What Are The Common Causes Of Foam Or Bubbles In Urine?

For a physician, study of urine is a diagnostic tool to detect various ailments, even in modern days. The role of urine in medical science is not new. Ancient physicians relied upon the color of urine, its appearance and its quantity in detecting a disease and its prognosis.

Urine is prepared by the kidneys and it contains body’s water soluble waste material.

You may often observe bubbly urine when it hits the toilet bowl, especially when it is passed with force. When urine is concentrated more than normal, for instance in dehydration, you may see bubble and foam in urine.

Seeing too many bubbles in urine can be annoying. Though in most cases the cause is not of serious nature, you should not neglect bubbly urine when the condition prevails every time you urinate. Here are some of the physiological conditions that can give rise to bubbly urine.

What Causes Foamy Or Bubbly Urine?

Proteinuria: proteinuria is passage of protein in urine. Normally, a small quantity of protein is passed in urine. But when large amount is passed the condition is called proteinuria. The condition wherein protein released into urine, range from benign to lethal.

Excretion of protein in urine is regulated by glomerular filter present in kidney. Proteinuria may result when the glomeruli of kidney is damaged. When there is lot of protein present in urine and when it reacts with air and hits the water in the urinal, it produces urine bubbles. Several other proteinuria symptoms are present together with bubbly urine such as swelling in feet, and face etc.

Urinary tract infection: in normal health, a person’s urinary tract is free from infective microorganisms. However it is possible for germs to sneak into the urinary tract through urethra and cause urinary tract infection. Apart from other symptoms of urinary tract infection such as burning urination, frequent urination, a person may also have bubbly urine. This is because of certain germs that are responsible for producing gas bubbles in urine.

Dehydration: diminished fluid content in body result in dehydration. It usually occurs due to decreased intake of fluids and water. Diarrhea and vomiting, sweating are other causes of dehydration. Dehydration causes dryness of skin and mouth, tiredness, headache, and less urine which may appear foamy. In dehydration, urine becomes concentrated with various salts which may cause bubbles.

Diseased kidney: if a person is suffering from kidney disorders such as nephrotic syndrome and glomerulonephritis, there may be excess amount of protein excretion in urine. Leakage of protein in urine is responsible for bubbles in urine.

Bubble in urine in pregnancy: at times the permeability of kidney increases, which may precipitate increased expulsion of protein in urine and consequently bubbles in urine.

Persons suffering from long standing diabetes and hypertension can have frothy urine. Long standing diabetes and hypertension is known to damage kidneys.

It is not only a physiological cause that gives rise to bubbles in urine, sometime chemicals used to cleanse toilets and urinals can react with urine to produce bubbles. In such situation, to confirm whether the cause is exclusively related to physiological condition, urinate in a clean glass jar or a beaker and see if there are residual bubbles present in urine. If they occur consistently, especially when you are diabetic or if you have hypertension you should get your urine checked in laboratory for proteinuria.