Male Scans
Kidneys & Urinary Tract
Pain in the side, blood in your urine, or a flow that is not what it used to be. A kidney and urinary tract ultrasound looks at both kidneys and the bladder in one appointment and shows up stones, blockages, cysts and problems with emptying. Carried out and reported by a qualified sonographer in Great Yarmouth, usually within a few days of booking.
Prices from £195
Kidneys & Urinary Tract Private Scan Norfolk
What Is A Kidneys & Urinary Tract Scan?
This scan uses ultrasound to look at the urinary system, which runs from the kidneys down through the ureters to the bladder. A small handheld probe is moved across the skin over your back, sides and lower abdomen. Sound waves build a live image on screen so your sonographer can see the structure of each kidney and how full or empty the bladder is in real time. There is no radiation and no injection.
For men it is often the most informative single test for urinary symptoms, because it shows both ends of the system at once. It can pick up stones sitting in the kidney, swelling that suggests something is blocking the flow, cysts, and changes in the size or texture of the kidney tissue. It also shows how well the bladder empties, which is frequently the real answer behind symptoms men assume are something else.
Included in your scan
What’s Covered
- Both kidneys: size, structure, cysts, stones and signs of scarring or long term change.
- Signs of obstruction: swelling of the kidney that suggests something is blocking the flow of urine.
- Bladder: wall thickness, stones and any obvious abnormality, assessed when full.
- Bladder emptying: a repeat look after you have emptied the bladder, to measure how much urine is left behind.
- Prostate: size and shape, assessed through the abdomen.
- Upper ureters: where the view allows, as much of this section is hidden by bowel gas.
Registered & Regulated
Norfolk Medical Imaging is registered with the Care Quality Commission and every scan is performed by a sonographer registered with the Health and Care Professions Council. The person who scans you is the person who reports your images and explains what they mean. Nothing is sent anywhere to be read.
Kidneys & Urinary Tract Private Ultrasound
Who is it for?
These are the symptoms this scan was designed to investigate. It looks at both ends of the urinary system, and the prostate between them, so one scan covers all of them.
Blood in Urine
Visible or on a dipstick. Always needs investigating. See your GP as well, not instead.
Loin Pain
Pain in the side or back that comes in waves, a common pattern for kidney stones.
Kidney Stones
If you have passed a stone before, a scan checks whether others are waiting.
Poor Flow
Hesitancy, a weak stream or getting up at night, often the prostate or poor emptying. This scan shows both.
Recurrent Infections
Repeated UTIs can point to incomplete emptying, a stone, or a structural issue worth ruling out.
Reduced Kidney Function
A raised creatinine or falling eGFR is usually followed up with an ultrasound.
Kidneys & Urinary Tract​ Private Ultrasound Norfolk
What To Expect
An easy scan with one key piece of preparation: arriving with a comfortably full bladder. The fullness acts as a window for the sound waves, and it is the difference between a good scan and a compromised one.
Duration
Around 15 - 20 minutes, or slightly longer if the bladder is measured before and after emptying. Allow up to 30 minutes at the clinic.
Preparation
rink around a litre of water in the hour before your appointment and do not empty your bladder once you have started. A full bladder gives a much clearer view of the bladder wall and the prostate behind it. There is no need to fast, so eat normally. If you are on fluid restriction, tell us when you book.
What the experience is like
Warm gel is applied and the probe is moved over your sides and back for the kidneys, then the lower abdomen for the bladder. You will breathe in and hold at points. Pressure on a full bladder can feel odd but passes quickly, and you may be rescanned briefly after using the toilet.
Upper Abdomen
What to expect
Prices From £195
One price covering the scan, the sonographer's time and your written report. No consultation fee and nothing added on afterwards. If we recommend looking at another area on the day, we will tell you the cost before we do it.
Book Upper Abdomen Scan Now
Frequently Asked Questions
Comfortably full, not painfully so. Around a litre of water in the hour beforehand is usually right for most men. You want to feel that you need the toilet but can still hold it for another twenty minutes or so. If you arrive and are not full enough, we will give you water and wait rather than scanning too early.
Tell us as soon as you arrive. It is very common and not a problem. We can scan the kidneys first, which need no preparation at all, and come back to the bladder. If you genuinely cannot hold on, we would rather let you go and rescan than record a measurement that is not reliable.
Ultrasound is good at finding stones sitting in the kidney itself and stones in the bladder. It is much less reliable for stones in the middle section of the ureter, which is hidden behind bowel gas. What it will often show is swelling of the kidney caused by a stone further down, which tells us something is blocking the flow even when the stone itself cannot be seen. If a stone is suspected but not found, a CT scan is the usual next step.
Yes. The prostate sits directly behind the bladder and is assessed through the abdomen as part of this scan, with its size and general shape included in your report. An enlarged prostate is one of the most common explanations for a poor stream and night time waking, so it is a natural part of the same picture. Note this is a view through the abdomen, not the more detailed dedicated prostate imaging a urologist might arrange.
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