What should normal urine look like?

Urine is the formal term for the liquid waste that exits the body when you relieve yourself. Urine is mostly water and other materials, including chemicals and electrolytes. The color of your urine can help you work out whether you are hydrated or not. Several things can affect the color of your urine, as well as its smell, color, and thickness. Blood in your urine is a special case that often warrants medical attention. But blood in your urine is not always visible, and not all visual changes in your urine indicate blood.
Urine is the fluid by-product of your metabolism. Substances like urea, electrolytes, and water make up most of the contents of normal urine. Your kidneys filter your body's waste products to form urine. Urine accumulates in your bladder and exits your body via the urethra. Urine gets its color from urobilin — a chemical waste product formed when the body breaks down inactive red blood cells.
Standard urine color will usually range between a pale to dark yellow. Healthy individuals who drink enough water to stay hydrated should have urine that is colorless to honey-colored. If an individual doesn't drink enough water, the color will be a darker yellow.
What if your urine is pinkish or reddish?
If your urine changes color unexpectedly, you should review any recent changes in your diet or lifestyle. Food, medication, and drinks with particular dye colors can change the color of your urine. Some of these include fava beans, beets, anti-inflammatories, and some laxatives.
You should give special attention to recent diet changes when your urine is red or pink. Rhubarb, beets, and blueberries can tint the color of your urine a pink or red color.
If there have been no recent changes to your diet or lifestyle, consider the possibility that blood is mixed in your urine. Blood in urine conditions can be a sign of a more severe problem.
When blood is in your urine, the condition is called hematuria. There are two different types:
- Gross hematuria — this is when you can see the blood in your urine
- Microscopic hematuria — when the blood in your urine can only be seen under a microscope
What are the symptoms of hematuria?
Symptoms of hematuria include pink, red, or brown urine. Any amount of blood can change urine color. Many times people with gross hematuria have no other symptoms — but blood in urine with blood clots may cause pain in the back or bladder.
What causes blood in the urine?
Your urinary system consists of your kidneys, ureters, bladder, and urethra. With hematuria, red blood cells leak into your urine from one of the parts of this system. Common causes of hematuria include:
- Trauma
- Sexual activity
- Infection of the urinary tract or prostate
- Forceful exercise
- Monthly cycle in females
- Viral illness
- Endometriosis
Sometimes there are more serious causes of blood in the urine. These include:
- Bladder or kidney stone
- Enlarged prostate
- Kidney disease
- Cancer or cancer drugs
- Clotting disorders like sickle cell
Who might get hematuria?
Children, teens, and adults can all have red blood cells in their urine. However, risk factors that increase the odds include:
- Men over 50
- Family history of kidney problems
- Some medicines like anti-inflammatories and penicillin
- A recent infection of the urinary tract
- Enlarged prostate
- Long-distance runners (joggers hematuria)
How is hematuria diagnosed?
Your medical provider can diagnose blood in your urine and the cause, using some combination of physical exam, medical history, urinalysis, and imaging tests if needed.
If your doctor can't determine a cause, they may recommend more follow-up tests. This is especially true if you have certain risk factors for bladder cancer and exposure to environmental toxins or radiation. Additional tests may include cystoscopy, blood tests, CT/MRI, or kidney biopsy.
How is blood in the urine treated?
Blood in the urine is treated according to the cause. If there is nothing serious causing it, you may not need treatment. Treatment may include antibiotics to get rid of an infection, or medication to shrink an enlarged prostate. Sometimes shock wave therapy is used to treat hematuria caused by kidney or bladder stones.
A medical professional should be seen if you think you have blood in your urine. Only they can properly diagnose hematuria and recommend the proper treatment for success.

SLIDESHOW
The 14 Most Common Causes of Fatigue See SlideshowMayo Clinic: "Blood in urine (hematuria)."
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestion and Kidney Diseases: "Hematuria (Blood in the Urine)."
UC San Diego Health: "10 Colors That Suggest Urine Trouble."
UCI Health: "What color is your urine?"
Urology Care Foundation: "The Meaning Behind the Color of Urine."
Top What Conditions Cause Blood in Urine? Related Articles
Blood in Urine
Blood in the urine is termed hematuria. Hematuria, whether it be gross or microscopic, is abnormal and should be further investigated.Can High Blood Pressure (HBP) Cause Blood in Urine?
