What Causes Urinary Pain? Causes and Treatment

Are you experiencing urinary pain? This pain can show up as a burning or stinging sensation that you feel every time you urinate. It has many different causes. If you want to resolve it as soon as possible, you’ll need to identify the source.

In this short guide, you’ll learn about some conditions that have urinary pain as a symptom. For each condition, you’ll also learn some of the treatments that are often used to resolve it. Speak to your doctor to get answers about which treatment is right for you.

Table of Contents

• Strenuous Activities
• Bladder Cancer
• Interstitial Cystitis
• Kidney Stones
• Medication Side Effects
• Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID)

Strenuous Activities

Strenuous activity such as working out, horseback riding, or cycling long distances can cause you to pull muscles in your pelvic area. This pain can get worse when you urinate.

You should talk to your doctor to find out if your injury is mild or severe.

Mild cases of pulled muscles are marked by aching pain and redness. These light injuries may heal on their own. Your doctor may recommend that you simply get enough rest and manage the pain with over-the-counter pain killers.

Serious cases of pulled muscles may result in tearing that requires immediate medical attention. Your doctor may recommend that you get surgery or undergo physical therapy to protect your normal range of movement.

Bladder Cancer

Bladder cancer results in pain and burning sensations during urination. It is usually marked by several other symptoms, including:

• Blood in the urine
• Frequent need to urinate that continues through the night
• Needing to urinate but not being able to do so
• Lower back pain that often occurs on one side of the body

You should schedule an appointment with a doctor immediately if you believe that your urinary pain may be related to bladder cancer. Blood in the urine is one of the earliest and most identifiable symptoms of this disease.

Interstitial Cystitis

Interstitial Cystitis is part of a group of diseases known as “painful bladder syndrome.” This disease is not well-understood. Doctors don’t yet know what causes it, and there are also no treatments that can permanently cure it.

The disease may cause chronic pelvic pain, discomfort while the bladder fills up, and pain during sexual intercourse. You may feel the urge to urinate frequently, even to the point that it interrupts your sleep most nights.

Some over-the-counter medications target urinary pain. These medications may help you retake some of your life while you’re waiting to hear from a doctor. To treat this disease, you will often need medical intervention. You may be able to control the symptoms with suitable therapies and medications.

Kidney Stones

Image by mohamed_hassan from Pixabay

Kidney stones are crystals that can form from the minerals in the kidneys. Once they are created, they need to be passed through the urinary system to exit the body. They make their way through the urinary tract, sometimes becoming stuck due to their size.

This process can cause awful pain when urinating. It can also result in other symptoms, including:

• Severe lower back pain
• Fevers
• Nausea and vomiting
• Urine in the blood

You should speak to your doctor if you believe that you’re experiencing kidney stones. This problem can become more serious and lead to infection if it is not treated properly. In mild cases, doctors may choose to treat this problem with special diets that help to break up the stones more quickly.

In some cases, doctors may recommend the stones be broken up with sound wave devices or surgical remedies.

Medication Side Effects

Certain medications may cause urinary pain, and you should rule out that your condition is a side effect of one of your medications. Any drug that affects the urinary tract may cause mild pain. In many cases, this pain will diminish with use.

The chemotherapy drugs cyclophosphamide and ifosfamide may result in pain. Both of those medications are known to cause bladder inflammation in some patients under some conditions.

You should always discuss severe reactions to medication with your doctor. Your doctor may recommend a different dosage or medication.

Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID)

Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) is a type of infection that may occur along a woman’s reproductive tract. It can affect any organ along these tracks, including the uterus, fallopian tubes, and ovaries. It may result in mild to severe urinary pain.

It has several other common symptoms, including:

• Pain that may appear from your lower abdomen to your pelvis
• Abnormal discharge
• Abnormal menstrual bleeding

If you believe you have PID, you should contact your doctor as soon as possible. This infection can become severe. In the worst cases, it can lead to permanent scarring and even infertility.

Find the Cause of Your Urinary Pain

Urinary pain can be a serious obstacle to living the life that you want. This pain may point to many different medical conditions that need to be identified to be treated properly. Hopefully, this guide has helped you understand more about what conditions you may be facing and what treatments may be available.

Use what you’ve learned to think more critically about why you may be dealing with these types of symptoms. Your pain may be caused by strenuous activities, bladder cancer, interstitial cystitis, kidney stones, medication side effects, or pelvic inflammatory disease (PID).

Cover Image courtesy of MaxPixel