Who is a urologist?
A urologist diagnoses and treats the problems related to the urinary system, which consists of your kidneys, bladder, ureters (thin muscles that carry urine into your bladder), and urethra. Urologists can also treat all parts of a man's reproductive system, including the penis, testicles, scrotum, and prostate. A urologist should be your primary care provider for issues like recurring kidney stones, persistent difficulties with urine retention, or prostate cancer.
What does a urologist treat?
The urinary tract produces, stores, and eliminates urine from the body. A urologist can treat any component of this system, which comprises of :
- Kidneys: The organs that filter waste from blood to produce urine.
- Bladder: A hollow sac that stores urine.
- Urethra: A tube that helps expel urine from the body.
- Adrenal glands: Hormone-producing glands on top of each kidney.
Urologists treat all parts of the male reproductive system, which includes :
- Testicles: The two oval organs inside the scrotum that create the hormone testosterone and produce sperm.
- Penis: The organ that produces urine and transports sperm out of the body.
- Prostate: The gland underneath the bladder.
Education and training of a urologist
A student has to complete a four-year undergraduate degree followed by four years of medical school to become a urologist. After graduating, one must complete four or five years of hospital-based medical training. Doctors work with seasoned urologists during this course, known as a residency, and learn the various surgery techniques.
Some urologists opt to complete an additional year or two of training called a fellowship. They develop expertise in a specific area throughout this period. This can apply to female urology or urologic oncology. Urologists must also pass the specialty certification exam after their training. Upon this, the American Board of Urology certifies them to practice.
When should I visit a urologist instead of my family physician or another specialist?
Urologists are specialists when it comes to handling any condition affecting the urinary tract or male reproductive system. Your care may involve inputs from other healthcare experts. For instance, a urologist may team up with an oncologist for treating prostate cancer or with a gynecologist to address pelvic pain in female patients. If you have a urologic issue, the urologist will oversee your care.
Patients are occasionally referred to urologists by other medical specialists as well. However, many people seek therapy from urologists right away. Although your primary care physician might treat some minor urologic problems, it is still advisable to contact a urologist to identify the cause of the issue if your symptoms persist. You may seek help from the best urologist near you as your initial step if you know your symptoms or ailments are related to the male reproductive system or urinary tract.
What should you expect during your first visit to the urologist near you?
Your initial visit with a urologist may be similar to one with your primary care physician. You will fill out paperwork and provide information about your medical history, present symptoms, and any medications you are already taking.
A physical examination by the urologist will involve a genital and rectal check. They might also request blood work or imaging tests like a CT scan or ultrasound to better understand your organs.
What are kidney stones? What are its causes?
When there are excessive concentrations of certain minerals in your urine, solid, pebble-like pieces of material, called kidney stones, can develop in one or both of your kidneys. Kidney stones seldom result in permanent harm if handled by a medical specialist.
If you experience severe discomfort in your back, side, lower abdomen, or groin or see blood in your urine, it could be due to kidney stones. However, you may not have any symptoms if your stone is tiny and can easily pass through your urinary system.
What conditions do urologists treat?
Besides kidney stones, urologists diagnose and treat various conditions. These include:
- Hematuria: Hematuria, or the presence of blood cells in your urine, is of three types - gross, microscopic, and dipstick hematuria. It is a common condition resulting from cystitis, urinary tract infections, and endometriosis.
To manage hematuria, your doctor must identify its cause. Different causes require different treatments. For instance, antibiotics can treat infections, while alpha-blocker medications can help with an enlarged prostate.
- Hydronephrosis: Hydronephrosis is the swelling of one or both of your kidneys, which occurs when urine cannot drain from a kidney and builds up inside it. Its symptoms include fever, nausea, vomiting, back pain that can extend to your groin and lower abdomen, frequent urges to urinate, and pain while urinating.
Your doctor might adopt a wait-and-see approach, prescribe antibiotics to reduce the risk of UTIs or urinary tract infections, perform surgery to fix urinary tract blockages, or rectify vesicoureteral reflux (when urine flows backward into the kidney).
