Men's Health - Why Are Men Supposed To Wash Their Hands After Urination?

[MrTruth]

Dear Dr,

First, an (elderly) joke.

A Harvard man and a Yale man are at the urinal. They finish and zip up. The Harvard man proceeds to the sink to wash his hands, while the Yale man immediately makes for the exit.

The Harvard man says, "At Hah-vahd they teach us to wash our hands after we urinate."

The Yale man replies, "At Yale they teach us not to piss on our hands."

My question: why is it customary for males to wash their hands after urination? I never do, which shocks and disgusts some of my guy friends. I bathe daily and wear fresh underpants, so how does my penis get dirty? It's not like I dig a ditch with it. However, my hands might get dirty from daily activities. Is it not more sensible then to wash my hands before touching my clean penis? Is posturination hand washing a throwback to the bad old days, when sex was "dirty" and so, by extension, were sex organs? I'm serious about this. Please advise. --Tom, Los Angeles


Dear Tom:

Good (if elderly) joke. Common (but stupid) attitude. Rank (but important) topic. Some facts:

1)The purpose of washing is not to get pee off your hands.
2)No amount of washing will make you clean.
3)You have to do it anyway.

I've said this before: your boxer-shorts region--from belly button to mid-thigh--is crawling with germs known as coliform bacteria. These bacteria originated in your intestine, and some of them are deadly. Remember punji stakes? They were sharpened sticks that the Vietcong concealed point up along trails and daubed with excrement. If you stepped on one you had a good chance of contracting a fatal infection. Similarly, an otherwise not-so-serious gunshot or knife injury could kill you if it perforated the intestine and allowed coliform bacteria to spread around your abdomen.

But you know this (or at least you ought to). What you may not know is that washing will not make the coliform bacteria go away. They're holed up in the pores of your skin and nothing short of sandblasting--certainly not your morning shower--is going to get them out. Showering merely gets rid of the ones that have strayed onto the surface. The bacteria won't do much harm if they stay put, but when you urinate your fingers come in contact with Mister P. long enough for the coliform bacteria in your pores to hop aboard. Your fingers subsequently touch lots of other infectible items. If you don't wash your hands with soap and water (soap gets rid of the skin oil that the bacteria stick to) . . . hello, Typhoid Mary.

It now dawns on you: jeez, if merely touching my privates is enough to transmit bacteria, it doesn't matter if I pee or not! Just so. Urine itself is actually fairly sterile. Cecil has read reports of it being used during wartime in poor countries as--I'm not making this up--a sort of battlefield Bactine. (U.S. doctors generally blanch at this.) The lesson to draw from this, however, is not that you can go forth dripping (yuck), but rather that just because you didn't pee on your fingers doesn't mean you can skip washing up.

[MrTruth]

Dear Dr,

First, an (elderly) joke.

A Harvard man and a Yale man are at the urinal. They finish and zip up. The Harvard man proceeds to the sink to wash his hands, while the Yale man immediately makes for the exit.

The Harvard man says, "At Hah-vahd they teach us to wash our hands after we urinate."

The Yale man replies, "At Yale they teach us not to piss on our hands."

My question: why is it customary for males to wash their hands after urination? I never do, which shocks and disgusts some of my guy friends. I bathe daily and wear fresh underpants, so how does my penis get dirty? It's not like I dig a ditch with it. However, my hands might get dirty from daily activities. Is it not more sensible then to wash my hands before touching my clean penis? Is posturination hand washing a throwback to the bad old days, when sex was "dirty" and so, by extension, were sex organs? I'm serious about this. Please advise. --Tom, Los Angeles


Dear Tom:

Good (if elderly) joke. Common (but stupid) attitude. Rank (but important) topic. Some facts:

1)The purpose of washing is not to get pee off your hands.
2)No amount of washing will make you clean.
3)You have to do it anyway.

I've said this before: your boxer-shorts region--from belly button to mid-thigh--is crawling with germs known as coliform bacteria. These bacteria originated in your intestine, and some of them are deadly. Remember punji stakes? They were sharpened sticks that the Vietcong concealed point up along trails and daubed with excrement. If you stepped on one you had a good chance of contracting a fatal infection. Similarly, an otherwise not-so-serious gunshot or knife injury could kill you if it perforated the intestine and allowed coliform bacteria to spread around your abdomen.

But you know this (or at least you ought to). What you may not know is that washing will not make the coliform bacteria go away. They're holed up in the pores of your skin and nothing short of sandblasting--certainly not your morning shower--is going to get them out. Showering merely gets rid of the ones that have strayed onto the surface. The bacteria won't do much harm if they stay put, but when you urinate your fingers come in contact with Mister P. long enough for the coliform bacteria in your pores to hop aboard. Your fingers subsequently touch lots of other infectible items. If you don't wash your hands with soap and water (soap gets rid of the skin oil that the bacteria stick to) . . . hello, Typhoid Mary.

It now dawns on you: jeez, if merely touching my privates is enough to transmit bacteria, it doesn't matter if I pee or not! Just so. Urine itself is actually fairly sterile. Cecil has read reports of it being used during wartime in poor countries as--I'm not making this up--a sort of battlefield Bactine. (U.S. doctors generally blanch at this.) The lesson to draw from this, however, is not that you can go forth dripping (yuck), but rather that just because you didn't pee on your fingers doesn't mean you can skip washing up.

