Do you actually need to pee after intercourse, in keeping with science

If in case you have a vagina, you have in all probability been advised it is a vagina completely vital urinate instantly after intercourse to forestall urinary tract infections (UTIs). However it seems that there is not a lot proof to assist this concept. There’s shockingly little analysis on whether or not this oft-repeated recommendation really works. one analysis within the journal no Proof-based observe discovered that general it did not appear to matter. However this is only one research, and the outcomes do not level strongly in both route.

The American Faculty of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) doesn’t embody urination after intercourse in his suggestions for stopping UTIs. That is what they’re to do advocate:

• Wash the pores and skin across the anus and the genital space.
• Drink loads of fluids (together with water) to flush micro organism out of your urinary system.
• Empty your bladder as quickly as you are feeling the urge or about each two to a few hours.

They notice that components comparable to being pregnant, diabetes or menopause can improve the chance of contracting a UTI. And plainly some persons are extra vulnerable to them: For those who’ve had a UTI earlier than, your probabilities of getting one once more are increased than somebody who’s by no means had one.

Nevertheless, in the event you’ve been peeing after intercourse, there is not any want to surrender the behavior. Whereas there is not any conclusive proof that it helps, there’s additionally no conclusive proof that it hurts — and even that it is ineffective.

Does peeing after intercourse forestall being pregnant or STIs?

Whereas we’re at it, I might like to say two myths which have gotten in the way in which of all post-sex peeing recommendation. Urinating after intercourse no in all probability to forestall being pregnant, or to forestall sexually transmitted infections.

In relation to stopping being pregnant, the sperm enters the vagina, not the urethra. These two openings are shut to one another, however they aren’t the identical, and the urine that comes out of the urethra doesn’t have an effect on what occurs within the vagina, cervix, or uterus. Folks making an attempt to get pregnant might have heard the recommendation to carry off urinating for no less than a short while after intercourse in order that gravity can improve their probabilities of conceiving, however American Society for Reproductive Drugs notes that “this perception has no scientific foundation.”

Urinating after intercourse was discovered to don’t have any important impact on the chance of contracting HIV, chlamydia, herpes, or different sexually transmitted infections. To stop STIs, ACOG recommends utilizing condoms, being conscious of the elevated danger of anal intercourse or different actions which will trigger pores and skin injury, and you should definitely get vaccinated towards HPV and hepatitis B, that are sexually transmitted.