- Interstitial cystitis: Interstitial cystitis, commonly known as bladder pain syndrome (BPS), refers to chronic pressure, pain, and discomfort in and around your bladder. Its symptoms include sudden and frequent urges to urinate (this should persist for at least six weeks for the condition to classify as BPS) and urinating only a tiny amount.
Diet changes (avoiding alcohol, caffeine, etc.) and stress management can help treat BPS. Your doctor might also prescribe medications to relieve BPS symptoms. Other treatment options include nerve stimulation, botulinum toxin injections, and cystectomy (surgical removal of a part or all of your bladder).
- Overactive bladder: Overactive bladder causes sudden, frequent urges to urinate that you might find difficult to control. Besides feeling like peeing multiple times - usually eight or more - throughout the day, you might also experience urgency incontinence (unintentional loss of urine). Based on the nature and severity of your condition, the treatment for this can include chronic disease management, lifestyle changes, and exercises.
- Pelvic organ prolapse: When a woman’s pelvic organs weaken, it can drop lower in the pelvis, creating a bulge in the vagina and causing pelvic organ prolapse. While the exact symptoms depend on the location of your prolapse, common signs of this condition include spotting, lower back pain, bulge, or pressure in your vagina that worsens throughout the day and pain during sex.
Non-surgical treatments of pelvic prolapse include vaginal pessary (inserting a silicone device into your vagina to hold the pelvic organs in place) and pelvic floor exercises. Your doctor can also recommend surgeries like colporrhaphy (for vaginal wall prolapse), sacrohysteropexy (for uterine prolapse), etc.
How to prevent urinary incontinence and maintain bladder health?
Prevention of urinary incontinence (UI) or bladder control problems is not always possible. However, good habits can help keep your bladder as healthy as possible. Following are some tips from the National Institutes of Health (NIH):
A good diet may help prevent risk factors for developing UI, like obesity and diabetes. Many individuals believe that alcohol, spicy meals, artificial sweeteners, chocolate, caffeinated, carbonated, and citrus beverages, and high-acid foods like citrus and tomatoes can all lead to inflammation and bladder irritation, which can occasionally lead to UI. Hence, you can try to avoid these meals and drinks for a while to see if your symptoms improve. Moreover, a licensed dietician can assist you with food planning.
- Increase your liquid intake:
Drinking enough liquids will have you urinating every few hours, which is beneficial. Discovering your normal and avoiding dehydration will help you in the long run. Pale yellow urine is a sign that your liquid intake is enough. Consult your doctor about the amount of liquid you should drink based on your size and activity level. Though water is the best option, you should avoid drinking it excessively if you have renal or heart problems.
- Maintain a healthy weight:
Obesity increases your chances of getting UI and additional medical conditions like diabetes. Thus, keeping a healthy weight can prevent UI in many cases. Also, obesity and diabetes management may reduce UI, especially in women.
- Keep healthy bathroom habits:
People often hold their urine whenever they find it inconvenient to use the washroom. However, regularly doing this is very harmful as it wears out bladder muscles. It also elevates the chances of developing a bladder infection, eventually resulting in UI.
- Pelvic floor muscle exercises:
Pelvic floor muscles help in holding urine in the bladder. Pelvic floor exercises, or Kegel exercises, can help strengthen those muscles and prevent urine leakage when you laugh, cough, lift, or sneeze. Additionally, these exercises can help both men and women.
Smoking causes many medical issues and depletes health. Therefore, quitting it at any age benefits your bladder and general health. As smoking induces coughing, it increases your risk of developing stress incontinence. It is also a major cause of bladder cancer. Some people even claim that smoking aggravates their bladder irritation.
What is the main difference between a nephrologist and a urologist?
Are you unsure about the difference between a nephrologist and a urologist or which specialist to consult? While both specialties focus on the urinary system, they differ in their areas of expertise. Understanding what each type of doctor specializes in can help you choose the right specialist for your needs.
