Pain When Urinating

If you're having some pain when urinatin (peeing), it can make sense to want to check if something is wrong. Painful peeing can have various causes, some serious and some not.

Find out how to check if your painful urinating needs following up and how to go about doing that.

Not necessarily – not all causes of painful urinating are STIs.

It can be a sign of some STIs, though – painful urinating is a symptom of some sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including:

• Chlamydia – other symptoms of chlamydia can include discharge, bleeding or spotting between periods, testicle pain, and pain when having sex. It’s important to remember that more than half of people infected with chlamydia never show symptoms at all
• Gonorrhoea – this infection can affect the vagina, penis, bum (anus), or throat. Other symptoms include discharge, bleeding or spotting between periods, unusually heavy periods, pain when having sex, testicular pain, and the urge to pee frequently. It’s important to remember that around half of women infected with gonorrhoea never show symptoms

Why do some STIs cause painful peeing? – painful urinating is caused by bacteria in the tube that carries urine (urethra). The bacteria causes inflammation and irritation around the area, which causes it to become very sensitive. Any aggravation to the area (such as urinating) will cause a feeling of pain. Most people describe a ‘burning’ or ‘stinging’ pain when they experience painful urination.

What makes it more likely you have an STI – several factors can make it more likely for someone to contract an STI:

• Recent change in sexual partner
• Having a high number of sexual partners
• Having oral, vaginal, or anal sex without wearing a condom

Not all infections that affect the urethra are caused by an STI – in fact, most of the time it’s caused when bacteria that normally live in the bowel end up in the urethra instead.

Other symptoms of non-sexually-transmitted infections – there are other symptoms that are associated with this type of infections. You may experience a sudden, intense feeling of needing to urinate (urgency), peeing very little amounts often (frequency), lower abdominal discomfort or feeling generally unwell in yourself. The urine that's passed may look cloudy or even tinged with red, though in some people the appearance doesn’t change. The urine may also be unusually strong-smelling.

Other, rarer, causes can also cause painful urination:

• A blockage in the urethra – this may be caused by a stone formed by the body or a foreign object which has been inserted into the urethra
• Skin conditions – any skin condition could affect the skin around the genitals and cause the area to become inflamed and sensitive
• Some medications – painful urinating can be a side effect of some medications. This will normally be indicated on the patient information leaflet. If you've recently developed painful urinating soon after starting or changing a medication, you could be experiencing a side effect
• Congenital conditions that affect the urethra
• Injury or a hard blow to the area – especially in men
• Interstitial cystitis – a long-term condition that affects the bladder, causing symptoms that are similar to an infection. But, no bacteria is found in the bladder, urethra, or urine

Sometimes, yes – possible causes of a one-off event of painful urine include urinating immediately after sex, or an injury or hard blow to the penis. We recommend that you talk to a doctor if the pain is severe, if it persists for a few days, or if it keeps happening.

It may stop on its own – some causes of painful urinating (such as a mild injury to the penis) can resolve by themselves. But others will need treatment. Some, such as a sexually transmitted infection (STI), can even result in long-lasting complications if left untreated. If you think there's a chance it could be an STI, it's better to get tested than wait for it to resolve.

Firstly, it’s important to find out what is causing it.

Testing for STIs – if you think you may have a sexually transmitted infection (STI), we offer an online service where you can get STI test kits for home testing. Alternatively, you can make a face-to-face appointment with a doctor to discuss your symptoms.

Getting STI treatment – if you know that you have an STI, we can also offer some types of treatment. You can get treatment for chlamydia, genital herpes, and genital warts from our online consultation service. Alternatively, if you have made a face-to-face appointment with a doctor or nurse they will be able to offer you treatment on the same day.

Alternatively, if you ‘ve made a face-to-face appointment with a doctor or nurse they will be able to offer you treatment on the same day.

Avoiding painful urination – there are some things that you can do yourself to prevent painful urination from happening.

• Urinating soon after you have sex – this helps to ‘flush out’ the bacteria that shouldn’t be in the urethra
• Always wiping from front to back after you go to the toilet (women only) – this stops bacteria from the bum (anus) from coming into possible contact with the urethra
• Always wearing a condom when you have oral, vaginal, or anal sex – as well as preventing unwanted pregnancies, condoms will help protect from STIs
• Changing condoms if you've just done anal sex and want to have vaginal sex – this also helps prevent bacteria from the back passage being transferred to the vagina and urethra

Over-the-counter pain management – if you're experiencing painful urinating right now, you can take regular painkillers such as paracetamol to ease your symptoms but seek medical advice if it doesn’t settle.