If you notice blood in your urine, you are experiencing a symptom known as hematuria. Hematuria, or blood in your urine is not usually a condition in and of itself, but rather it is usually a symptom of a something else happening in your body. It can, at times, be insignificant, while at other times it can be a sign of some very serious problems. If you notice blood in your urine, then due to the possibility of a severe situation, you need to see a doctor immediately.
So, the big question is, how do you know if you have blood in your urine, or if your urine is just a pink, orange, red, brown or rust urine color but not from hematuria? There are some simple questions you can ask yourself to help you self-diagnose hemturia.
- Is it painful to urinate?
- How long have you had red urine (or pink,
brown, orange, or rust color urine)?
- What have you eaten
recently?
- What medications are you taking?
Do you experience painful urination?
Painful urination is one of the easiest ways to realize that something is wrong. When it hurts to urinate, or you notice pain in your gut or lower abdomen while you also notice red, pink, orange, brown or rust colored urine, then there's a reasonable chance you have blood in your urine.
How long have you noticed the discolored urine?
When you notice what you think might be blood in your urine, it's helpful to keep a log of how many times and how frequently you see the bloody urine. When it only happens once, and you don't notice it again, it could just be something else causing the abnormal urine color, such as something you've eaten.
What are you putting in your mouth?
People severly underestimate how the food you eat can affect the color of your urine. If you have been eating a lot of beets (beetroot), raspberries or rhubarb lately, that may explain the red urine color. Any food that is made with a red dye can, in turn, dye your urine pink, orange, red, brown, or even rust color.
Are you taking pills?
Certain medications can have the unfortunate side effect of cuasing blood in your urine. The good news is sometimes that means the hematuria is not caused by a condition in your body. The bad news is sometimes the side effect of the medication causes a serious body condition, such as a kidney infection, which in turn causes you to have blood in your urine. You really need to talk to your doctor about the side effects of any medication you are taking if you think you may have blood in your urine.
So, are there other signs of blood in urine?
Even by asking yourself these basic questions, it's not always easy to determine if you have hematuria. Why? Well, there are many parts of your body involved in your urinary tract. Your bladder and kidneys and prostrate are all part of the urinary tract and can each be the source of blood in urine. A kidney stone, for example, can cause a lot of pain and blood in your urine, while at other times, you may not experience any discomfort.
Streaks of red are most likely a sign of blood in urine. Seeing streaks in your urine is easier to recognize as hematuria than when your urine seems to be a single color. A red urine color is not necessarily the most common urine color to see when there's blood in your urine. Keep in mind if you have blood in your urine, the amount of blood will affect the actual color of your urine. When you mix red and yellow, you will see a few different colors before the urine turns a deep red urine color or even a light red urine color. While a reddish urine color is the most typical symptom of blood in urine, pink, orange, brown, rust or smoky urine can also mean there's blood in your urine.
Hematuria can be either microscopic or macroscopic. When you have microscopic hematuria, the blood in your urine probably won’t be visible to the naked eye. You would most likely need a urinalysis to even detect the blood in urine. Macroscopic hematuria, by contrast, has very noticeable blood in urine. Macroscopic hematuria is also known as gross hematuria. In other words, there's a large amount of blood in your urine.
What causes blood in urine?
Up to this point, we've told you that blood in urine can be a sign of a few health issues, but it might be helpful to know some of the conditions that might cause the hematuria. Some health issues are, obviously, more serious than others.
Menstrual Cycle
Not exactly a seious health condtion, however, a menstrual cycle can give the appearance of hematuria. While a common menstrual cycle does produce blood from the sloughing of the uterine lining, it appears to cause blood in urine. Well, it doesn’t come through the bladder or the urethra, but the blood does end up in your urine… once it’s in the toilet. Technically, this is not hematuria since the blood does not come from within urinary tract but rather from the uterus and through the vaginal canal, but may require attention if your menstrual cycle is abnormal.
Kidney Stones
Kidney stones can cause blood in your urine. The kidney stone is not smooth, but rather a crystalline structure that has jagged edges and can tear up the sides of your kidney or urethra as it passes, causing the blood in your urine. This might explain why they can be so painful. While a kidney stone hurts like crazy and causes blood in urine, it’s not usually life threatening. In some cases, you may have enough kidney stones or some really large kidney stones that may require surgery to remove the stones and stop your hematuria. Kidney stones are also sometimes referred to as bladder stones, since they pass through the bladder.
Bladder Infection
A bladder infection is the most common type of urinary tract infection (UTI), and can cause blood to appear in your urine. The bladder infection is also known as Cystitis. The hematuria the comes from a bladder infection is also accompanied by an elevated white blood cell count. You know how that works. White blood cells fight the infection, so you would see elevated levels when you have a bladder infection. Bladder infections may be accompanied by painful urination as well as the blood in urine. You may also notice cloudy urine, since your urine may have a pus discharge. A bladder infection may cause you to need to frequently pee during the night, an occurrence known as nocturia. Most bladder infections can be cleared up with inexpensive antibiotics.
Kidney Infection
A kidney infection is a type of urinary tract infection (UTI), which can also produce blood in your urine. A kidney infection, however, can be much more serious than your typical bladder infection. While a kidney infection may produce blood in your urine, the hematuria may be microscopic and hard to notice. You should watch for other symptoms of a kidney infection. Common and serious symptoms of a kidney infection are vomiting, night sweats, chills, fever and fatigue. The kidney infection may also produce pain in your stomach, back, side, or groin. An untreated kidney infection may not lead to kidney failure (renal failure) and death, but it can be a sign that there are other issues that could signify impending acute renal failure or chronic renal failure. Certainly not something to be ignored. See a doctor now.
Cancer
Kidney cancer produces hematuria in the majority of cases. The blood in your urine can cause the urine to be a dark urine color, a rusty urine color, or even a brown urine color. There are many other symptoms of kidney cancer, such as pain, but hematuria may be your first indicator. Prostate cancer has also been known to produce blood in urine.
What should you do when you notice blood in your urine?
Blood in your urine is not something to be taken lightly. Just don't ignore the symptoms and try to pass it off as "It's only hematuria." Remember that hematuria is a symptom of something else and not a condition. If you just brush it off as only a little blood in your urine, you might be allowing a health issue to progress. You should note the urine color and you note the frequency of the urine color. Report this information to your doctor as soon as possible.