Pain when urinating in men

Pain when urinating in men is usually a more serious matter. Roughly divided, there are three possible reasons in men. The most common cause of pain when urinating in women, namely cystitis, can also affect men.

However, anatomically speaking, men have a much longer urethra than women. Pathogens, such as bacteria or fungi, have to travel the long way from the outside world through the urethra in the male member to the opening of the urethra into the bladder to cause an inflammation. For this reason, cystitis in men is automatically considered a complicated form of the disease and should always be presented to a doctor.

If the pain is then cystitis, it is treated with an antibiotic or, in rare cases, an antimycotic (against fungi). If this therapy is not carried out, it is possible that the infection will spread via the ureters to the kidneys and cause an inflammation of the renal pelvis, which can even be fatal if left untreated. Another common reason for pain while urinating can be sexually transmitted diseases.

The most common pathogens are for example Chlamydia or Gonococcus (gonorrhea). Unlike in women, these bacteria cause inflammation of the urethra itself, which then hurts when urinating. As an accompanying symptom, a cloudy discharge from the orifice of the urethra on the male member may also be noticeable.

Especially if you had unprotected sexual intercourse with a partner a few days or weeks before, this possibility should be considered as a cause of pain. The diagnosis is confirmed by a urethral swab. Again, antibiotic therapy should not be missed, as these pathogens can also continue to rise.

However, they do not nest in the kidneys, but in the testicles and epididymis, where they can cause complications such as inflammation and, in the worst case, infertility in men. The third, but relatively less frequent reason for pain when urinating is small kidney stones or urinary stones. These waste products of calcium oxalate or other minerals are formed in the kidney and can migrate down into the ureter. If the stones are small enough, they slip through to the bladder, but the passage through the urethra can then become quite painful for men. The development of kidney stones should also be treated here, since larger stones can also get stuck in the ureter and can cause terrible pain in the context of renal colic.