This treatment isn’t for the faint of heart. But it has a long history and tradition: urine as a home remedy.
In alternative medicine and homeopathy it’s long been used to treat a wide variety of conditions. Many people swear by the practice of applying urine to the skin or even drinking it! From infections and burns to dry skin, urine supposedly helps cells regenerate.
A brave editor was daring enough to self-test it. She’d suffered from dermatological problems for years but when she heard that the urea in urine might help her skin heal, she was skeptical at first. She asked herself whether it wouldn’t smell awful — and isn’t urine full of germs and bacteria?
Thé ou analyse d’urine ?
Attention il y a un piège. pic.twitter.com/bZdFNgGN44— Tata Reporter (@Tata_Reporter) 4. Februar 2017
Nonetheless she stoutly decided to take up the challenge and try it out. For two weeks she applied “midstream urine” on her face.
You don’t want to use the first bit of pee that comes out since it may contain bacteria from the skin. The first pee of the day is thought to be particularly rich in nutrients that it’s been able to absorb through the night, thus the recommendation of “first void urine.”
And so began her experiment…
Deer Urine? Really it’s easier to find deer urine than smoke free apt listings online? #findmesmokefree pic.twitter.com/uVvUsFHurF
— find me smoke free (@findmesmokefree) 2. Februar 2017
She faithfully went to the bathroom first thing each morning, let the first third of the pee flow straight into the toilet and then caught the rest on a piece of cotton wool. After some initial revulsion she rubbed the urine into her skin. She was particularly nervous about the potential odor so she had her sister give her face a close sniff.
Everything seemed fine though, as soon as the pee was absorbed. Her sister described the smell as sweet and not at all unpleasant! After a week she got worried, because her skin was getting worse — a lot worse.
With dry, brittle, flaking skin, this urine therapy was seeming more and more like a scam. She stopped the experiment and talked to an expert. The scientist confirmed that urine can irritate the skin if you apply too much.
But then something extraordinary happened: the dry skin peeled off on its own and beneath it, her face emerged perfectly soft and smooth. Apparently the urine had caused an intense, and effective, exfoliation.
So will she stick with urine as her preferred facial treatment?
No. Even though it works, it’s not the most potent method: urine is composed mostly of water and just 5% urea. But you can get creams with 10% or more urea, which are more dependable.
She’ll fall back on one of those when her skin breaks out again, since — although the results were great — she can’t quite wrap her mind around “peeing on her face.”
Would you do it?