# Why do my eyes water when I pee? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 31, 2011, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-my-eyes-water-when-i-pee/583846 "2011-05-31T13:58:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-my-eyes-water-when-i-pee/583846/1 "2011-05-31T13:58:53Z")
Every time I urinate, my eyes water. I’m not sad. I’m not crying. I don’t have to physically strain to pee, nothing like that. It just feels like a reflex; it’s something weird my body does. I pee, and my eyes water. But I don’t know why! I ran multiple google and SDMB searches, and couldn’t find an answer to this question… just a lot of people sharing that it happens to them. Nobody seems to know why. I figured it’s the perfect question to put to the teeming masses! Someone’s got to have researched this. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-my-eyes-water-when-i-pee/583846/2 "2011-05-31T14:09:06Z")
You’re full. You should pee much more often. ---
**Author:** ![Martiju](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@Martiju](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martiju)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-my-eyes-water-when-i-pee/583846/3 "2011-05-31T14:24:03Z")
Maybe quit peeing whilst standing on your head? ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-my-eyes-water-when-i-pee/583846/4 "2011-05-31T14:24:47Z")
> [@Martiju](#): > > Maybe quit peeing whilst standing on your head? Or just aim better. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-my-eyes-water-when-i-pee/583846/5 "2011-05-31T14:31:46Z")
There’s piss shiver, and now there’s piss tearing? ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-my-eyes-water-when-i-pee/583846/6 "2011-05-31T14:38:55Z")
Hyperopticolacrymaluretheral syndrome. It comes from having a really pissy outlook on life. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-my-eyes-water-when-i-pee/583846/7 "2011-05-31T15:19:07Z")
It’s pain from that dose of clap you never got treated. ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-my-eyes-water-when-i-pee/583846/8 "2011-05-31T15:24:18Z")
[Easy answer]( [http://en](http://en). [Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](http://wikipedia.org/wiki/) Autofellatio) ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-my-eyes-water-when-i-pee/583846/9 "2011-05-31T17:00:44Z")
This much snark in the first few replies of a GQ? Fuck’s sake people, don’t threadshit. > [@Munch](#): > > You’re full. You should pee much more often. No. Even if I just pee a little bit, my eyes will tear up. Sometimes I will pee, then 30 minutes later have to poop. There’s only a little bit of urine there, but my eyes still tear up. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-my-eyes-water-when-i-pee/583846/10 "2011-05-31T17:31:52Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > This much snark in the first few replies of a GQ? Fuck’s sake people, don’t threadshit.. Stop eating things like Asparagus and you’ll quit crying when you have to take a squirt. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-my-eyes-water-when-i-pee/583846/11 "2011-05-31T17:51:57Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > This much snark in the first few replies of a GQ? Fuck’s sake people, don’t threadshit. [Mod Note] Rather indelicately phrased, but **rachelellogram** has a perfectly valid point. In the [GQ FAQ](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=466202), it says: > [@GQ FAQ](#): > > The purpose of General Questions is to get factual questions answered. In order to accomplish this we need the threads to stay on topic. We tolerate some joking, but that is generally acceptable only after the question has been answered. Please do not race to a thread to post that hilarious one-liner in response to the thread title, and don’t drive by just to drop in an anecdote that doesn’t answer the question. If you want to be funny while contributing to the thread, go for it. If you don’t have anything to contribute, let’s try to hold back the jokes until somebody has a helpful response. Thank you. No warnings issued. [/Mod Note] ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-my-eyes-water-when-i-pee/583846/12 "2011-05-31T17:54:26Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > This much snark in the first few replies of a GQ? Fuck’s sake people, don’t threadshit. > > No. Even if I just pee a little bit, my eyes will tear up. Sometimes I will pee, then 30 minutes later have to poop. There’s only a little bit of urine there, but my eyes still tear up. Well, see, I’d have to nitpick this. These are meant to be jokes. Lame jokes, but jokes nonetheless. We make them because we don’t know the answer to your question, but as class clowns we MUST make some sort of remark, however inappropriate. My apologies. Snark, on the other hand, would be something like: “Oh, you know, there are these people with advanced degrees whom we call “doctors”; maybe you should find one instead of asking unqualified people on a message board”. See the difference? Much more hurtful and dismissive, although probably good advice. Oh, by the way, the comment you responded to is also a joke: “you’re so full of urine that it’s leaking out of your eyes”. Sort of along the lines of “you’re so full of shit that your eyes are brown.” Yeah, it’s juvenile. Hope you find an answer to your dilemma. ETA: I see a mod has intervened, and again I apologize for my little jape. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-my-eyes-water-when-i-pee/583846/13 "2011-06-01T03:43:46Z")
