Individuals do not often view their urine or check it visually. They just flush it away. However, when you are faced with it in a urine collection bag or have health concerns, suddenly looking at your urine is more important. It can provide a quick visual to a general indication of urinary system health or a possible alert. Looking at your urine can be a cue to your urinary health but does not take the place of laboratory analysis. The information that follows is helpful but is not diagnostic of your urinary health.
If you use the toilet, you cannot get a lot of information about urine as it is diluted in the toilet bowl water. But you might see if it is clear, light, dark or if it has overt blood in it. That can be at least some information. In a commode with a basin collection, urine color can be affected by the color of the collection basin. Often a blue or pink basin is used to give a blue or pink cast to the urine. You can still tell if the color is different from your usual.
Urine color varies by individual, hydration status, and food eaten. The urine color is created from the breakdown of waste products in your blood that the kidneys filter out of your body to maintain your health. It is the easiest visual assessment of urine, but it is just a cue, not a diagnostic. The color of an individual’s urine varies at each urination or catheterization, but there are some basics. Urine color is a range that can be described as ‘straw,’ or a very pale yellow through to a more medium yellow color. Your urine color will not be exactly the same from one urination or catheterization to another but should be light to medium yellow shades.
Clear to pale yellow urine means you have great hydration or are may even be overhydrated. You might want to cut back on fluid just a bit if your urine is clear as water. Totally clear urine for an extended period of time without drinking large amounts of fluid can be a sign of cirrhosis or hepatitis of the liver.
Urine changing to a darker yellow can indicate that you need more hydration or drink more water. This can be a challenge if you are on a bladder management program that requires fluid restriction. However, if your urine color is consistently yellow, then you know you are maintaining your status. It is the change that can be an issue. If you take B-complex vitamins, your urine may become more neon yellow than normal.
Dark urine in the orange or brown (think of shades of tea) colors indicates dehydration. More fluid, the best being water, is needed in your system. The medications rifampin, warfarin, sulfasalazine (anti-inflammatory), phenazopyridine (Pyridium, a bladder analgesic), some laxatives, certain chemotherapy drugs, phenazopyridine or overeating carrots can turn urine orange. Chloroquine, primaquine, metronidazole, and nitrofurantoin can make the urine brownish. The medication, Flagyl (an antifungal), can change the urine to a brownish color, as can eating rhubarb and fava beans. Orange-colored urine with light-colored stools can be a sign of bile in your urine from issues of the bile duct or jaundice. Jaundice usually occurs with yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes as well. Consistently brown urine with bubbles can be a sign of liver disease, not a definitive diagnostic value but indicates a visit with your healthcare professional is needed.
Urine can turn pinkish throughout if you eat beets, blackberries, or rhubarb. However, urine will typically return to your normal color within a day. Medications that can turn urine pink or red include senna (a product used by many in their bowel program), chlorpromazine, and thioridazine.
Blood in the urine can look like just a tinge of pink to red, or even strands of pink or red. These are red blood cells in your urine. Pink or red urine without eating food or taking medication that affects urine color is a warning sign that blood is present. Blood should not be in the urine. It can be a sign of infection, kidney stones, or a tumor in the kidneys or bladder. A urine test is needed with medical follow-up. Pink or red urine is a flag to see your health professional even if taking senna, just to be sure.