# Is it true that urine can be used as an antiseptic? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 5, 2000, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-urine-can-be-used-as-an-antiseptic/44082 "2000-12-05T03:51:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Major\_Feelgud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3be4f8/32.png) [@Major\_Feelgud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Major_Feelgud)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2000, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-urine-can-be-used-as-an-antiseptic/44082/21 "2000-12-06T09:21:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KarlGauss \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Major Feelgud \* > > \*\* > > > > Your tongue is more sterile than your hand. \*\* > > Where have you been putting your hand? > > The skin on your hand contains just a few types of bugs (_strept_ and _staph_ mostly) but your mouth is as filthy as your asshole (bacteriologically speaking). > > As an example, human bites frequently, almost invariably, get infected. But a similarly sized lesion made by, finger nails say, rather than teeth, would seldom get infected. > > \*\* I was still assuming he was still in that swampy or muddly shell hole. Saliva also has some anti-bacterial property. Bacteriologically speaking, your mouth is cleaner than your rectum. Cholera is caused by contamination of fecal matter in saying drinking water. ---
**Author:** ![stkelly52](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@stkelly52](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stkelly52)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2000, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-urine-can-be-used-as-an-antiseptic/44082/22 "2000-12-06T10:41:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by nevermore \* > \*\*Has anyone ever seen the _Friends_ episode where Monica gets stung by a jellyfish and Chandler pees on her to make it stop hurting? How come that works?? \*\* This really does work. What is recomended is to use vinegar because it is a base, and the jellyfish sting is an acid (they nutralise each other). Urine is also a base, and therefor will also neutralize the sting. But you only want to use this as a last resort. By the way these should be done after rubbing sand in the sting to tear up the skin a little bit. ---
**Author:** ![zen101](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c68b51/32.png) [@zen101](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zen101)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2000, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-urine-can-be-used-as-an-antiseptic/44082/23 "2000-12-06T11:00:45Z")
It’s a dessert topping! It’s a floor wax! It’s a dessert topping! It’s a floor wax! It’s a dessert topping! It’s a floor wax! ---
**Author:** ![Gaspode](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@Gaspode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gaspode)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2000, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-urine-can-be-used-as-an-antiseptic/44082/24 "2000-12-06T11:08:08Z")
I know it’s an aside but. Please. Never, ever rub sand on a jellyfish sting. I only bother to post this because if anyone tries that with one of the deadly species (Box jelly, Irukandji) it will probably kill the patient. Jellyfish tentacles are covered in tiny, spring-loaded barbs that penetrate the skin, injecting toxin and anchoring the tentacle to the prey. Normally only the barbs on one side of the tentacle manage to penetrate the skin, the rest are safely on the other sides of the tentacle, which is more or less cylindrical. Vinegar assists with jellyfish stings because it causes the unfired barbs to eject, thus rendering them harmless and allowing them to be pulled off without harming the victim or the person aiding them. Whether urine would work I’ve never heard, but apparently alcohol will also work, though not as well. If there is any doubt about the health effets of the sting a compression bandage should be applied and medical help sought. If you were to rub an area that still had tentacles attached with sand or anything else without neutralising the cnidocysts the result could be horrible. The unfired cysts would be rolled into contact with the skin and fire, injecting still more venom. There was one a school of thought that suggested pouring dry sand onto jellyfish stings to attempt to fire the cnidocysts, but as far as I know this has gone the way of using tourniquets on snakebites. Sorry to bring down the mood of a pretty cool thread, and I don’t mean to nitpick stkelly, but there are some deadly species of jellyfish out there, along with the chance of an allergic reaction and this sort of misinformation could easily kill someone if applied. Whether urine would help ease the pain after the tentacles were removed. I’d have to take your word. I think I’d rather suffer the sting myself. eeeew! ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2000, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-urine-can-be-used-as-an-antiseptic/44082/25 "2000-12-06T15:22:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by **Major Feelgud** \* > \*\* > Bacteriologically speaking, your mouth is cleaner than your rectum. Cholera is caused by contamination of fecal matter in saying drinking water. \*\* Maybe your mouth’s cleaner, but not by much. At least 42 different bacterial species normally reside in the mouth including various types of:[ul][li]staphylococcus [_]streptococcus [_]peptostreptococcus[_]veillonella [_]lactobacilli [_]actinomyces [_]enterobacteriaceae [_]haemophilus [_]bacteroides [_]fusobacterium [_]borrelia [_]corynebacteria [_]neisseria diphtheroids[/ul][/li] Further, in “sick” or debilitated people there is also colonization by many coliform bacteria (e. coli, klebsiella, etc.). And, many normal people have candida (admittedly not a “bacteria”). As for cholera (and other toxogenic gastrointestinal microbes), these are harmful by the oral route only. If they cause wound infections, it must be very rare indeed. It is also worth pointing out that such bugs are **seldom** part of the normal flora of anybody. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2000, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-urine-can-be-used-as-an-antiseptic/44082/26 "2000-12-06T16:19:08Z")
" heard somewhere that Madonna, of all people, recommends peeing on your athlete’s foot while in the shower for a quick, home-made cure." Sure, can you explain to me just how she, being a woman, would manage that? " jellyfish " They aren’t called that anymore, they are now called “sea jellies” The best thing for that is wet sand. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2000, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-urine-can-be-used-as-an-antiseptic/44082/27 "2000-12-06T16:22:20Z")
