What Could be Causing Difficulty Urinating?

What Causes Difficulty Urinating?

Difficulty urinating can have various causes, just like most other symptoms. Finding the true cause means ruling out or confirming each possibility – in other words, diagnosis.

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Diagnosis is usually a complex process due to the sheer number of possible causes and related symptoms. In order to diagnose difficulty urinating, we could:

Research the topic
Find a doctor with the time
Use a diagnostic computer system.

The process is the same, whichever method is used.

Step 1: List all Possible Causes

We begin by identifying the disease conditions which have "difficulty urinating" as a symptom. Here are four possibilities:

Fibroids
Urinary Retention
Kidney Stones
Prostate Enlargement

Step 2: Build a Symptom Checklist

We then identify all possible symptoms and risk factors of each possible cause, and check the ones that apply:

acute night sweats

uterine fibroids

insufficient water consumption

slight abdominal distension

unexplained fevers that hit hard

significant left lumbar pain

recent onset abdominal pain

painful urination

history of kidney stones

kidney stones

kidney stones in family members

moderate right lumbar pain

... and more than 10 others

Step 3: Rule Out or Confirm each Possible Cause

A differential diagnosis of your symptoms and risk factors finds the likely cause of difficulty urinating:

Cause	Probability	Status
Fibroids	94%	Confirm
Kidney Stones	20%	Unlikely
Prostate Enlargement	4%	Ruled out
Urinary Retention	4%	Ruled out

* This is a simple example to illustrate the process

Arriving at a Correct Diagnosis

The Analyst™ is our online diagnosis tool that learns all about you through a straightforward process of multi-level questioning, providing diagnosis at the end.

In the Urinary Symptoms section of the questionnaire, The Analyst™ will ask the following question about ease or difficulty of urination:

How difficult or easy is it for you to urinate? In other words, how forceful is your urine stream?

Possible responses:

→ Very weak stream / great difficulty urinating
→ Weakened stream / some difficulty
→ Don't know
→ Average / the same as it has always been
→ Strong stream, rapid emptying

Based on your response to this question, which may indicate very weak urine stream, weak urine stream, normal urine stream or strong urine stream, The Analyst™ will consider possibilities such as:

Enlarged Prostate

A reduction in the force and caliber of urination is characteristic of prostatic enlargement.

Fibroids

Difficulty urinating is a symptom of uterine fibroids.

Kidney Stones (Urolithiasis)

... and also rule out issues such as:

Enlarged Prostate

Fibroids

Concerned or curious about your health? Try The Analyst™