Am I a crank operated well?

January 12, 2006 9:51 AM

[PeeFilter] Why is it that raising my right arm while I am urinating seems to make my...um...stream flow with more pressure?

Is there some sort of plumbing connection between my bladder and my arm? Why only my right arm, and not my left? Has anyone else noticed this phenomenon whilst discharging urine?

posted by weirdoactor to health & fitness (12 comments total)

Uh, no, but I'm going to try it.
posted by agregoli at 9:57 AM on January 12, 2006

My guess is that it has to do with a systematic tightening of muscles...sort of a chain reaction type of thing. For what it's worth, though, I just tried it and nothing happened for me.
posted by charmston at 10:00 AM on January 12, 2006

I'll guess the vagus is involved; lots of things in the neck and chest stimulate the vagus. The sympathetic nervous system inhibits bladder contraction; the parasympathetic contracts it. The vagus is a major component of the parasympathetic system.
posted by orthogonality at 10:05 AM on January 12, 2006

A med student friend told me our bladders tend to sink lower than the urethra opening after years of holding up our urine. Which is why, at my age, there always seems to be a little left.

So maybe you're raising the bladder up a little higher by raising your arm.
posted by atchafalaya at 10:06 AM on January 12, 2006

I'm going to try this now as well... if you see anyone else doing this in the bathroom today wave and say hi to a fellow MeFite...
posted by jerryg99 at 10:15 AM on January 12, 2006

I like the idea that you're draining all the pee out of your arm.
posted by LordSludge at 10:21 AM on January 12, 2006

Seems to me that when you raise your arm you are forcing your diaphragm and rib cage to raise as well which may cause elongation and flattening of the abs and stomach muscles, which would push your innards slightly into your bladder, thus putting pressure on it and forcing your pish out quicker.

Watch out where the huskies go, don't you eat that yellow snow.
posted by spicynuts at 10:22 AM on January 12, 2006

Doesn't work for me.

Nice meme propagation BTW!

Let's try one here: paypal $5 to lalochezia. You will pee faster.
posted by lalochezia at 12:56 PM on January 12, 2006

When I've consumed too much [insert liquid] and end up at the toilet I tend to put my right arm up against the wall (at an angle), which may have been, all these years, an unconscious way of increasing the pressure of the stream. bizarre.
posted by shoepal at 1:59 PM on January 12, 2006

"Why is it that raising my right arm while I am urinating seems to make my...um...stream flow with more pressure?"

I trust you're not still holding your penis in your right hand while you raise your arm. At the very least, I would expect that to cause some mild discomfort.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 3:56 PM on January 12, 2006

And if it doesn't cause some mild discomfort, your girlfriend is VERY lucky!

Incidentally, I'm totally trying this the next time I pee (although, maybe not in public.
posted by antifuse at 1:33 AM on January 13, 2006

It doesn't seem like raising your arm would raise your ribcage, because your shoulder is merely bending at a joint, not actually lifting up, (unless you are tilting yourself to the side slightly which in turn makes the other shoulder drop, canceling out any elevation). Could you possibly be inhaling more deeply when you raise your arm because of the reduced pressure on the ribcage from arms held forward? Maybe that extra breath presses on the bladder more strongly downward?

I am so trying this, and agree with LordSludge's remark.
posted by vanoakenfold at 12:17 AM on January 14, 2006