Doctor explains why your urine splits and goes everywhere which even 'she couldn't believe'
A medical professional has explained why many people may experience a 'urine split' when they're using the loo.
Dr Rena Malik is a urologist known for her online content on a number of health-related matters.
The YouTuber and pelvic surgeon has opened up on her subject of expertise, having given her opinion on a range of sex-related questions and assumptions in the past.
She's spoken about how long women actually want sex to last, after studies in recent years have come up with a range of answers.
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In a popular video on her channel, Dr Malik explained that some people's urine stream can go 'everywhere or split into two', as there are three reasons as to why this can happen.
Speaking to men, she admitted: "I didn't believe it when I first learned about it so if you think about the urinary tube or the urethra, it's just like when water flows through a hose or a straw and if anything is blocking that flow through the tube it can make the flow more turbulent."
Dr Malik said that this can result in multiple streams as 'it's essentially like a high pressure stream trying to pass a blockage'.
So, how does this happen?
Adhesions after sex
The social media star explained: "The first reason is adhesions, and that's essentially the edges of the urethra sticking together - this is the most common cause of a split stream.
"It's often because of dry semen that didn't completely exit the urethra during ejaculation, now this is not dangerous, it's not serious and it usually goes away in a couple days."
Dr Malik pointed out that an 'uncircumcised' phallus can experience skin getting stuck 'in front of the urethral meatus because of friction from your underwear or friction from recently having sex'.
This can cause the urine stream to go haywire, though there is a solution.
"What you can do is then kind of gently retract the foreskin when you're trying to urinate - once you're done make sure to replace the foreskin where it's supposed to be because otherwise you can develop what's called a paraphimosis," she said, explaining this is when the foreskin can get stuck and a trip to A&E may be on the horizon.
Urethral narrowing
Talk about leaving little to the imagination, eh?
This is 'typically more common after some sort of trauma', Dr Malik says, though some report experiencing this without any trauma, adding that 'it can also be found in men who've had sexually transmitted infections before'.
These strictures may cause the stream to become weaker, causing you to strain more to actually urinate at all, which could reach the point where 'you might feel like you're not emptying completely'.
The doctor noted that 'if you feel like you have to go to the bathroom more often, you definitely need to see a urologist', as there is no easy treatment for this.
"You would need a procedure to either open up that stricture which can be using a camera or it can be actually cutting the ends of the urethra and sewing them back together," she claimed.
Lovely stuff.
Enlarged prostate
Dr Malik explained that an enlarged prostate can also be a cause, saying: "The prostate is a walnut shaped gland that sits underneath the bladder and there it can enlarge over time. In fact, 80 percent of men at the age of 80 have an enlarged prostate."
"As that prostate enlarges, it pushes on that pee tube, narrowing the pee tube (and) that urine can't get through quite as easily," she revealed, adding that this can also cause 'somewhat of a split stream'.
Opening up on how to deal with this, the urologist said there are prescription drugs such as Tamsulosin and Alfuzosin, effective once-daily alpha-1 blockers for BPH and ureteral stones.
Dr Malik explained more medication options, such as 'alpha reductase inhibitors', highlighting the importance of getting your prostate checked as you age.
At the end of the day though, seeing your stream split isn't the biggest deal and it often clears up in a few days - but if it does continue, it's worth contacting your GP.
Joshua Nair