Who here isn’t familiar with that warm and wonderful sensation you get just a second after urinating in your wetsuit. That magical moment when you forget about the cold water around you and everything feels pleasant and fuzzy... Probably only half of you will admit knowing that feeling, since the diving world is divided in two: Those who pee in their wetsuit with pride and those who will never admit doing it, or just never tried. Which half are you on? Avoiding heart explosion Let start with this – You pee in your wetsuit because you have no choice! This is backed up by very good physiological reasons. When our body is immersed in water, the blood volume increases. Luckily, our body has mechanisms to balance that out and keep our blood volume normal, so more blood will flow towards our kidneys and by releasing more liquid from the body, the blood volume will remain normal! To make a long story short – you pee to prevent your heart from exploding. That reason alone is enough for me… But let’s continue anyway :) Why do I pee more in cold waters? You’ve probably noticed that cold water increases the urge to urinate. There’s a perfectly good scientific reason for that as well. When we are cold, blood vessels which are close to the skin shrink, causing the blood to concentrate at the center of the body, flowing to vital organs to maintain body heat and increasing blood pressure. This increases the blood volume in the center of the body, causing the same effect as we discussed before – the need to get rid of liquids by urination. This phenomenon is called Immersion Diuresis. I won’t drink so I won’t have to pee! If you think that drinking less will solve
Who here isn’t familiar with that warm and wonderful sensation you get just a second after urinating in your wetsuit. That magical moment when you forget about the cold water around you and everything feels pleasant and fuzzy… Probably only half of you will admit knowing that feeling, since the diving world is divided in