Also, don’t pee on a sea jelly sting because the heat from the urine would cause the poison to intensify. Apply cold wet sand or ice or see a doc if you can get one. ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2000, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-urine-can-be-used-as-an-antiseptic/44082/28 "2000-12-06T16:38:29Z")
Not to nitpick, either, but StKelley, I think you’ve got your bases and acids mixed up. Urine contains uric acid, vinegar acetic acid. No idea about jellyfish. Handy, you bend your knee so that your foot is closer. . . oh, never mind. Do guys think they have a monopoly on peeing on things? Sheesh, yours only comes out a couple of inches further from your body. ---
**Author:** ![stkelly52](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@stkelly52](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stkelly52)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2000, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-urine-can-be-used-as-an-antiseptic/44082/29 "2000-12-06T17:17:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Gaspode \* > \*\*I know it’s an aside but. > Please. Never, ever rub sand on a jellyfish sting. \*\* Just in defence of myself a little bit, This I am reading from the medical pamphlet made up by one of the local hospitals here in Malaysia. It clearly says to rub sand on the sting. However, they may say this because they know they types of jellyfish in malaysia waters. I have only ever seen one kind here. I will admit that I may have mixed up the acid base thing, I was trying to go from memory on that one. The pamphlet doesn’t say why it works. It was a nurse that explained it to me later. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2000, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-urine-can-be-used-as-an-antiseptic/44082/30 "2000-12-06T23:23:34Z")
“(Box jelly, Irukandji)” The chances of any of us dopers seeing one of those is pretty rare. ---
**Author:** ![Gaspode](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@Gaspode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gaspode)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-urine-can-be-used-as-an-antiseptic/44082/31 "2000-12-07T00:48:50Z")
Why do you think that? I don’t know the geographical spread of SDers but I wouldn’t have thought it all that unlikely. The distribution of the box jellyfish ranges from the Maldives Islands to the Philippines through to Japan including the waters of Hawaii. There are related species found throughout the Americas between the Tropics including the Carribean, and throughout Asia as far north as Japan, and Africa. There are other non-related species that that are quite capable of causing death found off the Indian coast. That takes in a fair swathe of the world’s population. And of course there is always a risk of an allergic reaction to even normally ‘harmless’ species. The following site actually has some relevance to the OP as well as offering good advice on jellyfish treatment. [http://www.discoveringhawaii.com/SF\_Medicine/StingingMarineLife/JellyFish.html](http://www.discoveringhawaii.com/SF_Medicine/StingingMarineLife/JellyFish.html) I’d still be inclined to flood the area with vinegar first, as suggested if there was any doubt about whether the animal was dangerous: > **[Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics](https://biomedicalsciences.unimelb.edu.au/departments/archived-departments/pharmacology)** > > Understanding molecular, cellular and tissue actions of drugs and utilising animal models of disease that can lead to clinical studies. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-urine-can-be-used-as-an-antiseptic/44082/32 "2000-12-07T01:20:07Z")
A few more points: Madonna did, indeed, say that. I saw it. It was on her infamous David Letterman appearance several years ago where she said the F word a dozen or so times. **zen101** - it’s a dessert topping, you cow!! Heh heh. And as for the mouth/rectum thing, (always a good way to start a sentence) you’re all right!! Neither is sterile by a long shot, but the colon area has more bacteria in it than the mouth does. Fecal material can be up to 25% by weight bacteria. And while _Vibrio cholera_ doesn’t infect wounds that I know of, _Vibrio vulnificus_ is a very serious wound pathogen. ---
**Author:** ![Occam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Occam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Occam)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-urine-can-be-used-as-an-antiseptic/44082/33 "2000-12-07T02:26:29Z")
I heard that not only is the human mouth one of the most bacteria infested of all animals, but many contain something that eats cartilage. Is this true? ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-urine-can-be-used-as-an-antiseptic/44082/34 "2000-12-07T02:38:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Occam \* > \*\*I heard that not only is the human mouth one of the most bacteria infested of all animals, but many contain something that eats cartilage. Is this true? \*\* Humans and cats share the dubious distinction of having their bites most likely to cause infection. (And although human bites as such are not too frequent, inadvertant breaking of the skin by human teeth, such as occurs on the knuckles of the _puncher_, but not the _punchee_, is a common cause of wound infection) I don’t know about the cartilage business except to say that many of the bacteria in your mouth can cause nasty, deep-seated, expanding infections of the skin as well as in other, tougher, tissues such as muscle. ---
**Author:** ![Pot\_o\_Gold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Pot\_o\_Gold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pot_o_Gold)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-urine-can-be-used-as-an-antiseptic/44082/35 "2000-12-07T03:00:10Z")
This was proven by Henry Fonda in the movie “The Grapes of Wrath”. I believe Steinbeck’s scene could be paraphrased “You can’t work on a car engine without getting bloody knuckles. Here, pack it with the sand where we pee’d and it won’t get infected.” ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-urine-can-be-used-as-an-antiseptic/44082/36 "2000-12-07T04:31:50Z")
1. I recall reading that the Vikings would store cow urine until in became “ripe” and a powerful source of ammonia, in this form it would be used to sterilize cuts and other surface wounds. 2. As a child in Texas, there was a variety of weed with really nasty, tiny, hairlike bristles that burned and itched like all getout! I mean, bad, fire ant bad. Peeing on it made it stop. Are there similar toxins involved which are nuetralized by something in pee? Of course, I suppose its possible that it was just a placebo effect. That would really be a pisser. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-urine-can-be-used-as-an-antiseptic/44082/37 "2000-12-07T15:51:32Z")
> [@](#): > > Sheesh, yours only comes out a couple of inches further from your body. Doesn’t give us much credit, does she, fellows? 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-urine-can-be-used-as-an-antiseptic/44082.md?page=1)