Should you be worried about cloudy urine?
When you pee in the toilet you usually expect to see some sort yellow clear color to your urine, what you would consider to be normal urine. When your urine is cloudy, however, it can be a little alarming.
So, what do you do when you have cloudy urine? If your urine color is cloudy or looks like milky urine, it could be nothing... or it could be a sign of a serious illness. Keep in mind that cloudy urine is a symptom and not an illness by itself. We've listed some of the causes of the cloudy urine symptom below. While the list does not cover all causes, it should give you a good idea of some of the possible causes of cloudy urine.
Some possible causes of cloudy urine are:
- Foods you have eaten can cause a change in the consistency and color of your urine, although they are not the usual cause of cloudy urine.
- Blood in your urine may cause the urine to be cloudy, however, the urine will usually also be tinged red, or brown.
- A urinary tract infection can cause cloudy urine. The urinary tract infection may be accompanied with burning or painful urination, as well as the cloudy urine.
- A bladder infection (a more specific type of urinary tract infection), also known as Cystitis, may cause cloudy urine. Cystitis is an inflammation of the bladder. The bladder infection may also be accompanied by painful urination, difficulty in urination and frequent urination.
- Kidney stones may cause cloudy urine. Kidney stones can cause pus in the urine, which gives your pee that milky or cloudy look. If you have kidney stones, the pain of the stones may lead you to see a doctor more quickly than the cloudy urine. Kidney stones are not fun, in fact, some people have described passing a kidney stone as the worst pain they've ever experienced. A kidney stone has jagged edges and, if large enough, can tear against the ureter as your body tries to pass it. It can also get stuck, blocking your urinary tract. The tearing can cause an infection, which in turn causes pus to be produced... causing your cloudy urine.
- Gonorrhea may cause cloudy urine, but this is more likely a vaginal discharge that creates the appearance of cloudy urine. Keep in mind that Gonorrhea is a curable sexually transmitted disease.
- And one more cause of cloudy urine can be when ejaculate is mixed with the urine. It's not usually a case of semen leaking into urine, but rather semen remains in the urinary tract and is expelled at the next urination. Semen appears milky or cloudy, so as it mixes with urine, you'll notice a cloudy color to the urine. Semen in you urine should not be a common occurrence, so you may see it once in a while, but not every time you urinate.
When is your pee too cloudy?
Cloudy pee can be a sign of very serious conditions, but that doesn’t mean you should immediately assume the worst. So, how do you know when you need to do something about your cloudy urine? It’s important to keep an objective view and watch for patterns. Make a note when you first notice the cloudy urine. How are you feeling at that time? What medications are you taking? What have you eaten recently? What is your sexual history for the last year? All of these can affect the consistency and color of your pee. So, if it’s cloudy, does that mean there’s a health problem? Not necessarily. Next thing you need to do is watch for the frequency of the cloudy pee. If cloudy urine is a one-time event, it may be nothing. If, however, you notice your pee has a cloudy color and/or consistency over a period of multiple bathroom visits and over the span of multiple days or weeks, then you might suspect a medical issue. While we don’t think you should freak out over a single episode of cloudy urine, you also shouldn’t ignore the signs if it is a recurring event. You may want to act quickly and visit a doctor even after the first time you notice cloudy pee if it is accompanied by sharp pain and/or blood with the urine.
How do you treat or cure cloudy urine?
First of all, curing cloudy urine really depends on the cause of the cloudy urine. Determining what causes your cloudy urine should be your first priority. You probably don’t want to go about trying cures for cloudy urine at random... unless you like random results.
If you suspect you diet has caused your pee to look white-ish or cloudy, the solution is pretty simple. Cut out some items from your diet and check the results over the next few days. It’s better to try this approach when you’ve recently introduced something new into your eating routine, and when the cloudy urine is NOT accompanied by pain or streaks of red. If it hurts when you pee, go see a doctor.
If your cloudy urine is caused by a urinary tract infection or bladder infection, it is usually treated by simple antibiotics and clears up within a couple of weeks.
If your cloudy urine is caused by a kidney stone... you’ll usually know it, as the pain can be pretty intense. Depending on the sizes of the stones being passed through your urinary tract, there are different treatments. Here are just a few ways they treat kidney stones. Smaller stones usually have to be passed without any help, although your doctor may prescribe you some pain meds. When the kidney stones are too large to pass naturally, they can break up the stones with an ultrasound treatment or a shock wave, if you will,... and then you pass the smaller kidney stones. Under more extreme situations, such as having a LOT of kidney stones, surgery can be performed to remove the stones. And there’s even a method of shoving a catheter up you urinary tract to extract the kidney stones. Sounds like fun, right? In any case, once the kidney stones have been passed from your ureter, the pus, and hence cloudy urine will stop soon after.
There are many possible causes of cloudy urine, but at this point, if it's frequently cloudy and unless you're sure it's because of food you've eaten or because of ejaculate mixed in your urine, you probably just need to go and see the doctor and stop trying to diagnose yourself. Obviously, most of the above mentioned causes of cloudy urine are serious, and if you have any of these symptoms, such as cloudy urine accompanied by pain or blood, you should see a doctor immediately.