A urologist focuses on diagnosing, treating, and preventing conditions related to the urinary tract in both men and women. They also handle issues involving the bladder, penis, testicles, and male reproductive system.
On the other hand, nephrologists specialize in the kidneys, treating diseases and conditions that affect kidney health and function. They care for patients dealing with kidney disease, high blood pressure, and conditions where kidney function is impaired or close to failing. Some common issues nephrologists treat include:
- Glomerulonephritis
- Hypertension
- Kidney disease (including acute, chronic, and diabetic nephropathy)
- Kidney stones
- Renal failure (when kidneys can't filter blood effectively)
- Renal obstructions (often from kidney stones or tumors)
- Kidney cancer
Choosing between a urologist and a nephrologist can be confusing since the kidneys, bladder, and urinary tract are interconnected. Here's a simple guide: if your issue is specifically with your kidneys or how they function, see a nephrologist. They have the expertise to address both straightforward and complex kidney issues.
Sometimes, kidney-related problems can impact the bladder or urinary tract. In these cases, your nephrologist may work alongside a urologist to make sure you get complete, well-rounded care.
Find the best urologist near you in Atlanta, Georgia
Finding a good specialist can be tough. With the assistance of Zocdoc, however, you can quickly plan an in-person visit or an online video consultation with top-rated urologists in your area. While browsing the list of doctors, look for a purple-colored video icon. If the icon is present next to a doctor’s name, it indicates they offer virtual consultations.
If you are looking for a urologist in Atlanta, Georgia, you can book an appointment by visiting the website and providing information about your location (Atlanta), medical issues, insurance company, and plan. If you don’t see your insurance plan listed on Zocdoc, you can upload a photo of your medical insurance card (this option isn’t available for vision or dental insurance). We will scan the card and display your likely plan. If you face any trouble uploading your card, feel free to reach out to our service team. For more insurance-related questions, you can also visit Zocdoc's insurance page. Your search results will list the best urologists near you. You can sort these results using various filters, including gender, languages spoken, and whether or not they treat children.
Depending on the provider's availability, you can set an appointment up to 24 hours prior, on the same day, or the weekend. By displaying each specialist's credentials, training, and medical history, Zocdoc promotes transparency and enables users to make informed decisions.
In addition, you may browse ratings and reviews from previous patients. By choosing your plan and insurance carrier from the menu at the top of the page, you can also figure out whether your provider accepts your insurance. Zocdoc makes finding the best urologist near you easier!
On Zocdoc, all bookings are easy, free, and secure.
Statistics on kidney stones in Georgia and the U.S.
Kidney stones became more common in the US and saw an increased rate from 3.8% in the late 1970s to 8.8% in the late 2000s. Men and women have an almost 9% and an approximately 11% risk of developing kidney stones, respectively. Patients with other medical conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity can be more prone to kidney stones.
Studies show that temperature and environmental changes also affect kidney stones. Low fluid intake or excessive loss of fluids, an important environmental factor, causes low urine volume, which can heighten the risk of developing stones by increasing the urinary saturation of stone-forming salts. Hence, the state of Georgia, located in "The Stone Belt," shows a much higher prevalence of kidney stone disease than other parts of the United States. Estimates suggest that up to 3% of people are likely to develop kidney stones by age 70. Once you develop a kidney stone, the recurrence rate ranges from 10% to 35% over the next five years.
More than 500,000 people visit emergency departments annually for issues relating to kidney stones. According to estimates, one in ten people have kidney stones at some point in their life.
Sources
WebMD
Healthline
Urology Care Foundation
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases[1]
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases[2]
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases[3]
Georgia Urology
National Kidney Foundation
Cleveland Clinic[1]
Cleveland Clinic[2]
Cleveland Clinic[3]
Cleveland Clinic[4]
Mayo Clinic[1]
Mayo Clinic[2]
Mayo Clinic[3]
Mayo Clinic[4]
Commonwealth Nephrology Associates
