Celine : Last week, I noticed a little red on the toilet paper after urinating. I assumed it was blood in my urine. It’s possible ? Do you think I should be worried?
Dr. Dominique Pierrat: You didn’t have your period at the time?
Celine: No, no, they had just ended… Anyway, it’s more at the beginning, when I bleed a lot, that this kind of thing happens to me.
Dr. Dominique Pierrat: in the bowl, you have certainly looked. Was the urine colored?
Celine: Yes, indeed, a little.
Dr. Dominique Pierrat:Was it more red, pink, or darker?
Celine: I would say a little red…
Dr. Dominique Pierrat: Did you have any other unusual signs at that time? No fever? No urinary burns? No urge to pee every 5 minutes?
Celine: Not at all. I’ve had these signs before during cystitis but never noticed any blood in my urine at that time.
Dr. Dominique Pierrat: Do you smoke ?
Celine: Yes, once in a while, but what’s the connection?
Dr. Dominique Pierrat: Well, we’re not there yet… but I think of all the possibilities and bladder cancer, largely influenced by tobacco, can manifest as blood in the urine. This is called hematuria.
Celine: Ah! Is that why we are being offered a urine analysis at occupational medicine?
Dr. Dominique Pierrat: Yes, but not only. The strip that is immersed in the urine can especially detect diabetes, an infection … which is still much more common. The interest is that this analysis identifies microscopic hematuria, that is to say that we cannot see with the naked eye.
Celine: But I did see red in the bowl and on the toilet paper, so it’s more annoying?
Dr. Dominique Pierrat: No not necessarily. It is not at all the amount of blood that determines gravity, it is its origin.
Celine: And then, for me, what do you think of? It’s still not due to my hemorrhoids. I regularly have issues with that.
Dr. Dominique Pierrat: No, I don’t think so, it rather gives blood in the stool. We will start by doing an ECBU (cytobacteriological examination of urine). You’re going to the lab tomorrow morning. Depending on the result, we’ll see if we go further and if I prescribe an ultrasound. Have there ever been urinary stones in the family?
Celine: Oh yes, my father and my brother.
Dr. Dominique Pierrat: Maybe that’s what caused you this problem. The presence of blood in the urine can indeed be linked to irritation of the lining of the urinary tract by a stone. But don’t worry, it’s not serious and it can be treated very well.
Read also:
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- I take care of my kidneys
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