Urethritis is a condition in which the urethra or the tube that carries urine from the bladder to outside the body becomes inflamed and irritated. Pain during urination is the key symptom of urethritis.
Urethritis usually occurs due to bacterial infection and can be cured with antibiotics.
Table of Contents
Symptoms
- Pain with urination (dysuria)
- Want to urinate frequently
- Trouble starting urination
Urethritis may also cause pain, itching, and discomfort when a person is not urinating.
Other symptoms may include:
- Pain during sexual intercourse
- Secretion from the vagina
- In men, blood in the semen or urine
Causes
Most episodes of urethritis are caused by infection by bacteria that enter the urethra from the skin around the urethra’s opening. Bacteria that commonly cause urethritis include:
- E. coli: present in stool
- Gonococcus: sexually transmitted and causes gonorrhea.
- Chlamydia trachomatis: sexually transmitted and causes chlamydia.
Some other organisms that can cause urethritis
- Herpes simplex virus (HSV-1 and HSV-2)
- Trichomonas
Sexually transmitted infections like gonorrhea and chlamydia are typically confined to the urethra. But they may extend into women’s reproductive organs, causing pelvic inflammatory disease.
In men, gonorrhea and chlamydia may cause epididymitis, an infection of the epididymis, a tube on the outside of the testes. Both pelvic inflammatory disease and epididymitis can lead to infertility.
Diagnosis
Your doctor may guess an infection if you are having painful urination
Tests may help verify the diagnosis of urethritis and its cause. Tests for urethritis may include:
- Physical check-up of the genitals, abdomen, and rectum
- Urine tests for various bacteria
- test of any discharge under a microscope
Treatment
Antibiotics can treat urethritis caused by bacteria. Numerous different antibiotics can treat urethritis as prescribed by doctors.
Urethritis due to Trichomonas infection is generally treated with antibiotics known as metronidazole (Flagyl) and Tinidazole (Tindamax).
Your sexual partner must also be treated to prevent reinfection. these are just the random antibiotics that can be prescribed after analyzing the patient’s body State.
Mostly, the exact organism causing urethritis cannot be identified. Then, the doctor may prescribe one or more antibiotics to treat an infection that may be present.
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