If your urine has a fishy smell, this isn’t a hygiene problem and will not be solved with extra bathing or more showers.
Fishy smelling urine is a common.
“Sometimes it can be difficult to tell if a ‘fishy’ smell is coming from the urine or the vagina,” begins David H.C. King, MD, Medical Director, Urology Services, El Camino Hospital Los Gatos.
“The most common cause of a fishy smell is usually related to common vaginal infections such as trichomoniasis, gardnerella, or bacterial vaginosis.”
If a man has a fishy smell “coming from” his urine, chances are, he may have picked up the bacterial infection from a woman he had sex with, who had trichomoniasis, or bacterial vaginosis.
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Trichomoniasis
This sexually transmitted disease is curable (though reinfection is always possible after successful treatment), and 7.4 million cases are diagnosed yearly.
Women can contract it from men and women, but men only contract it from women.
Men usually don’t have symptoms, but women often do (e.g., yellow-green vaginal discharge), including that fishy odor which may seem like it’s coming from the urine, when in fact it comes from the vagina.
Garderella
This is also known as bacterial vaginosis, which is an overgrowth of the “bad” bacteria that are normally found in the vagina.
Vaginal itching and irritation are symptoms, along with vaginal odor, which may be fishy, seemingly originating from the urine.
In fact, this fishy smell is common with this condition.
Dr. King explains, “These conditions are easily treated with antibiotics.
“Sexual partners of these patients will also need to be treated. Condoms should be used until the antibiotics are completed.”
Thus, if you’re a woman who has been noticing a fishy smell coming from your urine, this unpleasant fishy odor is actually emanating from your vagina.
This means that you should be checked by your gynecologist for a vaginal infection.
Bacterial vaginosis and trichomoniasis are not life-threatening, and again, they are curable.
If you’re a man who has noticed a fishy odor, have your physician examine you to see if you have picked up the infection from your sexual partner.
Being infected will not make you more immune or extra resistant to a future infection.
Multiple sex partners increase your risk of these infections; a long-term monogamous relationship with a partner who has tested negative will go a long way in helping prevent these infections — and thus, a fishy smell “coming” from your urine.
With 20+ years in general urology, Dr. King specializes in prostate disorders, kidney stones and urinary problems in men and women.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, health and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of feature articles for a variety of print magazines and websites. She is also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
Top image: Shutterstock/mistaht
Sources: cdc.gov urologychannel.com
