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Voiding disorders may indicate impaired glomerular filtration and the formation of a smaller urine volume that is disproportionate to the amount of fluids consumed. The problems are caused by various diseases, such as acute urethritis or prostatic hyperplasia.
What are urination disorders?
A healthy person urinates without feeling any pain, with an uninterrupted stream, and when it is finished, the bladder is completely emptied and relieved. However, there are ailments that make micturition your worst nightmare. Disturbances in urination may indicate impaired filtration in the glomeruli or be an expression of disorders in the excretion of urine outside, conditioned by various disease states, e.g. prostatic hyperplasia, acute urethritis, neoplastic hyperplasia. A person with urinary disorders may have difficulty starting voiding or maintaining a urine stream. It can affect people of any age, but the most common problem is in older men (the most common cause is an enlarged prostate gland). The ailment is characterized by the occurrence of symptoms and ailments that accompany disorders that occur during micturition. Then patients experience:
- feeling urgent to urinate,
- pain during urine excretion,
- urination with a weak stream,
- burning sensation in the urethra.
Another urination disorder is urinary incontinence. In turn, disturbances in the amount of urine output are:
- anuria – less than half a glass of urine is excreted per day,
- oliguria – a patient excretes less than half a liter of urine within a good period,
- polyuria – more than 2,5 liters of urine is excreted per day (diabetes may be the cause).
These ailments are most often caused by kidney diseases, e.g. acute kidney damage.
Urination disorders and urinary tract infections
Mainly dysuric symptoms (e.g. burning of the urethra, persistent urge to urinate) indicate urinary tract infections. It can be inflammation of the bladder, urethra, or renal pelvis and ureters. Another reason for these problems is the growth of the prostate, which is conducive to infections, and various infections of the genital organs occurring in women. The source of infection can be sexual contact, during which it can become infected with pathogens: Neisseria gonorrohoeae and Chlamydia trachomatis.
Treatment of urinary tract infections is primarily based on ingestion antibiotics. In order for it to be implemented, it is necessary to determine which microbes are responsible for the symptoms of the disease. For this purpose, a urine culture is performed and an antibiogram that determines the sensitivity of bacteria to individual drugs. It is mainly responsible for the infection of various levels of the urinary tract Escherichia coli. In addition to pharmacological treatment aimed at eliminating this pathogen, conservative measures are recommended, e.g. drinking plenty of fluids daily; eating products containing cranberries or vitamin C (acidification of urine excretion); not stopping urination.
Disorders in urination – urinary incontinence
One of the urination disorders is urinary incontinence and problems with starting voiding despite the urgent urge to urinate. The ailment may be caused by sphincter insufficiency or impaired urine accumulation in the bladder due to: infection, neurological disorders, bladder tumor, urolithiasis. Often in patients with urinary incontinence, areflexia is observed, that is, too little contraction force of the detrusor muscles, which is impaired and prevents proper emptying. The obstruction is also affected by the closure of the bladder outlet due to an enlarged prostate or a narrowing of the urethra. Problems with urinary incontinence are also encountered by patients who have suffered spinal cord injuries, as a result of which they have lost voiding control.
Disorders in urination – diagnosis
In search of the causes of urination disorders, the following studies are used:
- culture of discharge from the urethra,
- examination of the urethra and genitals,
- general urine test,
- urine culture with an antibiogram,
- ultrasound examination (USG) of the urinary system (allowing to exclude mechanical abnormalities and urolithiasis),
- cytometric test, i.e. pressure measurement inside the bladder with a catheter (allows to detect possible leaks).
Sometimes the complaints reported by patients are of a psychological nature, especially when all the test results are correct. Patients then have the problem of starting the urine stream or keeping it in the presence of other people.
Important! If urination disorders are accompanied by a high temperature, chills, vomiting or back pain, call a doctor or an emergency room immediately.
Take care of your urinary system and drink Ecological Cranberry Juice regularly.
How to treat urination disorders?
In each case, the method of treatment depends on the cause of the ailments.
1. In the case of infection, preparations that affect a specific pathogen, i.e. antibiotics or bacteriostats, are used. Analgesics are also given.
2. The presence of benign prostatic hyperplasia or tumor requires invasive treatment.
3. In acute kidney injury, it is necessary to implement a treatment that reverses the course of symptoms.
4. The problem of urinary incontinence can be eliminated (usually in women) with the help of plastic surgery or pharmacological treatment.
A home remedy to help relieve unpleasant symptoms is warming. A hot water bottle or warm compresses should be applied to the patient’s abdomen. The radiant heat does not relax the muscles, but also improves urine flow. You can also gently massage the area between the navel and the pubic area. In addition, it is recommended to drink plenty of fluids to improve the flow of urine.
The most important thing is that people struggling with urination disorders should not be ashamed of their problem and consult a doctor. This is very important as infections have a predisposition to spread to the rest of the urinary tract, which in turn leads to the development of general symptoms. Not to mention the fact that problems with urinary incontinence or urinary tract infections significantly worsen the quality of life and lower self-esteem, which makes functioning in society difficult. Therefore, the visit to the doctor should not be postponed, the more so as in most cases the treatment is not complicated and may completely change the patient’s well-being.
On the other hand, ignoring the problem causes symptoms to get worse over time. There may be very big problems with urinating, and even a complete inability to defecate, accompanied by severe pain. Please note that urinary retention is life-threatening!