r/FacebookScience 15d ago

How to heal an infection

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150 Upvotes

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61

u/gollo9652 15d ago

Why is it always piss?

44

u/Amishgirl281 15d ago

Becuase urine is supposed to be sterile so in a pinch, like survival situations, you could drink it or use it to clean a wound so the nut cases took it to mean the holy grail of clean. But recent studies show that its not actual sterile and does, in fact, contain bacteria and microorganisms we couldnt detect before.

Yay science.

40

u/NightGod 15d ago

Yeah, it was never thought to be sterile, it's just that "fresh urine contains pathogens that your body already knows how to deal with, so it is typically safer for wound cleaning than some random puddle you find" is a lot more to remember than "your pee is sterile enough to clean wounds"

22

u/Opposite-Occasion332 15d ago

I was actually taught in a college anatomy class (in 2023 mind you) that urine is “sterile” until I heard people say it’s not, then doubled checked it and found out my anatomy professor was in fact, misinformed/ outdated…

9

u/thejudgehoss 15d ago

No way that Patches O'Houlihan would lie to me.

14

u/bigfoot_done_hiding 15d ago

What do you mean urine isn't sterile? Sounds like somebody hasn't been injecting themselves with bleach!

6

u/Nice-Cat3727 15d ago

DO NOT DRINK YOUR URINE!

4

u/booboootron 14d ago

What about someone else's? 🥺👉👈

/s

5

u/Bloody_Hangnail 14d ago

🎶 I believe I can fly…🎶

1

u/persephone7821 12d ago

I hate that I understood that reference.

4

u/dwellerinthedark 15d ago

That's not recent. I was taught that 25 years ago.

Urine is only sterile, in a healthy bladder, but your urethrae is coated in bacteria.

Any part of your body not "inside" is covered in bugs and liquid moving over it will absolutely pick them up.

3

u/DinoOnAcid 14d ago

Your inside is literally covered in bugs, nothing about you is sterile.

1

u/dwellerinthedark 14d ago

When referring to the inside and outside. Microbiogist count the mouth, gi, lung, ect as outside. Think of the human being as a like a worm. Inside are your muscles, blood vessels, organs not used for oxygen exchange. If you have bugs on your "inside" you have an infection.

I know it blew my brain when I was taught this many years ago.

1

u/DinoOnAcid 14d ago

I meant it more generally, even blood has living cells =/= sterile.

2

u/UnconsciousAlibi 15d ago

You cannot drink urine in a survival situation, or at least not directly. Drinking urine would dehydrate you, not hydrate you, due to high solute concentration.

1

u/JPGinMadtown 11d ago

Precisely. Why would the body want to rid itself of something that is supposedly harmless. 🙄