Blood in your urine is also known as hematuria. Very rarely, it is caused by high blood pressure (HBP) — also known as hypertension.Common Medical Abbreviations & Terms
Doctors, pharmacists, and other health-care professionals use abbreviations, acronyms, and other terminology for instructions and information in regard to a patient's health condition, prescription drugs they are to take, or medical procedures that have been ordered. There is no approved this list of common medical abbreviations, acronyms, and terminology used by doctors and other health- care professionals. You can use this list of medical abbreviations and acronyms written by our doctors the next time you can't understand what is on your prescription package, blood test results, or medical procedure orders. Examples include:
- ANED: Alive no evidence of disease. The patient arrived in the ER alive with no evidence of disease.
- ARF: Acute renal (kidney) failure
- cap: Capsule.
- CPAP: Continuous positive airway pressure. A treatment for sleep apnea.
- DJD: Degenerative joint disease. Another term for osteoarthritis.
- DM: Diabetes mellitus. Type 1 and type 2 diabetes
- HA: Headache
- IBD: Inflammatory bowel disease. A name for two disorders of the gastrointestinal (BI) tract, Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis
- JT: Joint
- N/V: Nausea or vomiting.
- p.o.: By mouth. From the Latin terminology per os.
- q.i.d.: Four times daily. As in taking a medicine four times daily.
- RA: Rheumatoid arthritis
- SOB: Shortness of breath.
- T: Temperature. Temperature is recorded as part of the physical examination. It is one of the "vital signs."
Conditions That Can Cause Blood In Your Urine
It can be a shock to see blood in your pee. A number of conditions can cause it. Find out why it happens and what to do about it.ertapenem
Ertapenem is a broad spectrum antibiotic used to treat a wide variety of bacterial infections, including community-acquired and complicated infections, including urinary tract infections, intra-abdominal infections, skin infections, pneumonia, and others. Common side effects of ertapenem include diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, loose stools, constipation, infusion site reactions, headache, fever, altered mental status, and others. Consult your doctor if pregnant or breastfeeding.How Do I Stop Blood in My Urine?
Learn why you might have blood in your urine and how to treat blood in your urine.irradiated blood and components
Irradiated blood and blood components are cellular blood products that have been subjected to radiation with gamma rays or X-rays. Irradiated blood and components are used for transfusion in patients at risk for transfusion-associated graft-versus-host disease (TA-GVHD). Common side effects of irradiated blood and components include hemolytic transfusion reactions that destroy red blood cells, feverish (febrile) non-hemolytic reactions, transfusion related acute lung injury (TRALI), transfusion-associated circulatory overload (TACO), allergic reactions, and others.Phenazopyridine
Phenazopyridine is a painkiller (analgesic) available by prescription and over the counter, used to relieve pain and discomfort in the lower urinary tract. Common side effects of phenazopyridine include fever, urine discoloration, rash, itching (pruritus), headache, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach cramps, elevated liver enzymes, and others. There are no adequate and well-controlled studies of phenazopyridine use in pregnant women; use only if the benefits outweigh the risks. Avoid use in nursing mothers.potassium acid phosphate
Potassium acid phosphate is a medication used to acidify the urine. Reducing the pH levels in the urine and making it more acidic helps keep the urinary calcium soluble, restores the acid-base balance and reduces rash and odor caused by ammoniacal urine. Common side effects of potassium acid phosphate include nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, diarrhea, gas (flatulence), high blood potassium levels (hyperkalemia), high levels of phosphorus in blood (hyperphosphatemia), low blood calcium (hypocalcemia), reduced magnesium in blood, chest pain, and others. Consult your doctor if pregnant or breastfeeding.Heart Disease: Understand Your Blood and Urine Test Results
Your blood and urine can reveal a lot about your health. Here's how to understand your lab test results.What Does Blood in the Urine Mean?
When you see blood in the urine, it might be alarming. But it may not be a serious issue. Find out the essentials of what you need to know if it is something more serious.What Medicines Cause Blood in Urine?
Several medicines can cause your urine to change color, or cause blood in your urine (hematuria). Certain antibiotics, NSAIDs, and other medicines cause blood in the urine.What Should I Drink if I Have Blood in My Urine?
Blood in your urine is called hematuria. Drink water if you have blood in your urine, but see your doctor as well.