Urine odour on undergarments, want to avoid ultrasound
Hi all. For the last three weeks, by mid-day I sometimes get an odour of urine from my underwear and trousers. I am 32, male. I do not have incontinence, at least as far as I know.
I saw a urologist who asked me to get a routine urine test and an ultrasound KUB PVR (kidneys, urinary bladder + post-void residue). He also said that since I have no other signs of a UTI, what is happening perhaps is that after I have passed urine there is some dribble / leakage - which is natural - but in my case the amount of the leakage is more, and more times than usual. In the winters it doesn't dry up, particularly if I am wearing thermals, so it stays there and emits an odour. He said that the cause for more leakage could be that my bladder does not empty out fully. He asked me to stay at the toilet for longer, to let the leakage also pass, and use a tissue to wipe myself.
I am unsure about getting medical screening tests done. Most alternative health sources say that ultrasounds are better than x-rays but they are best avoided, unless absolutely necessary.
Andreas Moritz and others have quoted studies about prenatal ultrasounds leading to birth defects.
So I decided to only get the urine test. The doctor saw the results and said there is no sign of infection, even though I had a higher 'specific gravity' than what the reference range says. I am not sure what that means. He said it is not relevant. And then he got quite angry at me for not having got the ultrasound done :). There was no point telling him about what I have read about ultrasounds. He also angrily wrote down another test to get done - uroflowmetry. I don't have a problem getting this one.
So he expects me to come back with the ultrasound. In the meantime I have just avoided wearing thermals unless it is extremely cold, follow his instructions about passing urine, and I try to stay well hydrated so that the urine is not concentrated. This seems to keep the odour away, although occasionally I can still sense it.
What can be the reason for this odour? I think it is likely that the doctor's explanation is correct. But even if my bladder is not emptying out completely, I don't know if I would like to take drugs for it.
10 years ago, I began to need to wake up every night to pass urine, once. The doctors did a similar ultrasound and said everything was normal, it was just that the muscles of my bladder and urethra tended to get tense easily. They gave me some medicines and asked me to drink cranberry juice but it didn't help. I also did some ayurvedic medicine for excessive vata, which didn't help either. So I just accepted it as a condition I have to live with.
If the problem now is only an extension of this, which it seems to be, then are there any herbs or anything else that is natural that I can take or do to resolve it - perhaps by relaxing the muscles of the bladder and urethra?
What do you think about the safety of ultrasounds?