Claim: Using the first urine of the day to wash your eyes is a healthy and beneficial practice.

Fact: False. Medical experts have strongly refuted the claim, warning that urine contains waste products and bacteria that can cause serious eye infections and harm.

A viral video on social media shows a woman advising people to use their own urine as an eye wash. The video titled “Urine Eye Wash,” lists out the steps on how to collect the urine and rinse one’s eyes. 

Here’s what the video recommends:

Step 1: Collect your ‘midstream’ urine, the first urine of the day.

Step 2: Place your eyes over the cup and start blinking.

Step 3: Move your eyes as much as possible, up and down, allowing the urine to enter your eyes from all sides.

Step 4: Tap dry your eyes lightly.

Step 5: Palming – gently keep your hands over your eyes, allowing the warmth from your hands to transfer to your eyelids.

The 45-second video, initially posted on Instagram, has now been removed but it is still present and circulating on WhatsApp, Reddit and X. The video gives no scientific proof for what it claims nor does it provide any other explanation for why this is healthy.

First Check found many more urine related videos on this account. 

What’s the fact?

Multiple doctors and users have called the video out for its unscientific claim and harmful effect of washing eyes with urine. 

Dr Jaison Philip, a senior urologist at Government Kalaignar Centenary Hospital, Chennai, warns against the practice.  

“NEVER! NEVER! NEVER DO THIS! Urine always belongs in the toilet, never elsewhere. Don’t harm yourself (sic),” he says in a post on X, which also displays the video.  

He continues in another tweet: “The pH of Normal Human Urine is 5.5 to 6.5( Acidic ). The ideal pH of eyewash is alkaline( 7.4 ). Using Urine as eyewash can result in dangers from inflammation to loss of vision.”

The Liver Doc also commented on the video, calling it out for its unscientific nature: “Please don’t put your urine inside your eyes. Urine is not sterile.” 

Also read: https://firstcheck.in/are-there-health-benefits-to-drinking-ones-own-urine/