Physiological effects of peeing in your wetsuit

[Dutchman]

You are over thinking the issue.
Just dive and pee if it feels good.
I would suggest washing your suit
before use again. Soap & water
does wonders to kill bacteria.

 

[Colliam7]

Seen a lot of divers pouring the piss out of there booties when the get back on the boat.

Tsk, tsk. They should keep those legs outside / over the tops of their boots, rather than zipping the boots over them.

 

[Thalassamania]

I doubt there is a hydration benefit from retaining urine.

There is none. Urine in the bladder is outside of your body's physiology.

Let me turn this question around... I consider my self dehydrated if I can complete the dive without the need to urinate. You should be drinking enough fluids that it is necessary to pee in your suit, rather than withholding drinking predive so you don't have to.

A very good point.

 

[Hank49]

that's what the toilet is for on the boat

toilet?....oooohhh, you mean that 5 gallon bucket...

 

[AbyssalPlains]

You are over thinking the issue.
Just dive and pee if it feels good.
I would suggest washing your suit
before use again. Soap & water
does wonders to kill bacteria.

The only bacteria in your wetsuit come from the ocean water. Urine is sterile.
Good news, huh?

 

[muddiver]

letting the pee out does not cause dehydration because you can not re-absorb the water through your bladder.

Yes, you lose a lot of heat each time you urinate while diving. Also the warming affect on your skin causes the body to vaso dilate which moves the warmth of your core to your skin where the heat you created is lost to conduction and convection. The opening up of the veins to your extrimities is because the warm pee over your skin makes your body think that the external environment is warming up, when it really is not.

Oh, and I have also stopped peeing in my wet suit. It is too much effort to make my self pee underwater.

 

[Hank49]

Urine is sterile.
Good news, huh?

It's sterile but it's also great "fertilizer".

 

[Gene_Hobbs]

Since the OP was asking a physiological question, how about a basic physiological answer.

Immersion Diuresis - The way the body handles the 'shift' of fluid volume (blood if you will) from the extremities (mainly legs) to the thoracic cavity. In VERY simple terms, this is the bodies attempt to keep from overworking the heart.

Thermal Diuresis - The way the body handles the 'shift' of fluid volume (blood if you will) from vasoconstriction (blood vessels getting smaller in diameter) in response to the cold. In VERY simple terms, this is the bodies attempt to keep from cooling the core.

So if you need to urinate, that is a GOOD thing. If you don't, you are volume depleted.

For those that really want more...

References:

Epstein. Water immersion and the kidney: implications for volume regulation. Undersea Biomed Res. 1984 Jun;11(2):113-21. RRR ID: 2983

Knight and Horvath. Immersion diuresis occurs independently of water temperatures in the range 25 degrees-35 degrees C (Letter to Editor). Undersea Biomed Res. 1990 May;17(3):255-6. RRR ID: 2726

Nyquist et. al. Desmopression Prevents Immersion Diuresis and Improves Physical Performance After Long Duration Dives. NMRI Report 2005-01. RRR ID: 3592

Matsuda. Physiological responses to head-out immersion in water at 11 ATA. Undersea Biomed Res. 1978 Mar;5(1):37-52. RRR ID: 2817

Young. Human vascular fluid responses to cold stress are not altered by cold acclimation. Undersea Biomed Res. 1987 May;14(3):215-28. RRR ID: 3102

Rochelle and Horvath. Thermoregulation in surfers and nonsurfers immersed in cold water. Undersea Biomed Res. 1978 Dec;5(4):377-90. RRR ID: 2822

Knight and Horvath. Urinary responses to cold temperature during water immersion. Am J Physiol. 1985 May;248(5 Pt 2):R560-6. PubMed ID: 3993814

More results from "Immersion Diuresis".

 

[archman]

There is none. Urine in the bladder is outside of your body's physiology.

Thal answers this best. By the time you've "made" urine, the water's not recoverable internally.

Thus, "holding it" is not going to help you from a hydration standpoint. Nor make the *pressure* go away. I've had these very same silly bar discussions when we've all drunk far too much beer, and all have considerable "urges" to use the restrooms. Ha ha.

 

[Footslogger]

Never eat asparagus the day before you intend to pee in your wetsuit.

=================================

Absolutely NOTHING to do with hydration/dehydration but EXCELLENT advice !!