Ideally, you want your urine to be clear or faint yellow. When it’s cloudy, you’re actually looking at the accumulation of white particles. Here are five reasons men may see specks in their urine.
Retrograde ejaculation
If you have an orgasm but don’t ejaculate, the semen may go back into the bladder. This happens when the sphincter or muscle that prevents the semen from entering the bladder doesn’t contract correctly. Typically, this manifests as stringy, white bits of semen floating in your urine. It’s not a major health problem, but if you and your partner are trying to conceive, you may want to make an appointment with a fertility specialist.
Prostatitis
If you get a bacterial infection near your prostate, it came inflame and cause discharge from the urethra. Prostatitis may cause other symptoms—such as erectile dysfunction, painful ejaculation, chills or fever, difficulty urinating or pain during urination, pain in the lower back, and throbbing or pain in the testicles, rectum or perineum. In most cases you’ll need to see your doctor to get an antibiotic.
Sexual transmitted infections
Don’t jump to any conclusions, but sexually transmitted infections (STIs) can cause discharge that clouds your urine or appears as white particles in your urine. The STIs that cause these changes in urine are typically gonorrhea, chlamydia and trichomoniasis. Obviously, you’ll want to see your doctor to get tested and treated, but you should also abstain from oral, vaginal and anal sex to make sure you don’t spread the STI.
Kidney stones
Although you may have heard stories about the pain associated with kidney stones, it is possible to have changes in your urine without feeling significant abdominal pain. Sometimes the stones are small enough to pass through your urine undetected, or simple as small white particles. Other symptoms include difficulty urinating, burning or pain during urination, foul-smelling, cloudy or even bloody urine, needing to urinate frequently or pain radiating through the pelvis, groin or lower abdomen. Kidney stones occur when your body allows too much calcium oxalate or uric acid to build up. Over-the-counter pain medications may help, but doctors can also prescribe alpha-blockers, which help break the kidney stones into smaller bits. Only in rare cases to men need other medical procedures to remove the stones.
