Regardless of which genitalia we have, most of us have heard this piece of seemingly sage advice at some point in our lives: Make sure you pee right after sex.
The idea that urinating post-sex can save us from the agony of a urinary tract infection has been touted everywhere from high school sex ed to TikTok.
It makes sense, right? Logistically speaking, perhaps a strong stream will rid us of any unfamiliar bacteria in that area that doesn’t serve us, thus preventing a UTI. Now that we say (write?) it out loud, though, it seems a little too good to be true. That’s because it probably is.
“I’m going to really dismantle some big folklore here,” Dr. Yaniv Larish, urologist and surgeon at Fifth Avenue Urology in New York, recently told us, Raj Punjabi and Noah Michelson, hosts of HuffPost’s “Am I Doing It Wrong?” podcast.
Listen to the full episode by clicking play:
“The idea is that you’re flushing everything out ... We salute you for doing that but it’s not going to prevent your UTI. [That advice is] not based on any data. [With] vaginal douches, it’s the same thing. [Studies show] no difference in UTI.”
Our jaws hit the floor when we heard that because it’s a pretty bold claim, especially considering that the CDC recommends tinkling after you tickle in its official UTI prevention guidelines. So what’s going on here? Dr. Larish says there just isn’t enough clinical research to prove that urinating after sex really does prevent a UTI. Here’s not alone — there are many other reliable sources, studies and recent statements from experts like sex researcher Dawn Lisa Hamilton that corroborate Larish’s stance.
Many articles still endorse peeing after sex, especially for people with vaginas who are far more prone to UTIs, and some urologists still recommend it based on anecdotal claims from their patients. But Larish and Hamilton are right: Evidence that peeing after sex protects us from infections is hard to come by. We only found one small study, which is over 20 years old, that showed that peeing after sex could provide some protection against UTIs for college-aged women. And there were many variables at play in this research.
Regardless of the lack of hard evidence, this pee-or-not-to-pee-after-sex conversation remains fairly divisive. Ultimately, we suggest you do you, especially after you’re done doing someone else.
A UTI, however, is nothing to play around with, so it’s always best to listen to your body and talk to a doctor if you’re having any issues down there such as experiencing a burning sensation when you urinate or anything else that seems unusual. Finally, whether you’ve just had sex or not, don’t ignore the urge to pee. Research shows that routinely holding urine is a risk factor for UTIs.
Dr. Larish busted a few other pee-related myths, told us how we can be less pee shy, and much more during our chat.
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