Introduction

Finding blood in your urine can be very frightening and must be investigated by a doctor, but it'snot usuallya sign of anything life-threatening.

If you notice bright red blood in your urine, or if your urine has turned red or brown because it has blood in it,see your GP.

Sometimes, urine may contain only a small amount of blood invisible to the naked eye andisonly apparent when a urine test is carried out for something else.This stillneeds to be investigated by your doctor, as healthy urine should not contain anydetectable amounts ofblood.

The medical name for blood in the urine is haematuria. If blood in the urine is obvious with the naked eye, it is called "macroscopic", or "visible haematuria". If the blood can only be detected with laboratory testing, it is called "microscopic", or "non-visible".

The blood will have come from somewhere within the urinary tract the kidneys, bladder orthe tubes that urine passes through. It is often the result of a urinary tract infection (UTI) , such as cystitis .

This page outlines the most common reasons for blood in the urine, to give you an idea of what may be causing theproblem. However, this guide should not be used to self-diagnose your condition,and it's importantto see your GP for a proper diagnosis.

Content supplied by the NHS Website

Medically Reviewed by a doctor on 4 Jan 2017