# Running water makes me want to urinate. Why? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 11, 2013, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/running-water-makes-me-want-to-urinate-why/649954 "2013-02-11T07:38:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bardos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bardos/32/1069_2.png) [@bardos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bardos)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/running-water-makes-me-want-to-urinate-why/649954/1 "2013-02-11T07:38:32Z")
The sound of running water triggers something… what? why? ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/running-water-makes-me-want-to-urinate-why/649954/2 "2013-02-11T08:00:32Z")
Pavlovian conditioning. (I would assume.) ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/running-water-makes-me-want-to-urinate-why/649954/3 "2013-02-11T23:03:50Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > Pavlovian conditioning. (I would assume.) Doesn’t that [Pavlovian] imply someone took the time to do the conditioning? Running water will do it for me, but please accept my assurances that no one took the time to condition me in that manner. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/running-water-makes-me-want-to-urinate-why/649954/4 "2013-02-11T23:39:48Z")
This thread makes me have to pee. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/running-water-makes-me-want-to-urinate-why/649954/5 "2013-02-12T01:36:19Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > Doesn’t that [Pavlovian] imply someone took the time to do the conditioning? > > Running water will do it for me, but please accept my assurances that no one took the time to condition me in that manner. You’ve been peeing your whole life. That pee makes a sound very similar to running water. You’ve been conditioned your whole life. ---
**Author:** ![Werekoala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7993a0/32.png) [@Werekoala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Werekoala)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/running-water-makes-me-want-to-urinate-why/649954/6 "2013-02-12T02:04:28Z")
Ok, on a related note - why do cold temperatures make you feel like urinating? ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/running-water-makes-me-want-to-urinate-why/649954/7 "2013-02-12T05:32:43Z")
> [@Werekoala](#): > > why do cold temperatures make you feel like urinating? I was told once (while peeing in a field on a wintery day!) that the cold makes your bladder contract. (This is probably just an old wive’s tale, and I have zero evidence to back it up. But when a bunch of very tired and very cold soldiers all agree, then it has to be true, right? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/running-water-makes-me-want-to-urinate-why/649954/8 "2013-02-12T05:46:48Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > I was told once (while peeing in a field on a wintery day!) that the cold makes your bladder contract. > > (This is probably just an old wive’s tale, and I have zero evidence to back it up. But when a bunch of very tired and very cold soldiers all agree, then it has to be true, right? 🙂 Thias was going to be my guess but I neglected to answer as I don’t want to be known on this board as the expert pee-ologyst. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/running-water-makes-me-want-to-urinate-why/649954/9 "2013-02-12T06:38:25Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > I don’t want to be known on this board as the expert pee-ologyst. 😃 why not? You sure have the right username. 🙂🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/running-water-makes-me-want-to-urinate-why/649954/10 "2013-02-12T06:42:39Z")
> [@Werekoala](#): > > Ok, on a related note - why do cold temperatures make you feel like urinating? When exposed to cold, blood vessels in the extremities constrict and more blood volume is diverted to the core. With increased blood volume in the core urine output increases. > **[Polyuria](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyuria)** > > Polyuria (/ˌpɒliˈjʊəriə/) is excessive or an abnormally large production or passage of urine (greater than 2.5 L or 3 L over 24 hours in adults). Increased production and passage of urine may also be termed as diuresis. Polyuria often appears in conjunction with polydipsia (increased thirst), though it is possible to have one without the other, and the latter may be a cause or an effect. Primary polydipsia may lead to polyuria. Polyuria is usually viewed as a symptom or sign of ano The most commo... ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/running-water-makes-me-want-to-urinate-why/649954/11 "2013-02-12T07:26:00Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > why not? You sure have the right username. 🙂🙂 Ha! I did not think of that. ---
**Author:** ![Khristy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/57b2e6/32.png) [@Khristy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khristy)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/running-water-makes-me-want-to-urinate-why/649954/12 "2013-02-12T11:00:07Z")
Ok, but why when going to pee and having a difficult time getting started, does merely thinking about cold or running water cause you to pee? Surely thinking about cold doesn’t affect your blood flow and squeeze your bladder. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/running-water-makes-me-want-to-urinate-why/649954/13 "2013-02-12T13:37:56Z")
> [@Khristy](#): > > Surely thinking about cold doesn’t affect your blood flow and squeeze your bladder. Of course it can, because you have associated cold with peeing. That is what conditioned responses are all about. Same as thinking about fresh, hot pizza makes your mouth water, or thinking about your lover naked, well, you know. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/running-water-makes-me-want-to-urinate-why/649954/14 "2013-02-12T21:15:37Z")
Cecil himself covers the topic at the end of [this](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/639/why-does-putting-someones-hand-in-warm-water-make-them-go-to-the-bathroom) column. > [@Cecil Adams](#): > > Audio stimuli work too. I recall a meal I ate once on the upstairs veranda of a popular restaurant. It was delightful except for one thing: underneath the veranda a spigot tinkled steadily into a puddle. I could think of only one thing the entire time. My choices basically were to run to the bathroom every ten minutes or eat dinner with my legs crossed. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/running-water-makes-me-want-to-urinate-why/649954/15 "2013-02-13T00:54:38Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > Doesn’t that [Pavlovian] imply someone took the time to do the conditioning? > > . . . no one took the time to condition me in that manner. I remember, as a very young child, my mother going “Pssssssssss Pssssssssss . . .” to get me to urinate. I assume it was before bedtime or a trip.