Turbid urine in women and men: causes, treatment

Many people are interested in the question: why do I have cloudy urine when I pee? Indicators of urine, such as color and transparency, indicate violations in human health. Turbidity is one of the characteristics, based on which it can be concluded that pathological changes have begun in the body. Opacity with an admixture of different substances can be observed in women and men. Most often provoke a condition of cystitis and prostatitis.

Indicators of normal urine

In a healthy person, urine is yellow and clear. Its color depends on the consumption of certain foods that change it, for example, beets or carrots. The urine of a child often periodically becomes cloudy precisely because of eating such food. Turbid urine can become due to the development of many pathologies, during which there is a supersaturation with protein or crystalline substances. In such situations, urine often becomes cloudy only in the morning. Also, urine can become foamy with turbidity, which also indicates disorders in the urinary system.

Causes of turbidity in women

Inflammation of the bladder can cause cloudy urine.

Urine becomes cloudy in females sometimes after sexual contact. This is a physiologically determined process that does not require therapy. In addition, cloudy urine is caused by non-compliance with the principles of intimate hygiene. Another cause is cystitis (inflammatory processes in the bladder). Experts note that slightly cloudy urine is also observed during pregnancy, as well as with pyelonephritis (inflammation of the kidneys). In this case, cloudy urine can change the smell and blood impurities are observed in it.

Why is there cloudy urine in a man?

Often, cloudy urine in a man provokes prostatitis, which has developed against the background of prostate adenoma, infectious or inflammatory diseases. During infections and inflammations in an adult male, urine may not always be opaque, but only at the end of urination. In addition, an admixture of blood is sometimes observed in it (urine becomes pink). In this case, it is important for a person not to delay a visit to the doctor and not to wait until the blood from the urine disappears and the urine returns to its former transparency.

When is clouding safe?

Urine tends to crystallize due to cold or when exposed to air at room temperature for a long period of time. Reduced temperature (less than in the body) and the influence of oxygen contribute to the fact that turbidity and mineral sediment appear in the urine when it has stood, while in the human body minerals are in a dissolved state. That is why morning urine is required for analysis, since the sediment in it will not have time to form.

Cloudy urine often means dehydration. The cause of it is insufficient fluid intake, spending a long time in the heat, visiting the sauna or heavy physical exertion. In this case, the turbidity of the urine does not require treatment. It is enough for a person to simply increase the amount of liquid consumed, preferring mineral water without gas, natural juices and green tea. After a while, the urine will become clear again.

Light urine with sediment appears due to its supersaturation with proteins and phosphates. In addition, the use of certain medications can cause turbidity. When contacting a doctor, you need to tell about all the medicines that are used. Turbidity can also be caused by a recent operation, malnutrition, and products that stain urine. These include blueberries and beets.

Often in the morning, when a person wrote, the urine may be cloudy, due to the increased amount of toxins and proteins in the urinary cavity, which is associated with rare urination due to sleep. If the urine is cloudy only in the morning and no additional symptoms are observed, then therapy is not required. If it hurts to write and a burning sensation appears, then it is important to see a doctor as soon as possible.

Cloudy urine due to disease

There are the following pathologies that contribute to cloudy urine:

• Inflammatory processes in the kidneys or urinary system (urethritis, pyelonephritis, cystitis, prostate adenoma, chronic prostatitis). There is cloudy urine with flakes (sometimes gray), with the smell of rot, mucus impurities. With prostatitis, frequent urination occurs, a person feels pain in the lower back. There is pain when urinating.
• The initial stage of urolithiasis. Urine slightly turbid, light yellow in color, but there is a salt sediment in it.
• Urolithiasis disease. There is urine with blood. If the urine turns bright red, this indicates the passage of stones through the urinary canals and requires prompt intervention by doctors.
• Lymphostasis and disorders in the renal tissue. The color of the urine becomes white (color of milk) and cloudy.
• Malfunctions in the activity of the liver, pancreas and kidneys (polycystic, neoplasms in the kidneys, glomerulonephritis). Urine turns dark.
• Mycoplasmosis (an infectious disease caused by mycoplasmas). The patient experiences the following symptoms: pain in the lower abdomen, burning and pain in the organs of the genitourinary system.
• Operations on the genitourinary system. They provoke the fact that urine begins to look cloudy and not transparent when you write.

What to do when urine becomes cloudy?

First of all, it is important not to self-medicate. Timely diagnosed disease and correctly prescribed therapy play a key role in the recovery process. That is why, as soon as the symptom of turbidity appears, it is important to visit a doctor who will establish the factors that influenced the change in transparency. The diagnosis begins with the fact that the specialist prescribes the necessary studies in order to find out why the urine is opaque, thick and at the bottom with sediment.

To begin with, the patient will need to pass a general urine test, in which laboratory assistants examine the content of leukocytes and the amount of protein. Cases when there is an increased accumulation of leukocytes speak of infectious processes in the patient's body. If the protein is elevated, it means that the person suffers from nephrosis or nephritis. After a general study, you will have to undergo a urine analysis according to Nechiporenko. It is a more accurate version of the general analysis and is assigned when the indicators in the usual analysis exceeded the norm. Often, the patient is also prescribed the Kakovsky-Addis test. For this analysis, you need to collect urine not once, but for 12 hours, therefore, all day. They resort to this study in order to diagnose pyelonephritis and urolithiasis.

When urinalysis shows no abnormalities, doctors order additional tests. The female sex, for example, will need to take a swab from the vagina, since turbidity of the urine is often caused by vaginal discharge (both natural and pathological). In addition, with the opacity of urine, they also resort to ultrasound. After the results obtained, the specialist identifies the causes of cloudy urine and treats with the necessary drugs.