“Did you know that you should always pee before going on a car trip in order to give yourself the best chance of survival if you get into a car accident?” asked a physician’s assistant in a recent TikTok.
Well, no. But tell us more.
Going by the username @medexplained2you, he recently posted the video captioned “Lifesaving tip!” As of Monday afternoon, it had almost 800,000 views.
@medexplained2you Lifesaving tip! #fyp #doctor #lifesaver #car #drive #safetyfirst #medical #medexplained2you #medicine #dr #doc #nurse ♬ Makeba – Jain
As the content creator explained, your bladder is like a balloon.
“If you get into a car accident with an inflated bladder, you’re more likely to have something called an intraperitoneal abdominal wall rupture,” he said. @medexplained2you added that this can “lead to a quick death” if you’re in a car accident.
If your bladder isn’t full, it’s less likely to “pop,” he added. But even if it does, you’re more likely to get an extraperitoneal rupture, which @medexplained2you said is “less of a big deal.”
“So I should stop passing rest stops because I can make it another hour without stopping on long trips? Got it,” one person quipped.
“The human experience is exhausting,” another said.
“New fear unlocked,” a third viewer chimed in.
@medexplained2you made clear in his TikTok account’s bio that he doesn’t offer professional medical advice via the video-sharing platform. An Avid bio for the user further explained that he’s a “PA-C who specializes in teaching the general public about fun and relatable medical content in plain language.”
Several online resources, however, corroborated the basics of his video. Some noted that proper seat belt usage is another way to avoid bladder-related injuries. Las Vegas-based Dimopoulos Injury Firm said that a seat belt can break your pelvic bones and injure the bladder, adding that it’s at the highest risk when full.
The Urology Care Foundation, meanwhile, defined an intraperitoneal rupture as a tear on the top of the bladder that opens to the part of the abdomen holding other vital organs, exposing them to harmful urine leaks. In the case of extraperitoneal rupture, the foundation said, a tear at the bottom—or the side—of the bladder can cause urine to leak into tissues around the bladder instead of into the abdominal cavity.
More to the point: Why would you want to sit in the car with a full bladder, anyway? Get to a gas station, y’all.
Update 12pm CT, June 27: Med Explained 2 You told the Daily Dot it’s a brand that’s hoping to share “fun and interesting” medical information with the general public and that the face of this video is its physician assistant.
“We believe that you shouldn’t need a medical degree to learn important medical information. When any of us learns something that we think may be relevant to many people, we love to share it,” a representative for Med Explained 2 said. “We’d like people to know we post about all kinds of various medically related topics. So even if this video wasn’t relevant, we have tons of other content that many people will love. We try to keep it interesting and to the point!”
