Doctors have issued an urgent health warning about urinating in the shower, as the practice can lead to urinary incontinence and in some cases even kidney damage.
American urogynecologist, Dr. Teresa Irwin, took to TikTok to stop this habit that, according to surveys, 60 to 80 percent of people practice.
In the video shared with her 90 followers, Dr. Irwin explains that urinating in the shower teaches the brain to associate the sound of running water with the need to urinate.
"It's a bit like Pavlov's dog treatment, where every time they heard the bell, they started salivating," she said, GazetaExpress reports.
"So every time you wash your hands, take a shower, or do the dishes, if there's water running, your bladder will 'spit' because it wants to urinate."
In the long term, this can impair internal bladder control and cause frequent urges to go to the toilet.
But this is not the only health risk from urinating in the shower.
Some experts warn that women who urinate on their feet while showering risk urinary tract infections and, in extreme cases, kidney failure.
Unlike men, whose prostate provides support while urinating while standing, women do not have this advantage.
When women urinate while standing, the pelvic muscles are put under extra tension, which can lead to incomplete bladder emptying.
Residual urine, called urinary retention, can cause a number of health problems.
Dr. Alicia Jeffrey-Thomas, a Boston-based pelvic floor therapist, has previously warned that women are “not designed to pee standing up.”
“The pelvic floor won't relax properly, which means we won't empty the bladder properly,” she said.
Another potential risk of urinating in the shower, for both men and women, is the possibility of skin infections.
Open wounds on the lower body can easily become infected by bacteria found in urine.
However, experts say this risk is relatively small, as in theory, the water from the shower should rinse the urine from the affected area. /Express newspaper/
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