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Dr. Chrysoula I. Liakou MD, PhD
- Treated online: Partly. Blood with the symptoms of a urine infection can be treated by video; blood without a clear cause, or that stays after treatment, needs tests in person.
- Always check it: blood in your urine needs checking, even a small amount, and even if it stops.
- Commonest cause: a bladder infection (cystitis). Kidney stones, an enlarged prostate, medicines and hard exercise are other causes.
- Cancer: about 1 in 5 adults with visible blood in the urine are found to have bladder cancer, which is why it needs proper tests.
- Emergency: call 112 if you cannot pee at all, or for confusion, very fast breathing, or blue, pale or blotchy skin.
Do not book a video appointment if you cannot pee at all, or have confusion, very fast breathing, or blue, pale or blotchy skin: call 112 or go to an emergency department. Blood in your urine with a high temperature and pain in your back or side, or severe pain that comes in waves, needs an urgent in-person assessment.
Can an online doctor help with blood in urine?
Partly. When blood in the urine comes with the burning and frequent peeing of a urine infection, a doctor can assess it by video, treat the infection when it fits, and arrange a urine test afterwards to check the blood has gone. Blood without a clear cause, blood that is still there after treatment, and visible blood in anyone over 45 need urine and blood tests, a scan and often a camera check of the bladder in person, and the doctor tells you how quickly. Never ignore it, even if it stops.
How an online consultation helps with blood in urine
- Is it really blood?: Food, medicines and bleeding from elsewhere can colour urine, and the doctor helps you tell them apart.
- The likely cause: An infection, a stone, the prostate or a medicine, judged from what comes with the blood.
- Treatment when it fits: A urine infection treated by video, with a follow-up urine test to make sure the blood has gone.
- Urgent tests when they matter: Who needs a specialist check of the bladder and kidneys, and how soon.
What the doctor checks in an online consultation about blood in urine
The doctor asks about the warning signs first, then about the blood and what comes with it. The doctor asks about:
- Warning signs: not being able to pee, a high temperature with back or side pain, severe pain that comes in waves, or feeling very unwell.
- The blood: its colour, whether you can see it or it was found on a test, clots, and whether it is at the start, the end or throughout.
- Urinary symptoms: burning, needing to pee often or urgently, a weak flow, or getting up at night to pee.
- Other sources: a period, bleeding between periods, or bleeding from the bottom.
- Your health: your age, smoking, recent hard exercise, kidney problems, earlier stones or infections, and your medicines, including blood thinners.
Before the call, note when you first saw the blood and what you have eaten and taken recently. If you need a urine test or an examination, the doctor tells you where and how quickly.
What does blood in urine look like, and what does it mean?
Blood can make urine look bright pink, red or dark brown. Blood you can see is called visible haematuria; blood found only on a urine test is non-visible haematuria. The bleeding is often painless, though passing clots can hurt.
The commonest cause in the UK is a bladder infection. A cause is found in about half of people with visible blood, and in only about 1 in 10 with blood found on a test. Cancer is the reason it is always checked: about 1 in 5 adults with visible blood in the urine, and about 1 in 12 with non-visible blood, turn out to have bladder cancer.
Red urine that is not blood
Some foods, some medicines and not drinking enough change the colour of urine without any blood:
- beetroot and rhubarb, which can turn urine pink or red
- some medicines, including the antibiotics rifampicin and nitrofurantoin, which can turn urine red or brown
- dark urine from not drinking enough
The blood can also come from somewhere else: a period, bleeding between periods, or bleeding from the bottom. If you are not sure, get it checked.
What causes blood in urine?
What comes with the blood is the best clue to the cause. Do not try to diagnose yourself: these clues help, but tests confirm the cause.
Swipe sideways to compare →
| Possible cause | Clues | Online care |
|---|---|---|
| Bladder infection (cystitis) | Burning when peeing, needing to pee often, smelly or cloudy pee | Treated online |
| Kidney infection | A high temperature, pain in the back or side, feeling sick | Assessed online |
| Kidney stones | Bad pain in the side, lower back or groin that comes and goes; you cannot lie still; feeling sick | In person |
| Enlarged prostate | Men over 50: difficulty peeing, needing to go suddenly and often, waking at night to pee | Treated online |
| Cancer of the bladder, kidney or prostate | Often painless blood; bladder cancer is more common over 60 and in smokers | Urgent tests in person |
| Kidney inflammation (glomerulonephritis) | Often blood found only on a test | Tests in person |
| Hard exercise | After long-distance running or contact sports; usually clears within a week | Get checked: do not assume this is the cause |
| Medicines | Blood thinners such as aspirin and heparin, and some other medicines | Still needs checking |
In men, a urine or bladder infection is treated as complicated and needs tests, and an inflamed prostate can cause similar symptoms. The cause is not always found.
