Why Running Water Helps Us Wee

By Ruby Joy Martin, Class of 2023.

Now, I am not ashamed to say that I often have a cheeky wee in the shower. Research undertaken in 2015 demonstrated that males who found it difficult to urinate found it easier to initiate when listening to running water. So, there may be some science behind my bad habit.

The brain-bladder axis describes the constant communication between our brain and bladder. This is undertaken through our sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. Communication along this axis enables information to be sent to and from the brain and bladder, facilitating not only the act of urination but also, telling us when we need to pee.

When we drink water, the bladder fills and expands. This triggers receptors inside the lining of the bladder and information is communicated to a part of the brain which monitors how full our bladder has become. Once a threshold has been reached inside the bladder, this triggers another part of the brain called the pontine micturition centre, enabling us to register that we need to tinkle.

So back to my bad habit. As mentioned above, research has shown that running water can make it easier to wee. Ever been busting for the loo on a long car ride and your annoying sibling starts playing waterfall sounds? Well, this can be explained through psychological and physiological processes.

Psychological processes are concerned with psychology, and, when linked to brain function, can explain changes in our behaviour. On the other hand, physiological processes are concerned with how the functions in our body are controlled by different systems, such as the thermodynamic or nervous system.

So, needing to wee in the shower or finding it easier to urinate when listening to soothing rain sounds is a mix of both physiology and psychology. The sound of running water may increase activity of the parasympathetic nervous system by relaxing the bladder, which is a physiological process. Concurrently, running water may trigger a conditioned psychological effect as this sound is quite familiar to us, if we’ve heard it when peeing previously. In other words, wizz too many times in the shower or at the beach and you’ll condition your brain to associate urinating with running water.

Aside from any germ-related concerns, peeing in the shower may not be a bad thing after all. And if you’re finding it difficult to wee, maybe play some relaxing waterfall sounds? Because if you get a bladder infection, ur-ine deep trouble!