Is It Unhygienic To Pee in the Shower? The short answer: It's fine to pee in the shower. That's according to Jamin Brahmbhatt, MD, PUR Clinic urologist and Assistant Professor at UCF College of Medicine in Florida, who knows more about urine than most people.
Maybe you don't pee in the shower. But you almost certainly know someone who does: A recent study found that a minority of 48 percent of Americans claim to never do this, while 52 percent of us readily admit to it. And for good reason—peeing in the shower really isn't as gross as it's made out to be.
“Peeing in the shower isn't recommended for pelvic floor function,” says Stephanie Taylor, Intimate Health Expert and Founder of Kegel8. “The pelvic floor needs to be relaxed to pee properly, which is hard to achieve if you're standing up.
You see, when you don't clean yourself down there after peeing, the urine droplets stuck in your pubes get transferred to your underwear. This gives rise to a foul odour. Moreover, it also gives birth to bacteria in your underwear, increasing the risk of urinary tract infections (UTI).
Some people may think that not flushing a toilet may be beneficial. They might consider toilet flushing less sanitary and a waste of water and money. However, flushing a toilet after using it plays a role in helping keep people healthy and adding to cleanliness.
Mistake #4: Pushing
You shouldn't have to use your muscles to force urine out. A healthy bladder works best if the body just relaxes so that the bladder muscles naturally contract to let the urine flow, rather than using the abdominal muscles to bear down as with a bowel movement.
While the “just in case” pee may seem like a smart thing to do, it is actually a bad habit for your bladder. Peeing when you don't feel the immediate need to do so, trains your bladder to empty when it isn't actually full yet. If you frequently practice the “just in case” pee it may cause bladder signaling dysfunction.
While this may seem merely unappealing, a 2014 study suggested that urine can actually combine with the chlorine disinfectant in swimming pool water to make potentially harmful chemicals. The researchers recommend that all swimmers avoid urinating in swimming pools to prevent these chemicals from forming.
However, there is one way to overcome this issue if you ever find yourself desperate to pee while bathing. "Deep squatting all the way to the ground in the shower avoids this and allows the pelvic floor to relax." But, she added, "then you're still doing the water/peeing association."
Peeing in the shower, or while the shower is running, could cause your brain to link the sound of running water with peeing, she said. If you have a weak pelvic floor, the sound can trigger the urge to urinate and make you have an accident.
Although specific laws against public urination exist in Queensland, South Australia and the ACT, there is no such discrete offence in New South Wales. Rather, such acts may amount to “offensive conduct”, which is a crime under section 4 of the Summary Offences Act 1988 (NSW).
No Peeing on Land
To further safeguard the wildlife and environment, vessel-based visitors are not permitted to go to the toilet (or eat), on land; even in the vicinity of research stations or historic sites.
Enuresis is a pattern of urinating in inappropriate places, such as in bed or into clothes, after the age of 5 years old, the point at which children normally develop control of their bladder. Most of the time, the episodes are involuntary, but they can also be intentional.
Holding your urine for too long can weaken the bladder muscles over time. This can lead to problems such as incontinence and not being able to fully empty your bladder. Holding your urine for extremely long periods of time can also cause urinary tract infections due to bacteria build-up.
You may get a sudden urge to pee when you see a toilet or even hear running water. These urges are a symptom of urge incontinence. Urge incontinence is a common side effect in people who have nerve damage — your brain tells the nerves in your bladder to relax, even though you're not ready to pee.
Share on Pinterest Double voiding involves sitting in an ideal position to urinate and then waiting for 20-30 seconds to urinate again. This technique is especially effective for people who feel like their bladder is not empty, or who return quickly to the restroom after voiding.
But Don Schaffner, a professor of food science at Rutgers, has been studying hand washing for years and says the conventional wisdom on hand hygiene shouldn't be ignored. "It doesn't matter whether you're peeing or you're pooping, you should wash your hands," he told Business Insider.
“So it's wisest to always wash with soap and water even after urinating. Neither plain water nor alcohol hand sanitizers are effective at removing fecal material or killing bacteria in fecal material.”