Bubbly urine in the morning should not be a reason to worry about if it occurs occasionally. However, if it occurs frequently and worsens with time, then there might be something amiss in the body.
Like nails, urine too is regarded as an important health indicator. Its color, odor and consistency can provide important clues about the status of a person’s health. Urinalysis is an effective diagnostic tool to determine the type of diet a person follows, how much water he/she normally drinks, and diseases that he/she might be having. For instance, a pale yellow urine is normal. On the other hand, urine that is dark yellow or reddish, may indicate dehydration, infection or something as severe as cancer. Likewise, a pungent or strong-smelling urine may be a symptom of urinary tract infection or other diseases. Foamy or bubbly urine too may not be good news unless it occurs occasionally.
Mild Causes of Bubbles in Urine
Forceful Urination
A normal or harmless cause of bubbles in urine in the morning, in most cases, could be forceful urination. While you are asleep, urine keeps gathering in the bladder. And with time the pressure keeps on building. The pressure is more if you had plenty of water or fluid before going to sleep. So when you urinate in the morning, the flow of the urine is stronger than usual. And when the stream hits the toilet bowl, it may form bubbles. After sometime, however, the bubbles would disappear.
Dehydration
Dehydration may also cause your urine to be bubbly or foamy. When your body lacks the adequate amount of fluid for its normal functioning, the concentration of waste particles in the urine becomes higher. And this may change the consistency of your urine, making it more bubbly than usual. In this case, the urine would also be dark yellow or dark amber.
Severe Causes of Bubbles in Urine
Excess Protein in Urine (Proteinuria)
The kidneys filter the blood and get rid of waste materials with the help of its tiny filters known as glomeruli. Although these filters retain essential components like proteins, they allow trace amounts of the same to get into the urine along with the waste. So some amount of protein is always present in the urine, and this is harmless. But the glomeruli may malfunction because of certain conditions, common being diseases or disorders of the kidneys. As a result, too much protein may leak into the urine. And when this occurs, the urine becomes abnormally frothy or bubbly. Proteinuria could also be a repercussion of increased production of protein in the body.
Bubbles in urine during pregnancy is most likely to be caused from a condition called pre-eclampsia. Because of this condition, most pregnant women, from around the second half of pregnancy, may suffer from high blood pressure and proteinuria. This may also occur immediately post delivery.
Urinary Tract Infection
Bubbles in urine, especially in women, may signal the onset of urinary tract infection. It is caused by a bacterium and it mostly affects the bladder and the urethra. It may become more specific that UTI is the underlying cause, if the foamy urine is accompanied by symptoms such as burning and pain while urinating, strong and frequent urge to urinate, strong-smelling urine, darker urine, blood in the urine, painful sexual intercourse, etc.
Vesicocolic Fistula
Factors like injury, surgery, or infection may cause an abnormal passage to develop between two organs in the body and connect them to each other. These organs do not connect normally. This abnormal connection is known as a fistula. Such a connection may develop between the colon and the bladder, and is called vesicocolic fistula. This structure may pass bubbles directly into the urine stream, and make urine bubbly. Although rare, vesicocolic fistulas are known to indicate severe conditions like Crohn’s disease, and cancer of the bladder or colon.
Treatment of bubbly or foamy urine mainly involves dealing with the underlying cause of the problem. For instance, if UTI is found as the offender, then antibiotics may be used as the first line of treatment. And once this issue resolves, the urine becomes normal again. Take care!
Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is solely for educating the reader. It is not intended to be a substitute for the advice of a medical expert.
