Symptoms

Pain when urinating can have various causes. The characteristics of the pain when urinating and the accompanying symptoms differ depending on the underlying disease. The quality of the pain and the accompanying symptoms are the decisive factors in finding the cause.

If cystitis is the cause of the pain when urinating, it is of a burning nature and occurs especially at the end of urination. It is also typical of cystitis that frequent urination is necessary, with only small amounts of urine coming out at any one time, because the bladder is so irritated by the inflammation that it triggers an urge to urinate more often than normal. This urge to urinate usually also exists at night.

An additional sign of an inflammation of the bladder can be that the urine is discolored or has a strong smell. In addition, a bladder infection also manifests itself in general symptoms, so that the affected patient feels exhausted and often has a fever.If the pain of urination is caused by an irritable bladder, pain is usually not the dominant symptom, but rather the urge to urinate is the main symptom. Pain that occurs as a symptom of a sexually transmitted disease during urination is often accompanied by other symptoms such as vaginal discharge or itching, depending on the pathogen, which can then point to the disease causing it.

A tumor in the efferent urinary tract rarely causes clear and specific symptoms, so that it is often recognized only late. For example, the presence of blood in the urine should be taken seriously and clarified as a warning signal, even though it is not exclusively due to a tumor. If the pain when urinating occurs as a result of radiation, the pain is often also described as burning, but in addition there is usually pain from pressure.

Blood in the urine is also often observed. Since the cystitis is not caused by pathogens after radiation, there is no fever. If the painful urination is traumatic, it is caused by an injury of the urinary tract.

The symptoms often occur not only during urination but also at rest. If the pain occurs at the end of urination, this is a typical symptom of cystitis. This is explained by the fact that the inflamed and irritated walls of the bladder touch each other after urination in the absence of filling, which causes a painful stimulus.

If there is blood in the urine, this is called haematuria. A distinction can be made between microhaematuria, in which the red blood cells (erythrocytes) can only be detected with the aid of a microscope or appropriate test strips, and macrohaematuria. In this form, the blood in the urine can be seen with the naked eye in the form of a red coloration of the urine.

A false alarm here can be triggered by certain foods, such as beet, which can temporarily stain the urine red. Women of childbearing age with blood in their urine must also be asked about the presence of menstrual bleeding, as this can also stain the urine red. A possible cause of blood in the urine is a urinary tract infection.

Urinary stones (concrements) in the draining urinary tract can also irritate it mechanically, resulting in blood in the urine. Blood in the urine often occurs after inserting or removing a bladder catheter according to the same principle. Very rarely, blood in the urine also occurs in healthy persons after extreme physical exertion, which is called marsh hemoglobinuria. It was named after the finding of blood in the urine of soldiers after physically strenuous marches. Since tumors of the urinary bladder can also lead to blood in the urine, hematuria must always be interpreted as a warning signal and checked by a doctor.