a week, straining, and hard or lumpy stools.
- Piles and small tears: straining to pass hard stools can lead to piles (haemorrhoids) and painful splits in the skin of the anus (anal fissures), both of which can bleed.
- Faecal impaction: with long-term constipation, a mass of hard stool can build up in the rectum and become impossible to pass without medical help. Liquid stool can leak around it, which looks like diarrhoea but is not.
Children who hold it in
Young children often hold on because a previous hard stool was painful, because they are busy playing, or because they do not want to use the toilet at school. This can quickly become a cycle of harder stools and more holding. If your child is going less than three times a week, straining, or soiling their underwear, speak to your doctor.
How to get back into a routine
- Go when you feel the urge, and give yourself time. Do not rush.
- Try to sit on the toilet at the same time each day. After breakfast works well for many people.
- Rest your feet on a low stool so that your knees are higher than your hips. This position makes it easier to pass a stool.
- Eat more fibre: fruit, vegetables, wholegrains, beans and lentils.
- Drink plenty of water.
- Be more active. Regular walking helps the bowel to move.
- Ask your pharmacist about a laxative if these changes are not enough.
When to see a doctor
- Constipation that does not improve with the steps above.
- Blood in your stool, or bleeding from your bottom.
- A change in your bowel habit that lasts more than a few weeks.
- Weight loss you cannot explain.
- Constant tummy pain, vomiting or fever with constipation.
- Being unable to pass stool or wind at all. This is urgent.
For other causes of tummy pain, see why does my stomach hurt.
This article is for general information and does not replace advice from your doctor.
Medically reviewed by the ASAIPA clinical team.
