Hair Growth and Stone Formation in the Urethra

The skin used to reconstruct the channel in childhood is hairless at that age. Once hormonal stimulation begins at puberty, hair starts growing in that skin — except now it's inside the channel.

• The hair disrupts the urinary stream, gives salts a surface to collect on and form stones, and leads to recurrent infection. This isn't the result of poor care — it's a late consequence of the nature of the tissue that was used.

• A weak or spraying stream.
• A foul odor in the urine.
• Recurrent urinary tract infections.
• Pain and, occasionally, blood in the urine.

Endoscopic clearing provides temporary relief, but the hair grows back. The permanent solution is removing the hair-bearing segment from the channel and replacing it with hairless tissue — usually oral mucosa.

• If the hair-bearing segment is long, the process is split into two operations. The urine needs to be sterilized before surgery.