How to Diagnose Bladder Problems

The urinary bladder is a small saclike organ that stores the urine that the kidneys produce so that urine can be excreted through the urethra. Urine is continually produced and expressed from your kidneys. Without a bladder to store your urine, you would be forced to urinate around the clock. Bladder problems can include anything from a simple bladder infection to a much more serious bladder cancer. However, nearly all bladder problems start with a few different symptoms and are diagnosed with the following procedures.

Instructions

• 1

  Recognize the symptoms of bladder problems. They include a sudden urge to urinate, the inability to urinate or painful urination. You may also notice painful cramps in your pelvis or unusual colored urine. Bladder problems may also show themselves as bloody or foul smelling urine.

• 2

  Contact your health care provider. The first thing he will do is take a urine sample for testing. This can alert him if you have an infection of your urinary system, which includes your kidneys, your urethra and your bladder.

• 3

  If your health care provider suspects that you have a bladder blockage, she may also do an ultrasound or x-ray of your pelvic area. In some cases, she also has you ingest a dye that she can track through your urinary system through x-rays. This can identify a bladder blockage as well as a urinary reflux condition.

• 4

  Your health care provider may also want to get a closer look at the inside of your bladder, using a cystoscope. This is a diagnostic test where a thin tube is inserted through the urethra, the tube that urine is excreted through, and into the bladder. There is a light and a small camera attached to the scope. It allows the health care provider to have a detailed look at your bladder and is instrumental in diagnosing bladder cancers.