Male Urinary Issues: What's Causing Your Kidney Or Bladder Pain?
If you're over 40 years of age and male, it's important to keep your urinary tract system healthy. But if you suffer from kidney or bladder pain, speak to a urologist right away. You may have an infection or something else wrong with your urinary tract system. Learn more about male urinary tract problems and how you can diagnose and treat your pain below.
What's Wrong With Your Bladder or Kidneys?
You may drink plenty of water, cranberry juice, and other fluids to keep your urinary tract system healthy. You may even monitor your salt intake to keep your body hydrated. However, men can experience problems with their kidneys and bladder over time.
Urinary tract infections, or UTIs, are some of the issues you might experience in your lifetime. Urinary tract infections generally affect your bladder but can spread to your kidneys over time. The infections occur when bacteria enter your urethra and overtake the healthy bacteria inside your bladder. The overgrowth of bacteria can travel into your kidneys and infect them as well.
Men can normally treat a mild case of UTI by consuming extra water and cranberry juice throughout the day. However, water and cranberry may not clear up a severe infection. In this case, the only way to treat a severe urinary tract infection is to see a male urologist for care.
What Types of Treatments Do You Need?
A urologist will need to examine the color, content, and odor of your urine to diagnose you with a UTI or something else. Bacterial infections can mimic several other conditions, including bladder cancer and sexually transmitted diseases. A doctor must rule out anything that could cause you bladder or kidney pain.
If your examination reveals a UTI, a urologist will most likely prescribe you antibiotics. Antibiotics tackle infections at the source. If your infection is severe, you may need to take several rounds of antibiotics to clear it up.
For sexually transmitted diseases, a doctor may prescribe you different treatments to improve your condition. The treatments may include oral antibiotics and topical ointments. A doctor can explain the treatments regarding sexually treated diseases with you during your visit.
If a doctor discovers signs of cancer in your bladder, kidneys, or prostate gland, they'll schedule you for further tests. Cancer can spread quickly without the appropriate measures. If you developed cancer in or around your urinary tract system or organs, a doctor will inform you immediately.
Learn more about your kidney and bladder pain by consulting a urologist today.
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