This morning, as I was taking my after-wakeup constitutional, I started coughing just as I was urinating. When I did, it had the effect of quickly forcing the urine out, which hurt A LOT. When I wiped, there was blood on the tissue. Since then, every trip to the powder room has resulted in stabbing pain and blood (bright red) on the tissue.
I don’t think a UTI can come on in minutes, and I don’t have any of the other symptoms of one. Could I have somehow traumatized the urethra, caused microtears or something? Should I be overloading on cranberry juice (I can’t take the OTC numbing stuff, as I’m allergic)?
I’ve been traveling for work for the last forever (seriously, it’s been forever) so I’m not near my regular doc or urgent care. I’ve googled local urgent cares but 1) I have to rely on taxis to get there, and 2) they’re rated… less than stellar. If this is just a temporary thing, I’d love to avoid a trip to an icky urgent care, where I could pick up who knows what.
Torn urethra. I did that once when I was forced to hold off urination for a really long time and then while trying to get my zipper down, once I found a place to go, I momentarily clamped off the flow. The pressure spike tore my urethra. I actually had blood flowing out of my penis in a steady drip, drip, drip.
Yeah, I’ve had this a couple of times in recent years. Once was really stupid… I sneezed while piddling and pinched down at the wrong time. Concentrating too much pressure at one point… rip goes the wall of your tubing.
It will sting and bleed a little for a day or two, then heal. If it keeps bleeding or gets really painful, you probably need to see a doctor.
But yeah, seeing frank blood drip out of Mr. Happy can be freaky. Or at least give you solidarity with the Mrs.
IANA medical anything. IMO … The tear probably isn’t dangerous. The ensuing infection might be fatal. Or even worse, require an amputation. Get it looked at by a pro.
I’m also not a medical anything, but I believe this is a relatively common and minor affliction, probably occurring more frequently than most of us know. As the tear gets continually rinsed by urine, which is the next thing to sterile, the chances are good it will heal quickly and with no problems. (As I said, unusual bleeding or pain is another thing, and probably means you need it looked at pronto.)
Maybe Qagdop or another real doctor will ring in here…
A urethral tear is not at all the same thing as a bruise, a hematoma or any kind of force trauma. (I had advice the first time it happened.) I completely agree that any such tissue injury needs immediate attention, as they can lead to disfiguring - mis-shaping - scarring or worse.
Proper evaluation of this sort of complaint (sudden onset painful gross hematuria following a Valsalva) requires a cystoscopy (sticking a camera on a tube up your penis to look around).
Depending on your age, all hematuria–microscopic or gross–should be evaluated.
While the etiology here appears to be mechanical, a cystoscopy can look for an underlying association with anything else requiring attention.
If a patient has difficulty with the flow of urine or has retention or hesitancy, a trip to the Emergency Department (and probably an admission with Urologic Consult) is indicated. If there is normal urination, only mild discomfort, and resolution of gross hematuria, it can wait as long as symptoms are improving.
An urgent care can not help, other than to refer the patient. Occasionally, gross hematuria can be significant enough to cause clots which can then obstruct the urethra. For this reason, retention and hesitancy are causes to be seen immediately (and likely will be followed by insertion of a catheter).
Urethras usually heal well if a urinary channel is maintained.
I think **bobkitty **is female, so does anyone have any suggestions that are not penis-related? Cuz as another person with girly bits, I am interested in that answer, too.
I am indeed female. But I suppose that the advice presented so far is mostly applicable (other than the amputation part, or blood dripping out of Mr Happy… I mean, it’s not like I’m not used to dripping blood, it’s just not usually out of Mr anything… ).
Doing significantly better today; the only hesitancy, as Chief brought up, is more of an intentional avoidance (“Ow ow ow ow ow…eaaaaaassssyyyyy… ow ow ow”) than something physiological, so I don’t think I’m nursing a clot or any other significant trauma. The blood is still more than I’d like to see, but I’ll keep an eye on it over the next day or so. As long as the pain is subsiding and I’m not dripping blood all the time (just after voiding), I’ll wait for things to heal themselves.
The morning after my incident, when I first urinated, I felt some pressure build and then release accompanied by a burning sensation. In the bowl was a tiny little clot. My tear was close to the end, so the clot didn’t have to go far. After that there was just a little stinging at the start of urination and minute traces of blood in my underwear for a day or two.
I have had a UTI come on it minutes, with frank haematuria and blood clots, I ended up with a UTI and a recurring kidney infection that lasted for months. If you have any signs of a UTI, i.e. urgent need to pee, feeling like you are passing a razor blade when it’s only a drop or two, then I’d advise going to a doctor ASAP.
You know, maybe this is what happened to me two years ago. I thought I had passed some kind of bladder stone, with ensuing blood and pain and ickiness decreasing over the course of a week or so, but I could never confirm the existence of the stone, and subsequent follow-up with doctors showed no sign of any other stone formation.
I had a UTI earlier this year. For several days, I had a little stress incontinence that I wrote off as menopause, until I literally wet my pants while out in public. I panicked, wondering what horrible neurological disease I could possibly have, and then later that evening, my girly parts started stinging and I knew right away what the problem was.
I was put on Bactrim, to which I turned out to be allergic. :o
More recently, one of my cats had one as well. He’s 14 years old, so it wasn’t too surprising, but I had to bring both of them in. I assumed they passed a catheter, but they don’t; they do a cystocentesis, which involves removing a urine specimen directly from the bladder with a needle and syringe! :eek: No wonder my female, who’s a bit of a spitfire anyway, was so angry! At least the vet didn’t charge for her exam. His treatment did, however, cost about $500. In case you’re wondering, he IS worth every penny.
Do get into your regular doctor soon. While its likely nothing big that won’t heal by itself or a UTI that will take a few antibiotics, blood in urine could also be bladder cancer - and bladder cancer is one of those things (like most cancers) where early is better.
The chances that it is are miniscule, but I lost my brother in law to bladder cancer.
But I suppose that the advice presented so far is mostly applicable (other than the amputation part, or blood dripping out of Mr Happy… I mean, it’s not like I’m not used to dripping blood, it’s just not usually out of Mr anything… 
).