pH Strips To Test Urine - Is There Anything Else I Should Know About P.H Strips?
Posted by Just Fitter on
Introduction
Do you use pH strips in your home? Have you ever wondered how they work? Or why they're so useful? This article will answer all those questions and more!
When Should You Use Them?
pH strips are used by people who test their urine for various reasons. They're also used by doctors and nurses when testing patients' blood. These strips measure the acidity or alkalinity of a substance.
Urine pH test strips
A Urine pH Test Strip allows you to test your Urine pH at home cheaply and effectively. These strips have been around for a long time and can be found in your local pharmacy or purchased on line inexpensively.
A Urine pH Test Strip is a strip of paper or plastic with reagent-soaked pads on top. Each pad contains a different reagent that changes color when it comes into contact with urine.
To gain a test result, the test strip is dipped into a urine sample and the chemical in the pads react with the urine sample. The pads will change color dependent on how acidic or basic your urine is.
To read a result, the reacted strip is compared to the color of the chemical pads to a colored reference grid on the manufacturer’s packaging. As a patient you need to match the color on your test strip to the color on the grid. Once the color has been identified the patient’s result is known.
Test for urine pH at home
Acidosis (high blood acidity) or alkalosis (high blood alkalinity) can be a cause for concern and may indicate health problems. If you have reason to suspect you have abnormal acid-base balance it is important you understand what this means for your health.
You can test your urine pH in a doctor’s office or at home. The most common method of testing urine pH is with a urine pH test strip.
Urine pH test strip results
A urine test strip is a semi-quantitative test which means that the results give you a range of values for your urine pH is not an exact value. This semi-quantitative method is generally enough to indicate if you have a problem or not.
A urine pH result will be a single number representing the pH of the urine. The scale for urine pH will start at about 4.5 and could go up to as high as 9. A range of about 5 to 8.5 is common.
Urine pH Level Test
A urine pH level test analyzes the acidity or alkalinity of a urine sample. It’s a simple and painless test.
Many diseases, your diet, and the medications you take can affect how acidic or basic (alkaline) your urine is. For instance, results that are either too high or low can indicate the likelihood that your body will form kidney stones.
If your urine is at an extreme on either the low or high end of pH levels, you can adjust your diet to reduce the likelihood of painful kidney stones.
In short, your urine pH is an indicator of your overall health and gives a doctor important clues as to what’s going on in your body.
What is a normal urine pH?
A neutral pH is 7.0. The average urine sample tests at about 6.0, but typical urine pH may range from 4.5–8.0.
The higher the number, the more basic your urine is. The lower the number, the more acidic your urine is.
Why do I need a urine pH level test?
Kidney stones tend to form in a highly acidic or basic environment, so a doctor may test your urine to determine the likelihood that you’ll develop kidney stones. These small masses of minerals can collect in the kidneys and cause pain as they prevent urine from passing through your kidneys and urinary system.
Certain medications can affect your urine pH too. A doctor may order the urine pH level test to determine whether your medications are making your urine too acidic.
Conclusion
A test strip is a piece of paper that is used to determine the concentration of a chemical or a liquid's property. Test strips are most commonly used to determine the pH of a liquid, but they can also be used to identify the presence of contaminants. The pH of a person's urine indicates how acidic or alkaline it is. When a person develops symptoms that could be connected to a urinary tract or kidney disease, doctors frequently test the pH of the urine and perform other diagnostic tests.
Resources:
https://www.healthline.com/health/urine
https://puriapp.com/test-urine-ph