Male flexible cystoscopy with local anaesthetic

I am a mid-20s male from Surrey, England, and have had various problems with repeated UTIs and abdominal pain. After several rounds of antibiotics and an ultrasound, my urologist recommended a flexible cystoscopy and a CT scan.

The cystoscopy was this morning - I have been reading these forums for the last couple of weeks in preparation for the big day.

The procedure began with giving a urine sample and changing into a gown. I then lay down on a table in a room with the doctor and two assistant nurses. Having read many complaints along the lines of "local anesthetic not being left to work for long enough", I asked the doctor about this. He told me that the fluid that they pump (via a non-needled syringe) into the urethra is more of a lubricant than an anaesthetic, as the procedure is essentially painless.

So it began with cleaning of the genitals, followed by the fluid being squeezed into the tip of the penis. This was very uncomfortable, but not painful, it just felt weird to have something going the wrong way. At this point i had closed my eyes and didn't even notice the tube going in. When I opened my eyes a few seconds later, i could see on the screen my urethra, and the sphincter (the muscle that holds urine in the bladder). At this point the doc asked me to cough while the tube was pushed through the sphincter. There was a slight discomfort but it wasn't painful. After this, the doc continued to move the tube around using something that looked like a joystick, and we were able to see the walls of my bladder on the screen. The doc talked me through it, and it wasn't painful, but definitely was a bit uncomfortable. After about 4 minutes, the tube came out, which was completely painless.

I then wiped myself clean and stood up, and immediately urinated on the floor. What the doc hadn't told me (and in the heat of the moment I had forgotten about from my previous reading) was that it is necessary to fill the bladder with saline solution in order to see everything, so at that moment I had a bladder full of saline solution, and wasn't quite able to control a little bit spilling out. But apart from the mild embarrassment, there was no problem.

I then went to get changed and emptied my bladder - I was bracing myself for the pain, but upon urinating I felt only a very mild stinging. I got changed and was discharged, the doc telling me to drink at least 2L of water over the next 24 hours. I thought I had got away without the extreme pain whilst urinating, but unfortunately each subsequent urination has been extremely painful. I will assume that since you are reading this you will be aware of the pain while urinating with a UTI - I would say the pain is worse than that. Extreme burning whilst urinating, and a strange mild burning feeling in my urethra and tip of penis at all times (2 hours after cystoscopy). I am currently walking around like John Wayne.

So in conclusion, having read all the storied on this forum I was MUCH too worried about the tube going in. It was pretty much painless, but slightly uncomfortable, but not too much of a problem. The pain comes with subsequent urination!

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