Comments on: Why does humming make me have to pee?

Question: Why does humming make me have to pee?

bonheur — Wed, 22 Sep 2004 10:31:33 -0800

Humming noises make me have to pee. Does this happen to anyone else? What could be causing it? [more inside]

I noticed that whenever I go into a certain room in my house (not the bathroom) I had the overwhelming urge to pee. Eventually I concluded that there was a fan in that room that was causing the problem. The low hum of the refrigerator does the same thing to me. Is this some kind of ingrained Pavlovian response, or is there another reason humming noises might send my bladder into overdrive?

By: mcsweetie

mcsweetie — Wed, 22 Sep 2004 11:10:57 -0800

hmm...that's pretty strange. hmm, let me meditate on it a bit. hmmm. hmmmmm. hmmmmmmmmmmm.

seriously though, my first thoughts when I saw your question were pavlovian. how long have you noticed this phenomenon? tracing the roots here is gonna be tricky because we urinate so often that it almost happens subconsciously. perhaps a particularly noisy bathroom that you frequented in your youth?

By: Robot Johnny

Robot Johnny — Wed, 22 Sep 2004 11:11:51 -0800

Sounds like you've discovered "the yellow noise".

By: ParisParamus

ParisParamus — Wed, 22 Sep 2004 11:24:30 -0800

Almost reminds me of Danny Partridge's radio tooth filling. Or, was that Greg?

By: skallas

skallas — Wed, 22 Sep 2004 11:25:03 -0800

That's something you should really talk to a doctor about. Seriously.

By: seanyboy

seanyboy — Wed, 22 Sep 2004 11:39:53 -0800

The fan in the room could be causing a drop in temperature which could be causing your need to pee. Tape the sound of humming, and play it back in a non-humming room to see if it really is the cause.

Personally, I think it's pavlovian. You probably grew up in a house with windowless toilet. (i.e. light activated extraction fan)

By: ParisParamus

ParisParamus — Wed, 22 Sep 2004 11:47:19 -0800

~~Ripley's~~ Haughey's Believe It Or Not

By: jpoulos

jpoulos — Wed, 22 Sep 2004 11:47:48 -0800

I think it's fairly well known that the sound of running water can make one want to pee. I wouldn't be surprised if this were related.

By: jpburns

jpburns — Wed, 22 Sep 2004 12:04:10 -0800

Do you have to pee if you know the words?

By: adamrice

adamrice — Wed, 22 Sep 2004 12:10:33 -0800

I have absolutely no scientific basis for saying this, but I wonder if there's a subsonic bladder-loosening effect at work. Anyone else have a similar reaction to it?

By: cell

cell — Wed, 22 Sep 2004 12:27:44 -0800

Have you ever been hypnotized on stage, by any chance?

By: Richat

Richat — Wed, 22 Sep 2004 12:33:08 -0800

Do you have to pee if you know the words?

Zing!

By: jessamyn

jessamyn — Wed, 22 Sep 2004 12:40:55 -0800

Actually, this is something that happens to others, yeah. I read about first in a book about Tesla. It's got more to do with vibration and frequencies than "sound" per se, at least that was my reading of it. There's a relating of the part of the book here

Another odd and humorous event happened when Tesla asked Twain to test out another of his inventions. It was a platform that could be set for a wide range of frequencies. Clemens innocently stepped on the platform and it was made to vibrate. A few moments later, Twain cursed at Tesla and headed off toward the bathroom. Certain frequencies create certain physical reactions to the body. Tesla set his machine to cause an automatic-bathroom response!

Here's another accounting of the same thing again in relation to Tesla. Apparently, there are just some frequencies of vibration that do this, 10-18Hz mainly. If you're a chick, the fridge might be in some sort of resonant frequency with your g-spot...

By: stuartmm

stuartmm — Wed, 22 Sep 2004 13:54:05 -0800

Is the fan in a hairdryer and is the hairdryer in "use"

By: livii

livii — Wed, 22 Sep 2004 14:33:51 -0800

It happens to me as well, bonheur. Of course, I have a diagnosed bladder illness (interstitial cystitis) that pretty much means I can pee on demand. Hmm, I wonder if there`s any money in something like that? ;)

More seriously, humming noises, buzzing noises, the sound of my cat drinking water or giving herself a bath - all of these sorts of things can give me an instant urge to pee. Rapid temperature change can do it too, as can any sort of irritation, especially if that gets combined with the humming or buzzing.

After all that, I have to say that I know of nothing to be done for it, other than that each time it happens now, I try to hold off peeing for a bit to try to have more control over the issue. But I am not sure you can train yourself out of it, at least I can`t seem to. It can be a total bitch. If you find anything out about controlling it, *please* let me know. :)

By: solistrato

solistrato — Wed, 22 Sep 2004 17:07:42 -0800

Spider Jerusalem is missing his bowel disruptor.

By: bonheur

bonheur — Wed, 22 Sep 2004 23:15:24 -0800

Thanks for all the insight. Now that I think about it, the bathroom in my childhood house did have a loud fan that came on with the lightswitch. It does seem to be a sound/vibration trigger and not a temperature trigger. Luckily, I don't wet my pants or anything, and I can talk myself out of having to go just by telling myself "hey, you only have to pee because you're in the pantry and there's that humming noise in here that sets you off." The urge passes after a minute or so.
Thank you jessamyn and livii for your links and experience, respectively. It's interesting to know that other people experience this too.

By: jaded

jaded — Thu, 23 Sep 2004 09:26:48 -0800

I don't remember where I read about it - but I did read that there is a small range of low frequencies which will increase your need to use the facilities.

By: alumshubby

alumshubby — Thu, 23 Sep 2004 09:52:33 -0800

Metafilter: Spider Jerusalem is missing his bowel disruptor.

can't fuckin' stop laughing here