> [@Capitaine\_Zombie](#): > > [Easy answer]( [http://en](http://en). [Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](http://wikipedia.org/wiki/) Autofellatio) **Moderator Note** **Capitaine Zombie** , please do not post “not safe for work” links. [See here.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7697028&postcount=9) No warning issued. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-my-eyes-water-when-i-pee/583846/14 "2011-06-01T03:57:55Z")
While this is a legitimate question, it involves a medical answer. We don’t do personal medical answers in General Questions. Moved to IMHO. **samclem** , Moderator ---
**Author:** ![LurkerInNJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed655f/32.png) [@LurkerInNJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkerInNJ)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-my-eyes-water-when-i-pee/583846/15 "2011-06-01T17:30:25Z")
Is there a cleanser in the toilet? It could be a chemical reaction. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-my-eyes-water-when-i-pee/583846/16 "2011-06-01T17:39:45Z")
A conditioned response? were you ever punished as a child by not letting you go pee? The vent for heater/AC in some bathrooms blows right over where my head would be when standing at a urinal. This makes my eyes water. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-my-eyes-water-when-i-pee/583846/17 "2011-06-02T01:21:14Z")
Maybe your eyes are jealous? I got nothin’. Have you ever asked a doctor during a routine physical? ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-my-eyes-water-when-i-pee/583846/18 "2011-06-02T13:33:11Z")
I think you have makingshitupitis. It’s very serious. Half the Internet has it. It makes you want to want to walk to school uphill both ways and have an 8-inch penis. How else to explain these recent threads… Business casual pants for a fat girl that won’t cause crotch-stink after 8 hours? Dealing with dry skin on feet. Product recommendations? Carpenter ants in my bedroom. God dammit. Why do my eyes water when I pee? ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-my-eyes-water-when-i-pee/583846/19 "2011-06-02T15:18:38Z")
> [@](#): > > Is there a cleanser in the toilet? It could be a chemical reaction. No, this has been happening my entire life in every single different kind of toilet you could imagine. Even if I pee into not-a-toilet (on the ground while camping, or in the bathtub when I was younger). > [@](#): > > A conditioned response? were you ever punished as a child by not letting you go pee? > > The vent for heater/AC in some bathrooms blows right over where my head would be when standing at a urinal. This makes my eyes water. I never had to hold in my pee as a kid, no. There is no emotional response whatsoever. It also is not influenced by externalities at all. It is just a weird a physiological… quirkthingy. There’s no vent in my current bathroom, but I’ve had them in the past and they have no effect on what happens. > [@](#): > > Have you ever asked a doctor during a routine physical? No, it just never seemed all that important. I never thought of it as terribly irregular; weird yes, but just one of those things that’s a little different. It doesn’t hurt, it doesn’t feel anything like crying. My face doesn’t screw up with sadness, I don’t frown. Just eyes leaking water. > [@](#): > > I think you have makingshitupitis. It’s very serious. Half the Internet has it. It makes you want to want to walk to school uphill both ways and have an 8-inch penis. 1. If I was going to make shit up, I think I could do a lot better than a bunch of unflattering health questions. I’d pretend to be a cowboy astronaut millionaire and enrapture the teeming masses by flaunting my supposed riches. 2. [Google Search](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=why+do+my+eyes+water+when+I+pee&aq=f&aqi=g1&aql=&oq=) 3. Take it to the pit or PM me, your personal vendetta is inappropriately expressed in this forum. The anecdotes I’ve read (since I can’t find a scientific explanation for this) point to this being a heritable trait. Maybe some wires crossed in the spinal cord… I dunno! Still trying to find an answer at this point. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-my-eyes-water-when-i-pee/583846/20 "2011-06-02T15:29:13Z")
My eyes do this as well. I _think_ this has to do with a generalized effect of the parasympathetic nervous system. Salivation, lacrimation, urination, and defecation are all affected. See: [Wiki article on SLUD syndrome](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SLUDGE_syndrome). I kinda suck at explanations, but if you read the wiki article it should help. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-my-eyes-water-when-i-pee/583846.md?page=2)