How many times should you be going to the toilet every day?
When it comes to peeing, there is a healthy amount of times that you should be going in a given day. Having to pee more often could be a sign of a few things, for example, an enlarged prostate or smaller bladder.
If it continues to happen, it might also be a sign of diabetes, or even a UTI, and it is also common for someone who is pregnant to pee more often.
However, all of this aside, there are a good number of times that you should be peeing each day.
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But what is interesting is that this also changes depending on your age, which makes sense given how much our bodies change at different stages of life.
So what are the ideal ages, consultant urologist Hamid Abboudi shared them with Metro.
Children aged 12 and under
In general, children have to pee more than adults. On average, children need to urinate roughly 6-12 times every day.
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There is also variation between different ages as well, with the younger you are, the more you will go.
"Young children may urinate 8 to 14 times a day, which decreases to 6-12 times for older children," Dr Abboudi explained.
If someone is peeing more than this regularly, that could be a sign of an underlying condition.
Teenagers
Puberty brings with it a whole whack of hormonal imbalances as the body starts changing from that of a child to an adult. In general, the number of times you need to micturate will go down to around 4-6 times a day.
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However, Dr Abboudi said that due to the hormonal mayhem that comes with puberty it's not unusual for someone to need to go more often, and that the majority of cases this is ‘nothing to worry about and will naturally clear up'.
However, if it persists then this could be a sign of a problem.
Adults aged up to 60
In general, adults under 60 pee around 5-8 times each day. This can vary according to a whole lot of factors that can impact our bodies over this long period of our lives though.
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In particular, Dr Abboudi said that if you have a vagina, then this means you might pee more than someone with a penis.
Dr Abboudi explained that two factors are also at play here - pregnancy and an increased risk of UTIs.
"Pregnancy can be a trigger,"Dr Abboudi, "as the pressure effect of the baby on the uterus can cause increased frequency of urination and nocturia [peeing at night]."
The consultant added that UTIs 'can lead to increased urinary frequency'.
Adults aged over 60
At this stage, we might notice that we need to pee more often again, needing to go up to 10 times a day. Factors include weakening of the pelvic floor, as well as kidney function declining and bladder muscles weakening.
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There's also an increased likelihood that someone will be on medication at this age as well.
Dr Abboudi said: "Older adults are more likely to be on a form of medication called diuretics for various medical conditions."
Kit Roberts