I've often seen it noted on here that urine is sterile. I've wondered if this is true, then why do we bother to wash our hands after urinating - would it not be better to rinse your hands in your own urine? But no, we don't do that - and why not?

Turns out the urine *should* be sterile, but it often is not. And with the push from the medical community to kill as many germs as possible, it seems silly to expose yourself needlessly to germs. In any case, it is a caculated risk, and if you're willing to take it, great. But don't operate under the false assumption that it is always sterile.

If the kidneys have an infection, the urnie is not sterile from the moment of its production. If there is a yeast infection in the urinary tract, or any other kind of infection anywhere along the urinary tract, is it unsterile. Urinary tract infections are often asymptomatic. If there are any germs on or in the urethral orifice, those germs will end up in the urine stream (hence the direction that urine samples be taken mid-stream, the hope being that the germs will have been flushed in the initial seconds of the stream). Examples of common bacteria that live in or on the urethra are chlamydia and e. coli.

If the risks of these things are something you can live with, more power to you - just be informed.