OT Putting your hand in cold water and instantly needing to have a pee

[ARW]

I have just gone to remove a broken bathplug from on old dear's bath down the street.

The bath was full of cold water as she had the bath this morning when the plug broke. As soon as I put my hand into the water I needed the toilet - and this was not a "just needed pee" this was a "less than 5 seconds to pee" mode.

Any ideas why this would happen?

No pun intended - I really am not taking the piss, this really happened. I am used to the cold as I spent Tuesday and Wednesday working outside for most of the day.

[Phil L]

This has been known about for centuries. An old army joke was to carefully place a sleeping comrade's hand into a bucket of warm water and when the water went cold, the soldier would wet the bed

[ARW]

I was awake:-)

[Mr Pounder]

You are just getting older. And all of that booze. Just wait until you start pissing whilst in the shower.

[Tim+]

You mean there are people who don't??

Tim

[polygonum]

It might be immersion diuresis. But even that seems ill-researched beyond suggesting that vasopressin (anti-diuretic hormone/ADH) production is suddenly reduced leaving you ready to piss.

[Owain]

Coal doesn't burn so well if it's wet

Owain

[Bill Wright]

No, but here's another oddity. Some years ago I had a muscle spasm in my back that was so bad that I had to be rendered unconscious. Afterwards I found I had two disabilities. One was that the right side of my right leg had been rendered insensible. I could stick pins in my flesh and feel nothing. There was, however, no loss of control. The other was that if I pressed on a certain spot on my lower back I lost bladder control. Both of these persist to the present.

Bill

[MM]

Same at boarding school!

MM

[MM]

It is a curious thing that we are so conditioned to only pee where considered right and proper. I still have this sense of exibitionism if I pull into a layby and take a pee behind a hedge. However, I do remember the pissoirs in France in the 1950s and they were just a metal shield on the pavement. Anglo-Saxons definitely have more hang-ups about this kind of thing than other nationalities.

MM

[MM]

In idle moments I have pondered an invention for the police, like a tazer, which would be a gadget that focuses an invisible beam on to just such a spot. For crowd control in riot situations, the police would silently "open fire" and a hundred people would piss themselves immediately.

MM

[Chris J Dixon]

I recall an occasion in France when stopped at a level crossing. The guy in the car in front stepped out, took about two paces towards the hedge and let rip.

Chris

[Broadback]

Just give it time Bill then everyone (who live long enough) will join you!

[MM]

And in Britain if a particularly jobsworthy plod happened by, the bloke would be arrested.

MM

[harryagain]

Coal doesn't burn so well if it's wet

Owain Not always true.

[Brian Gaff]

Its very common though. Its worse with iced water. the thing is though that there is not always that much pee to come out. I suspect it might have things to do with shock or maybe the way the body tries to conserve heat or move blood internally away from extremities.

Brian

[Brian Gaff]

A lot of us as we age find our guts get shall we say lower due to gravity, and it kind of gets folds that can when you lay in certain positions press against the bladder and make one feel like you need to pee. I know cos it happens to me. Maybe these folk who do shoulder stands know about this.

Brian

[Chris Holmes]

Or indeed why I can get into bed at night, lie on my back for any number of minutes (ditto my right side, but as soon as I lie on my right (which also happens to be the side where I go to sleep) I then immediately fart. (bit of a bore for SWMBO who happens to sleep on my right !:=((

Chris

[Jim Hawkins]

Aren't there something similar on some London streets now ?

[Tim Watts]

Yes - just over the road from Charing X Station - but they are only unlocked/opened at certain times, late at night.