Is blood in urine serious? When you need urgent tests
Often the cause is simple, such as an infection, but blood in the urine can be a sign of cancer, so these situations need an urgent referral for tests, in line with UK guidance:
- you are 45 or over and have visible blood without a urine infection
- visible blood is still there after antibiotics for a urine infection
- blood is found on a test and you have significant urinary symptoms
- you are 60 or over, with blood found on a test and pain when peeing or a raised white blood cell count
Which tests will I need?
A urine test and blood tests first, then often an ultrasound or CT scan of the kidneys and bladder. You may be seen in a haematuria clinic, which can do most tests in one long appointment, including a flexible cystoscopy: a thin telescope passed into the bladder, with local anaesthetic gel, to look at its lining. If nothing is found, report any further bleeding or urinary symptoms to a doctor.
How serious is a UTI with blood in the urine?
A urine infection is the commonest cause of blood in the urine and usually clears with treatment. The blood should go too: if it is still there after antibiotics, it needs urgent tests. Blood with a high temperature and back or side pain can mean a kidney infection, which needs in-person care.
What might the doctor recommend for blood in urine?
What happens next depends on what comes with the blood, your age and your sex. This is the framework the doctors use:
Swipe sideways to compare →
| What you have | Likely first step | Suitable for online care? | When in-person care is needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pink or red pee with burning and frequent peeing, a woman, not pregnant | Treatment for a urine infection, and a urine test afterwards | Yes | If the blood is still there after treatment |
| Visible blood without infection symptoms, aged 45 or over | An urgent referral for tests | Only to assess | Urgently, for the tests |
| Blood with urinary symptoms in a man | A urine culture and examination | Only to assess | In person, promptly |
| Blood with a high temperature and back or side pain | Assessment for a kidney infection | No | Urgently, in person |
| Severe pain in the side or back that comes in waves | Assessment for kidney stones | No | Urgently, in person |
| Blood found on a routine urine test | A repeat test and blood tests | Yes, to assess | For the tests |
| Not able to pee at all | Emergency care | No | Call 112 now |
Seen blood in your urine? A doctor can tell you in one consultation what it is likely to be and how quickly you need tests.
See available times →Treatment for blood in urine
Treatment is for the cause, so finding the cause comes first. Drinking water does not treat the cause of bleeding, and the blood can stop while the cause is still there.
What you can do yourself
- Get any blood in your urine checked, even a small amount, and even if it has stopped.
- Note when you saw it, its colour, and anything that came with it.
- Drink enough fluids to keep your urine pale, unless a doctor has told you to limit fluids.
- Keep taking blood thinners unless a doctor tells you otherwise, and mention them.
- Smoking raises the risk of bladder cancer, which is one more reason to stop.
Prescription treatment
A prescription is never issued without a consultation. When blood in the urine comes with the symptoms of a urine infection in a woman who is not pregnant, the doctor may prescribe antibiotics, and arranges a urine test afterwards to check that the blood has gone. Other causes are treated after tests in person. If the doctor prescribes, use the prescription at a pharmacy near you.
What does not help
Waiting to see whether it happens again. Assuming hard exercise, a medicine or a past infection is the cause without a check. Drinking more water in the hope that the blood goes away. Stopping a blood thinner on your own.
Special situations
Men
Blood in the urine in men is more often linked to the prostate, from an enlarged or inflamed prostate to prostate cancer, and a urine infection in a man needs tests. Men over 50 with difficulty peeing can read about the enlarged prostate.
Smokers and people over 60
Smoking, being over 60 and some chemicals used at work, for example in the textile industry, raise the risk of bladder cancer, so blood in the urine is checked carefully.
Blood thinners
Blood thinners can cause bleeding, but blood in the urine still needs investigating.
Runners and contact sports
Hard exercise can cause blood in the urine that clears within a week, but do not assume that is the cause: get it checked.
Pregnancy
Blood in the urine in pregnancy needs prompt in-person assessment: a urine infection in pregnancy needs a urine culture and treatment that is safe in pregnancy. The bladder problems in pregnancy page covers more.
After travel
Mention recent travel abroad: bilharzia (schistosomiasis), a parasitic infection, is a less common cause of blood in the urine.
Children
Mobi Doctor consultations are for adults aged 18 and over. A child who is unwell needs a paediatrician or a local doctor in person, and emergency signs in a child mean 112.
When blood in urine is treated online, and when you need in-person care
Treated online: blood in the urine with the symptoms of a urine infection in a woman who is not pregnant, advice on whether it is blood at all, and planning which tests you need and how soon.
In-person care: blood without a clear cause, blood after treatment, visible blood at 45 or over, blood in men, blood in pregnancy, kidney infection and kidney stones, and every scan and cystoscopy.
