From neutrophils to macrophages, meet the microscopic team working to protect your urinary tract. When you develop a urinary tract infection (UTI), your immune system doesn't sit around waiting for you to make a doctor's appointment. It's already getting to work. Cells are communicating, chemical signals are being released, and tiny defenders are making their way towards the infection. It's a remarkably organised response. Well, mostly. Because while your immune system is bus

The science behind recurrent urinary tract infections, and why it isn't your fault. You know the feeling. The burning. The urgency. The pain. The sinking realisation that it's happening again. You finished the antibiotics and you felt better. Maybe it was a few weeks, maybe a few months. And then, just as you'd started to forget about it, it came back. If this sounds familiar, you are far from alone. Many people who have one UTI will go on to have another, and for some, infec

Looking beyond healthcare buzzwords to what patients genuinely need. There are certain phrases in healthcare that appear absolutely everywhere. Holistic care. Shared decision-making. Patient empowerment. And, of course: Patient-centred care. You'll find it in hospital strategies, research proposals, conference presentations, policy documents and probably on an inspirational poster somewhere near a hospital reception desk. It sounds wonderful. Who wouldn't want healthcare to b

A beginner’s guide to urostomy pouch systems — and why finding the right bag can make such a difference When you wake up with a urostomy for the first time, somebody will eventually introduce you to a piece of equipment that is about to become a fairly significant part of your life. The pouch. Or bag. Or appliance. Or pouching system. There are several names for it, which is perhaps your first warning that this isn't going to be quite as straightforward as: “Here is your uros

The quiet loss of spontaneity when you live with chronic illness. The most spontaneous thing I did today was have a nap. I hadn't planned it. It wasn't in the diary. There was no careful preparation involved. I simply thought, I'm tired, and went to sleep. Wild. There was a time when spontaneity meant something rather different. It meant deciding to go somewhere at the last minute. Staying out longer than expected. Accepting an invitation without first mentally consulting an

When a UTI Becomes Harder to Treat: You have a urinary tract infection (UTI). You recognise the symptoms. You speak to a healthcare professional, provide a urine sample, and start an antibiotic. Normally, this is the point where things are supposed to get better. But what happens when they don't? Perhaps the symptoms continue. Perhaps the laboratory report shows that the bacteria are resistant to the antibiotic you've been given. Perhaps this isn't even the first time. Sudden

He’s yellow. He’s a drop. And he would very much like us to stop being embarrassed about wee. There are certain moments when you realise your urinary health campaign has taken on a life of its own. Designing bracelets in the colour of urine? Reasonable. Writing articles about bladder health? Entirely sensible. Finding yourself emotionally invested in the facial expressions of a small yellow urine droplet? Perhaps less predictable. And yet, here we are. So I think it is finall

Infection, delirium and what we actually know about changes in cognitive function When we think about a urinary tract infection, we tend to think about the bladder. Burning. Urgency. Frequency. Pain. Perhaps blood in the urine. They are symptoms most people would immediately associate with a UTI. But sometimes infection can affect something that seems much further away from the urinary tract: the way somebody thinks and behaves. Confusion. Difficulty concentrating. Slower res

Why good medicine is really about balancing harm, benefit, and choice There are few phrases more closely associated with medicine than: “First, do no harm.” It sounds like the perfect rule. Whatever happens, don't make things worse. There is something deeply reassuring about imagining medicine governed by such a simple promise. But there is a problem. Taken literally, medicine couldn't work that way. Surgery deliberately injures tissue in order to treat disease. Chemotherapy

The gender pain gap — and why the same symptom may not always lead to the same healthcare. Pain is an unusual symptom. You can measure someone's temperature. You can count their heart rate. You can see some injuries on an X-ray. But if somebody tells you: “This hurts.” At some point, medicine has to rely on what that person is telling you. There isn't a blood test that can tell us precisely how much another human being hurts. Pain is experienced by the person inside the bod

