Can you urinate in the shower or not? If the debate about whether it is socially acceptable is still not resolved, doctors confirm that in terms of health, there is no problem.
Urologists generally agree that the practice is safe for both men and women.
“It’s really a personal preference. Some people don’t like to associate a place where they wash in the shower with a place where they evacuate,” summarizes Dr. Karyn Eilber, professor of urology at Cedars-Sinai, in Los Angeles, in an interview with CNN.
Several popular beliefs about the dangers of urinating in the shower are false, explain several doctors interviewed by the American media.
People shouldn’t worry about catching a bacteria-related infection while relieving themselves in the shower, according to Dr. Eilber.
Urine contains bacteria when a person has a urinary tract infection.
If an infected person urinates in a public shower, for example, it would not be dangerous to catch it since the water flushes the urine away.
“I wouldn’t worry about getting an infection from someone who urinated in a public shower any more than I would from the mold and fungus you walk in,” Dr. Eilber says.
There would also be little risk of catching a skin infection since the shower water cleans the urine.
However, there would be a small risk of infection if urine containing bacteria came into contact with an open wound, according to the doctor interviewed by CNN.
Another argument often used for women is the fact that relieving yourself while standing affects the pelvic floor.
But Dr. David Shusterman, a urologist and chief medical officer at Modern Urologist in New York, tells CNN that’s not the case.
“In a hot shower, it’s really easy to relax the urinary sphincter and let the urine come out.”
Avoid urinating in the bath
While indulging in the shower is not dangerous to your health, doing so in a bath or spa could pose risks.
Hot, stagnant water is a perfect place for bacteria and fungi to grow, according to Dr. Shusterman.
“Urine is waste for us, but for bacteria and fungi, it is food,” he summarizes.