When to get in-person care
Call 112 or go to an emergency department now for:
- being unable to pee at all
- confusion, very fast breathing, or blue, pale or blotchy skin
- a very high or very low temperature with shivering and feeling very unwell
Get medical advice the same day for:
- blood in your urine, or what you think may be blood
- blood in your urine with a high temperature or pain in your back or side
- bad pain in your side, lower back or groin that comes and goes
- blood in your urine in pregnancy
How Mobi Doctor works
- Book a time that suits you: daily 7am–11pm CET. You can see a doctor over video, usually within 15 minutes. No subscription, and the exact price is shown before you pay.
- Speak to a licensed doctor about what you have noticed: describe the colour and when you saw it, and mention pain, burning, a temperature, smoking, recent exercise and the medicines you take.
- Leave with a plan: what to do, what to take and for how long, and which signs mean you should be seen in person. If the doctor prescribes, use the prescription at a pharmacy near you.
No sign-up needed
Blood in your urine can have more than one cause. Tick every symptom you have to see each condition page that mentions it. It finds the right page, not a diagnosis: a doctor gives you that on a video call.
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Similar symptoms, different condition? UTI can start the same way. Compare them, or look up any other symptom in the full symptom checker.
Frequently asked questions about blood in urine
What does blood in the urine indicate?
Most often a urine infection. Kidney stones, an enlarged prostate, kidney inflammation, medicines and hard exercise are other causes, and it can be a sign of cancer of the bladder, kidney or prostate, which is why it always needs checking.
Is blood in urine serious?
It can be. The cause is often simple, but about 1 in 5 adults with visible blood in the urine are found to have bladder cancer. Get any blood checked, and urgently if you are 45 or over and have no urine infection.
What cancers cause blood in the urine?
Cancers of the bladder, kidney and prostate. Bladder cancer is more common over 60 and in smokers, and about 1 in 5 adults with visible blood in the urine turn out to have it.
Can blood in urine go away on its own?
It can stop, but the cause may still be there. Blood in your urine needs checking even if it has stopped, and even if there was only a small amount.
Can drinking water clear blood in urine?
No. Drinking enough keeps urine pale, but it does not treat the cause of bleeding. Blood in the urine needs a check rather than extra water.
What can I do at home while blood in my urine is being checked?
Drink enough water to keep the urine flowing and dilute, note when the blood appears, at the start, throughout or at the end of the stream, and whether there are clots, take a photo and a sample pot if asked, avoid heavy exercise and sex for a day or two before a repeat test, do not stop a prescribed blood thinner without advice, and finish any antibiotics for a confirmed infection. Blood in urine with clots, pain or no urine at all needs urgent assessment.
What does blood in urine look like?
Bright pink, red or dark brown urine, sometimes with small clots. Blood can also be found only on a urine test, without any change of colour.
Can a UTI cause blood in urine?
Yes. A urine infection is the commonest cause of blood in the urine, and the blood should go with treatment. If it is still there after antibiotics, it needs urgent tests.
Can blood in urine be prevented?
The common causes can be: drink enough to keep urine pale, which prevents bladder infections and kidney stones; pee after sex and wipe front to back; do not smoke, the biggest avoidable cause of bladder cancer; limit contact with industrial chemicals and dyes at work with proper protection; keep blood pressure and diabetes controlled to protect the kidneys; warm up and hydrate before long runs; and take blood thinners exactly as prescribed. Prevention never removes the need to have blood in urine checked.
What can turn urine red without blood, and how do I tell the difference?
Beetroot and rhubarb, and some medicines, including the antibiotics rifampicin and nitrofurantoin. Blood from a period or from the bottom can also look like blood in the urine.
What tests will I need for blood in my urine?
Urine and blood tests first, then often an ultrasound or CT scan and a flexible cystoscopy, a thin telescope passed into the bladder with local anaesthetic gel.
Can an online doctor help with blood in urine?
Partly. A doctor can treat blood that comes with a urine infection by video and plan a follow-up urine test. Blood without a clear cause, blood after treatment and visible blood over 45 need tests in person.
- Blood in urine, NHS, National Health Service (UK), reviewed 25 September 2026.
- Blood in the urine (haematuria), BAUS, British Association of Urological Surgeons, updated March 2024.
- Blood in urine (hematuria): symptoms and causes, Mayo Clinic (US), updated 30 April 2026.
- Bladder cancer: causes, NHS, National Health Service (UK), reviewed 15 April 2025.
- Urinary tract infections (UTIs), NHS, National Health Service (UK), reviewed 11 July 2025.
- Kidney stones, NHS, National Health Service (UK), reviewed 17 September 2026.
- Sepsis, NHS, National Health Service (UK), reviewed 14 May 2026.
This page is for information only and is not a substitute for a medical consultation. Guideline links are provided for transparency; treatment decisions are made with your doctor.
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