Many have us have pondered at the urinal when standing next to either a noticeably weak pee-er, or worse, the backsplash nightmare of the human firehose, Why do people’s urine come out at different strengths?
The bladder is a muscle, and like every other muscle, it can atrophy over time, causing your stream to get weaker as you get older. “It’s okay for your stream to slow down, as long as it’s not causing any problems upstream If you are experiencing concerns about the force of your stream, uses a Uroflow test. It measures the velocity of a person’s pee in millimeters per second. For us young guys, anywhere between 20 to 25 millimeters per second is average and healthy.
A uroflow test consists of peeing into a special toilet with a funnel device attached to it. For those unfamiliar with the test, it works sort of like the carnival game where you throw a baseball at a nylon mural of a catcher that uses sensors to measure your pitch speed. Only in this case, you’re measuring the speed and quantity of your piss.
The strength of your urinary stream, as well as the diameter, is important to use as a reference when considering a possible blockage of the urinary tract. This is most commonly associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia, which is an increase in the size of the prostate, something that happens with age in men. Men may experience symptoms such as a decreased force of their urinary stream, difficulty emptying their bladder or being unable to start urination.