[nudenwv]

thanks mr truth for that post! i am a stickler for hand washing with antibacterial soap even when coming in from shopping and handling money. some of my friends think i wash too much and take the good natural anti bacteria off my skin.very good information.

[tinhfwv]

Sounds like oral sex should be among the leading causes of death.

[Bobx23456]

A naked man can put his hands on his head when he pees. No problem.

[au revoir]

Use your (do not use my) spoon to scoop it out from your boxer and tug it in back afterwards. So your hand doesn't have to touch it. Problem solved. http://oakhurstonline.com/icon/yes.gif

P.S. Keep your spoon just for yourself.

[Fuzzy Nuts]

Actually I am much more nervous about touching the taps or even the door handles going out of a public washroom then I am with touching my penis which I know is regularly washed.

[Dolby]

Add one other thing to the list of reasons:

Unless the urinal flushes by using an electric sensor, you have to push the handle to flush it, and so has everyone who used it before you. Great way to spread germs. Public restrooms aren't always the most sanitary of places.

(And don't get me started on guys who can't bother to flush. Yecccchhhhhhhhhhh!)

[MJ_KC]

The idea of not washing my hands isn't something that I would consider. Plenty of reasons to do it and no real reasons not to.

[shomymojo]

Because...my mommy said to do it...LOL

[luvnaturism]

A few years ago I was getting far too many respiratory infections, which invariably triggered my asthma. My doctor suggested that I stop washing my hands in public bathrooms; they're dirty places, and often you can't get out the door without touching something after you've washed.

He recommended that I carry a small bottle of hand disinfectant to use after I'm out of the restroom. I haven't had a significant infection/asthma attack in nearly three years.

[BlobbyBob]

A lot of newer facilities here now have a system which, rather than a conventional sink, is a hole in the wall. It has sensors in there, so you put your hands at one position to get some soap, then move across for water, and then across again for a hand dryer, so you don't have to touch anything at all generally http://oakhurstonline.com/icon/happy.gif

[Naturist Mark]

You have no need to wash your hands if you are careful to prevent the migration of coliform bacteria to your penis. Frequent showers help. As well as a policy of never wearing underwear, shorts or pants. And depending on how much you dangle, you might consider never sitting down either. If you follow all of these guidelines, washing your hands is somewhat less critical.

Glad to have helped.

[BinCo]

Interesting Post.

Notice that as you urinate in a urinal the metal side walls, if they have them, are covered with rust spots. These are urine drops splashing back from the bowl. It seems logical to me that they must also splash on me and my hands. With that in mind, I wash after using any urinal. Not as often with just a toilet, as pointed out earlier.

[Naturist Mark]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by BinCo:
Interesting Post.

Notice that as you urinate in a urinal the metal side walls, if they have them, are covered with rust spots. These are urine drops splashing back from the bowl. It seems logical to me that they must also splash on me and my hands. With that in mind, I wash after using any urinal. Not as often with just a toilet, as pointed out earlier. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

The urine isn't a problem. Unless you have a bladder or kidney infection it is sterile. It's probably the least harmful product of the human body.

You need to wash your hands because you touched your penis. If washing isn't available, the next best thing you could do is to urinate on your hands.

Seriously.

-Mark

[nacktman]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Naturist Mark:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by BinCo:
Interesting Post.

Notice that as you urinate in a urinal the metal side walls, if they have them, are covered with rust spots. These are urine drops splashing back from the bowl. It seems logical to me that they must also splash on me and my hands. With that in mind, I wash after using any urinal. Not as often with just a toilet, as pointed out earlier. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

The urine isn't a problem. Unless you have a bladder or kidney infection it is sterile. It's probably the least harmful product of the human body.

You need to wash your hands because you touched your penis. If washing isn't available, the next best thing you could do is to urinate on your hands.

Seriously.

-Mark </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

True that!

But as another said I wash my hands because my mother told me to when I was but a wee tad. http://oakhurstonline.com/icon/wink3.gif

Although with all the germs in the bathroom (both at home and in public) it's a good idea to wash'em even if your mother had told you not to.

[Fuzzy Nuts]

Maybe thats why its best to pee naked behind a tree - not touch anything and just let her fly.

[BinCo]

"the next best thing you could do is to urinate on your hands."

Thanks, but no thanks. As sterile as you say it is. I'm not one for tasting it on anything I am eating at the diner, or anywhere else for that matter.

I would like to showered in gold, not a golden shower http://oakhurstonline.com/icon/wink3.gif

[nacktman]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by BinCo:
"the next best thing you could do is to urinate on your hands."

Thanks, but no thanks. As sterile as you say it is. I'm not one for tasting it on anything I am eating at the diner ... </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Actually if you wanted to taste it, it would taste like whatever you ate or drank about 6 hours earlier, so if that was liver and onions (yeach), it'd taste like liver and onions, if it was expensive imported beer it would only taste like cheap domestic beer (hey, there is a trade off on the rent you paid on that beer you know). http://oakhurstonline.com/icon/eusa_dance.gif

[BinCo]

In with the Guiness out with the Bud? http://oakhurstonline.com/icon/yes.gif

Otherwise, as I recall from anatomy classes a few moons ago, urine is comprised highly of saline so it would stand to reason that it tastes like salt.

Please do not take this thread in THAT direction though. Gross.

[alfredr]

Horse piss?