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Foamy urine: What does it mean?
By Mayo Clinic staff
- With Mayo Clinic urologist
Erik Castle, M.D.
read biographyclose windowBiography of
Erik Castle, M.D.
Erik Castle, M.D.
Dr. Erik Castle is a board-certified urologist who joined the Mayo Clinic staff in Arizona in 2007.
Dr. Castle is an associate professor of urology at College of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, and a senior associate consultant in the Department of Urology, where he also is assistant residency coordinator.
He was an assistant professor in the Department of Urology at Tulane University in New Orleans from 2004 to 2006 after serving as a clinical instructor/fellow at Mayo Clinic in Arizona for one year.
Dr. Castle's research interests include prostate cancer, bladder cancer and kidney cancer. He is the director of the Desert Mountain Prostate Cancer Research Fund and is the principal investigator of Castle labs housed at the Samuel C. Johnson Medical Research building at Mayo Clinic in Arizona. His basic science research is focused on novel secondary hormonal therapies of prostate cancer as well as genomics of prostate and bladder cancer.
His surgical expertise includes laparoscopic urology, robot-assisted radical prostatectomy with nerve sparing, robot-assisted radical cystectomy with neobladder, robot-assisted retroperitoneal lymph node dissection, robot-assisted partial nephrectomy and other robotic urologic oncology procedures. He has performed many of these procedures as demonstrations internationally. He is a member of the American Association of Clinical Urologists, the American Urological Association, the Endourological Society, and the Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons. He is president of the international Society of Urologic Robotic Surgeons. He is also the director of the international laparoscopic nephrectomy courses throughout Mexico on behalf of the American Urologic Association.
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Question
Foamy urine: What does it mean?
What does it mean when you have foamy urine? Should I be concerned if it doesn't go away after a few days?
Answer
from Erik Castle, M.D.
Passing foamy urine now and then is normal. It may just mean that you urinated rapidly, perhaps with more concentrated urine — as sometimes happens when you're mildly dehydrated.
Persistently foamy urine that becomes more noticeable over time is something to see your doctor about, though. It can be a sign of protein in your urine (proteinuria), which requires further evaluation. Large amounts of protein in urine may indicate a serious kidney problem.
If your urine seems unusually foamy most of the time, make an appointment with your doctor to find out why. Your doctor may recommend urinalysis, which can detect protein in urine. If your urine does contain protein, you may need further tests to determine the cause.
- Proteinuria. National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse (NKUDIC). http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/proteinuria/index.htm. Accessed Oct. 9, 2009.