From weak streams to testicular lumps: why noticing changes matters. I know what you’re thinking: “Georgie, you’re not a guy — how can you talk about men’s health?!” Fair point. I confirm I do not have XY chromosomes. But urinary health isn’t something that belongs to one sex, one diagnosis or one particular type of patient. And Oui was never meant to be a place where I only talk about the parts of urology that I have personally experienced. If we’re serious about making blad

The psychological weight of living in a body you can no longer take for granted When we talk about the impact of illness, we tend to talk about the body. Pain. Fatigue. Mobility. Medication. Operations. Organ function. These things can be measured, investigated and entered into a medical record. But illness also happens somewhere much harder to photograph: in the mind of the person living through it. That doesn't mean their illness is psychological. It means that living with

Kings, politicians, artists, inventors and the surprisingly illustrious history of urinary problems Fame can buy you quite a lot. Palaces. Private jets. Personal chefs. The best seat in the house. What it cannot apparently buy you is immunity from having a troublesome urinary tract. Some of the most recognisable people in history have experienced bladder stones, urinary retention, incontinence, prostate disease, bladder cancer and life-changing urinary surgery. One celebrated

What happens when the way you wee changes forever? There are some things nobody expects to have to learn how to do twice. Having a wee is probably one of them. Most of us learn remarkably early that urine comes out when we go to the toilet. We spend the rest of our lives barely thinking about the mechanics of it. Until, for some people, that changes. A urostomy creates a new route for urine to leave the body. The most common form is an ileal conduit: a surgeon takes a short s

When a common infection becomes the beginning of something much bigger. There is a peculiar phrase that follows urinary tract infections around. “It’s just a UTI.” Usually, it is intended to reassure. And there is good reason not to catastrophise. Urinary tract infections are common, many are successfully treated, and having a UTI does not mean that something terrible is going to happen. But common does not mean trivial. UTIs can affect different parts of the urinary tract, f

Going to the toilet feels automatic. In reality, it depends on an extraordinarily complicated conversation between the brain, spinal cord, nerves, muscles, bladder and bowel. Most of us don't think of going to the toilet as a neurological function. You feel that you need a wee. You find a toilet. You go. Your bowel works in much the same apparently unremarkable way. So when somebody develops difficulty controlling or emptying their bladder or bowel, it can be tempting to assu

Most of us flush without looking. This Urology Awareness Month, The Urology Foundation wants us to change that. When was the last time you looked at your wee? Not a passing glance. Actually looked. It's a slightly odd question, isn't it? We spend an extraordinary amount of time paying attention to our bodies. We check our skin. We notice a new lump or bump. We keep an eye on our weight. Some of us track our heart rate, sleep, steps and more on our smart watches. And yet sever

The Toilet is Finally Within Reach The moment you arrive home, your bladder suddenly decides it’s an emergency. You’ve made it all the way back, whether from shopping, a long train ride, or a drive home from work. You knew you needed the toilet, but it felt manageable. You walk up the path. Still fine. You reach the front door. Still fine. You get your keys out. And then… OH. Suddenly, the need to wee becomes urgent. The toilet hasn’t moved closer to your bladder, nor has you

Two bodily functions we rarely talk about in public. Two systems that are much more connected than they might seem. We have a strange habit when it comes to the toilet. We divide everything neatly into two categories. Bladder problems. Bowel problems. One belongs to urology. The other belongs to gastroenterology or colorectal medicine. One involves wee. The other involves poop. Simple. Except the human body has never been particularly interested in medical departments. The bl

Urinary tract infections are incredibly common. But common does not always mean insignificant. "It's only a UTI." It sounds reassuring. For many people, a urinary tract infection is exactly that: an unpleasant but relatively short-lived infection that gets better with appropriate treatment. A few miserable days. A course of antibiotics where needed. Then life goes back to normal. But that isn't everyone's experience. For some people, urinary tract infections come back again a