Painful Urination

Painful urination, known by the medical term dysuria, describes the discomfort you experience when urinating. Affecting men and women of any age, it’s most common in women suffering from urinary tract infections. And although many of the people who suffer from this condition have the urge to urinate frequently, that’s not always the case.

Roughly three percent of adults over the age of 40 suffer from painful urination. Often temporary, it can be persistent as well. If you experience pain while urinating, visit us. Their expert urologists have successfully treated this condition in men and women.

Preventing Dysuria

Some cases of painful urination are temporary, resulting from something you ate or drank. More persistent cases require medical attention. While you can’t always prevent the condition, reduce your risk by:

• Eating a fiber-rich diet, which provides many healthful benefits
• Reducing or eliminating alcohol, caffeine and foods that are acidic from your diet
• Staying at an optimum weight for your height and build
• Exercising regularly, including doing pelvic floor exercises
• Quitting cigarette smoking

There are some risks, however, that you can’t control. These include:

• Your gender. Women experience painful urination more often than men, due to pregnancies, hormonal changes and anatomic differences. Men susceptible to kidney stones or prostate troubles are also at risk.
• Your age. It’s natural that your body weakens as you age, and that includes your urinary tract. The older you get, the more likely you may be to experience painful urination.
• Your weight. Obesity puts pressure on your whole body, including your urinary tract.
• Your genes. If your family has a history or urinary problems, you’re more susceptible to an incidence of painful urination.
• Your overall health. Some diseases, including diabetes, increase your risks for painful urination.

Causes of Painful Urination

Painful urination may have different causes in men and women. Some prostate conditions and urethritis cause men pain while urinating. Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are the most common source of painful urination in women. Other conditions or circumstances that lead to painful urination include:

• Foreign objects, such as kidney stones, bladder stones and ovarian cysts
• Sexually transmitted diseases, including gonorrhea, genital herpes and chlamydia trachomatis
• Infections, besides UTIs and yeast infections, of your kidney, bladder, urethra and prostate
• Vaginitis, an inflammatory condition
• Narrowing of the urethra, called an urethral stricture
• Certain personal hygiene products, including soaps, perfumes, douches, lubricants and scented toilet paper
• Drugs that irritate the bladder, including some cancer medications
• Recent urinary tract procedures or testing

Symptoms of Concern

The pain you experience during urination can be chronic or intermittent. Call us when you experience symptoms that include:

• Unfamiliar drainage from your penis or vagina
• Painful urination that persists longer than one day
• Pain from urinating while pregnant
• A concurrent pain in your back or side
• Cloudy or foul-smelling urine
• Blood in your urine
• Accompanying fever
• Past kidney or bladder stones

Since painful urination may be the result of a more serious underlying condition, inform your doctor about your overall health and circumstances, including:

• How long you’ve had the pain
• Your other medical conditions, such as diabetes or AIDS
• Previous urinary tract infections and issues
• Relevant treatments or surgeries you’ve undergone
• Recent hospital visits
• Whether you may be pregnant
• Which prescription or over-the-counter medications you’ve used to manage your pain

Treatments

Your doctor first needs to identify the cause of your painful urination before selecting a treatment. Inflammation, infection, dietary problems, stones, prostate issues and bladder conditions require different, specific treatments. Antibiotics effectively treat infections, for example. Your doctor addresses the underlying problem to ease the symptom of painful urination.