A urologist is the specialist of all issues related to the urinary tract. A urologist can help in issues concerning bladder and pelvic pain. For men, a urologist’ can also offer treatment for fertility-related issues but women need to consult gynecologists’ in this case. If you are susceptible to your urinary tract health, it’s high time that you consult a urologist.
Urinary tract issues might not seem as serious or problematic at early stages but if prolonged these can affect your overall health for the worse. Your body always warns you of any problems so it is wise to listen to the body’s warning signs and seek professional help. If you are facing any of the following issues, it’s time for you to seek help from a urologist.
Blood in urine
Blood in urine, medically known as “hematuria” can be an indicator of a complicated underlying issue. Blood in the urine can be detected through the naked eye in case of gross hematuria. The pink, red, or brown color of urine is an easy indicator of hematuria. Gross hematuria can also come with extremely painful blood clots in the urine. Seeing blood in your urine with a naked eye (gross hematuria) is not the only proof of having blood in the urine. It is also likely that your urine has blood in it and you are not able to see it. This can only be tested and seen under a microscope, classifying this as microscopic hematuria.
Seeing blood in your urine can be an indicator of something harmless such as menstruation (in women only), strenuous exercise, or having a virus. But it can also be an indicator of serious diseases like urinary tract infection (UTI), kidney or bladder cancer, irritation or swelling in your kidneys or prostate (in men), polycystic kidney disease, blood clots, or diseases that cause problems with blood clotting and sickle cell disease, etc.
Pain while urinating
Painful urination, medically known as “dysuria” is a broad term that includes all sorts of discomfort during urination. The pain may appear in any part of the urinary tract; urethra, bladder, or perineum. Painful urination is most commonly considered as an indicator of urinary tract infection (UTI). But the burning, stinging, and pain felt during urination can be an indicator of various diseases. It can indicate the presence of obstructive uropathy, pelvic inflammatory disease, epididymitis, or cystitis.
Frequent urination
Frequent urination can be an indicator of something as harmless as excessive fluid consumption to something as alarming as stroke. the possible causes of frequent urination are diabetes, pregnancy, prostate problems, and interstitial cystitis. Frequent urination can seldom indicate issues like bladder cancer and bladder dysfunction.
If you urinate at a frequency that disturbs your normal functioning or if your frequent urination is accompanied by other issues like fever, back or side pain, vomiting, chills, increased appetite or thirst, fatigue, bloody or cloudy urine, or a discharge from the penis or vagina it’s time for you to consult a urologist.
Incontinence
Incontinence is the lack of voluntary control on urinary reflexes. It can be simply defined as the unwanted leakage of urine.
The severity of urinary incontinence can range from mild; when your urine leaks during a cough or sneeze to severe; when you are unable to control your urine even on your way to the toilet.
Persistent urinary incontinence can be a sign of pregnancy, aging, prostate cancer, obstruction in the urinary tract, or certain neurological disorders.
Erectile dysfunction (ED)
This issue in men (only) can indicate either a mental condition or a problem in the urinary tract. More often than not, there is a medical condition underlying erectile dysfunction. ED can be an indicator of age above 50, diabetes, high blood pressure, excessive alcohol consumption, heart disease. If not treated at time erectile dysfunction can lead to permanent infertility.
Pelvic pain
Extreme pelvic pain and fatigue due to it can hint at various serious complications. Such complications and health issues include kidney stones, infections, prostate infection, prostate inflammation, bladder cancer, and kidney cancer.
Consulting a urologist in time will only do you good. looking into various signs and symptoms can help in early diagnosis. Early diagnosis can help in treating disease more efficiently.
