There are several different things that might cause pain when urinating, which is also referred to as dysuria. Some of the more common causes of painful urination typically include urinary tract infections, bladder stones, and various sexually transmitted diseases. Men with prostate problems might also experience pain when urinating. Understanding exactly what caused urinary pain is not typically possible without a doctor's visit. Almost all forms of painful urination require treatment, so it is usually better to see a doctor about symptoms as soon as they occur rather than wait to see if the symptoms go away on their own.
Urinary tract infections are probably the most common cause of pain when urinating. People who have urinary tract infections might also notice some blood in their urine and might feel the need to urinate when their bladders are empty. Urinary tract infections are usually the result of bacteria having made its way into the bladder, and doctors normally prescribe antibiotics to treat these infections. There is a chance that a urinary tract infection will go away on its own without treatment, but this could take a long time, and symptoms might get much worse before they start to improve. It is also possible that the infection will not go away on its own and that it will turn into a much more serious infection over time.
Bladder stones are not quite as common as urinary tract infections, but they do occasionally occur and may cause severe pain when urinating. Stones sometimes form inside the bladder because of regular urinary tract infections that were never treated or due to concentrated urine that built up over time inside the bladder. Passing bladder stones is usually a very unpleasant and painful process for most people, but in many cases it is the only way to alleviate painful urination symptoms. Sometimes the stones become so big that doctors have to surgically remove them. Once the stones are gone, people typically have no further symptoms.
Sexually transmitted diseases and prostate problems might also cause painful urination. Gonorrhea and chlamydia are two of the more common sexually transmitted diseases that cause pain when urinating. Both of these diseases are treatable, and painful urination usually stops as soon as the diseases are gone. Older men tend to have prostate problems that might cause pain when urinating. Prostate enlargement, which is treatable in a variety of different ways, is one of the most common prostate problems in older men, and the pain it causes is related to the prostate putting pressure against the urethra.