Do Men Get UTIs? Risk Factors, Symptoms, and Why Male UTIs Are Considered “Complicated”

Urinary symptoms in men

If you're a man dealing with burning, urgency, pelvic pressure, or pain that doesn't quite fit what you expected — you're not imagining how confusing this is. The symptoms of a UTI, an STI, and a prostate issue can overlap in ways that genuinely look the same from the outside: same trip to the bathroom every twenty minutes, same discomfort, same uncertainty about what's actually going on. Add in the fact that most discussion about UTIs focus on women, and it's no wonder a lot of guys spend weeks — sometimes months — bouncing between possibilities, treatments, and providers without a clear answer.

The truth is more straightforward than the runaround suggests: men can get UTIs, the symptoms really do overlap with other conditions below the belt, and figuring out which one you're dealing with isn't something you should have to do on your own.

Male sex and UTI risk

UTIs are generally less common in men than in women, especially in younger people. However, the risk of UTIs in people with male anatomy increases with age and with other factors. Some of these factors include:

• Urinary obstruction or retention: This is when something is causing the bladder to not fully empty. It can be caused by various conditions, such as an enlarged prostate or kidney stones.
• Urinary devices or procedures: Urinary catheters increase the risk of UTIs in males. Recent urologic surgery can also increase the risk of UTIs in males.
• Sexual activity: Unprotected intercourse, particularly anal intercourse, can introduce bacteria into the urinary tract.
• Medical conditions: Diabetes, cancer, and other conditions that may affect the immune system can increase the risk of UTIs in those with male anatomy.

Why are UTIs in men considered complicated?

All UTIs in people with male anatomy are considered "complicated" UTIs. This is due to the fact that male anatomy and common co-factors make addressing the infection less straightforward, more likely to involve the prostate and/or the upper urinary tract, and more likely to reflect an underlying problem in the urinary tract, such as an obstruction.

When bacteria enter the urinary tract in men, the prostate is not just a bystander, it can become a direct site of infection. Acute bacterial prostatitis is a serious condition that develops when bacteria infect the prostate gland, causing fever, chills, pelvic or perineal pain, and significant urinary symptoms that can look like a severe UTI. Chronic bacterial prostatitis develops when bacteria persist in the prostate despite treatment, often because antibiotics have difficulty penetrating prostate tissue at therapeutic levels. Men with chronic bacterial prostatitis typically experience recurrent UTIs caused by the same organism, the prostate acting as a reservoir that continues to seed the bladder over time. This is one of the central reasons why recurrent UTIs in men are taken seriously and why standard short-course antibiotic therapy is rarely sufficient. Identifying the exact pathogen and its resistance profile is essential, because treatment for prostate-involved infections often requires longer courses of antibiotics.

How are UTIs in men diagnosed?

Urinary tract infections in men are diagnosed similarly to how UTIs are diagnosed in women. Doctors will use urinalysis and urine culture together to diagnose a urinary tract infection. Urinalysis looks at different components of your urine, such as white blood cells, to determine if there is an infection. Urine culture attempts to grow the pathogen causing symptoms in your urine. This technique has been considered the gold-standard for decades, but can produce false negative results up to 30% of the time.

New diagnostic tests are becoming available that more accurately identify which pathogen is causing the infection. These diagnostic tests use next-generation sequencing to detect all of the pathogen DNA in a urine sample. The BIOTIA-ID Urine Test is one of these types of tests.

How are UTIs in men treated?

Because all UTIs in men are considered complicated UTIs, careful diagnosis and treatment is required. Correctly identifying the bacteria or fungus causing the infection helps inform which treatment(s) your doctor can use. Oftentimes, treatment for people with male anatomy is longer than what is typical for people with female anatomy, in part because antibiotics and antifungals have more difficulty in reaching the prostate, which can harbor bacteria causing the infection.

In addition to prescribing a drug to clear your infection, it is likely that your doctor will evaluate you for other conditions, such as urinary retention, urinary blockage, an enlarged prostate, or other known risk factors, depending on your symptoms and other health conditions.

When to see a doctor for a UTI (men)

If you have symptoms that suggest a urinary tract infection — such as a burning sensation when you urinate, frequent or urgent urination, or cloudy, foul-smelling urine — it's worth contacting your doctor promptly. Because all UTIs in men are considered complicated, waiting to see if symptoms resolve on their own is generally not recommended.

Seek care within 24–48 hours if you experience:

• A burning sensation during urination
• Frequent or urgent need to urinate that feels unusual for you
• Cloudy or discolored urine, or urine with a strong odor
• Pelvic pressure or discomfort
• Rectal pain or pressure (which may suggest prostate involvement)

Seek prompt or emergency care if you experience:

• Fever or chills
• Pain in your back, side, or flank
• Nausea or vomiting

These symptoms may indicate the infection has spread to the kidneys or upper urinary tract — a condition that requires urgent evaluation and treatment.

If your symptoms keep coming back, that's also a reason to advocate for yourself and talk with your doctor. Recurrent UTIs in men are not something to push through. They often signal an underlying condition — such as an enlarged prostate, urinary retention, or antibiotic resistance — that standard testing may not fully capture. Advanced diagnostic testing, like the BIOTIA-ID Urine Test, can detect pathogens and antibiotic resistance markers that a standard urine culture may miss, helping your provider make a more informed treatment decision.

If you don't have a specialist, ordering the BIOTIA-ID Urine Test will give you the option to connect with a partner provider from Clinova.Solutions that will review your results with you and prescribe treatment if necessary.

Why accurate testing matters more in men with UTIs

Because all UTIs in men are classified as complicated, identifying the exact pathogen and its antibiotic resistance profile is especially critical. Standard urine culture misses up to 1 in 3 UTI cases and cannot detect many of the organisms that disproportionately affect men, including pathogens that colonize the prostate or that require specialized growth conditions. The BIOTIA-ID Urine Test uses next-generation sequencing to identify 40+ urogenital pathogens and antibiotic resistance markers from a single urine sample, giving clinicians the precision data needed to treat complicated male UTIs effectively and avoid treatment failure.