No, lemon, water and sugar will not fix burning sensation during urination; see doctor instead
IN SHORT: A reel circulating on Facebook claims that a mixture of lemon, water and sugar will resolve a burning sensation when peeing, often the result of a urinary tract infection. However, the medical research to support this is limited, and a burning feeling may be caused by a more serious condition.
“Feeling that burning sensation when you pee? Try this simple natural home remedy using lemon and water,” reads the caption of a reel on Facebook. The narrator claims that drinking a mixture of lemon and warm water is a natural method for pain relief, “in just five minutes”.
Facebook users are instructed to squeeze half a lemon into a glass of water, add a teaspoon of sugar and stir until everything is dissolved.
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The reel has over 100,000 views and has also been posted here and here. But does this “home remedy” really work?
What is a urinary tract infection?
The reel claims that the cause of the burning sensation when urinating is a urinary tract infection, a bacterial infection in the urinary system.
The urinary tract, also known as the urinary system, includes the bladder, which stores urine, the urethra, the tube that allows urine to flow out of the bladder, and the kidneys, whose functions include filtering waste products and other substances from the blood and removing them from the body in the form of urine.
According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, a US-based health system and academic institution, a urinary tract infection (UTI) occurs when bacteria grow in the kidneys, bladder or urethra. Symptoms include frequent and/or painful urination, pain in the pelvis and feeling like you need to pee even when your bladder is empty.
A healthcare professional can diagnose a UTI using urine tests or physical examination. UTIs are normally treated with antibiotics, a type of medication that kills bacteria and stops them from spreading.
Untreated, UTIs can lead to more serious infections, such as urosepsis, when the bacteria causing the UTI spread to the rest of the urinary system. Instead of fighting the bacteria, the immune system then begins to damage normal tissues and organs.
Can lemons clear UTIs?
A 2023 review looked at studies trying to find alternative treatments for UTI-causing bacteria that have become resistant to antibiotics.
These studies, done in labs, on animals and on humans, found that polyphenols, a group of powerful antioxidants, showed promise in fighting UTIs. Citrus fruits, particularly their peels, contain a lot of polyphenols. However, the study concluded that more research was needed to confirm how effective polyphenols were in preventing and treating UTIs.
A 2023 study done in the Anuppur district in India looked into fresh fruit juices’ potential for fighting drug-resistant bacteria that cause UTIs and sexually transmitted infections and found that lemon juice was the most effective of the juices tested at stopping the growth of harmful bacteria. However, the study was done in vitro, meaning testing occurred outside the human body, in test tubes or petri dishes. In vitro studies are good starting points in research, but further studies are needed to confirm their findings.
Vitamin C
The reel claims that the reason why this home remedy works is because lemon contains vitamin C, which fights the bacteria that cause urinary tract infections. But what do scientific studies say about this?
According to a 2015 review, citrus fruits, including lemons, are a good source of nutrition because they contain a large amount of vitamin C along with calcium, vitamin B6 and other beneficial substances.
Vitamin C is important to many bodily functions, including helping to maintain strong teeth and bones, along with supporting the body’s immune system.
A 2020 study into potential alternatives to antibiotics to treat UTIs concluded that there was no evidence that vitamin C could prevent UTIs, while a 2017 study into non-surgical treatments for recurring UTIs found that while there was some evidence that vitamin C could make urine more acidic, there was not enough evidence that it could treat UTIs.
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A 2025 study found that taking vitamin C supplements did not change the amount of healthy bacteria in the urinary tracts of healthy study participants. It also said that more research was needed to see whether these supplements had any effect on people who got repeated UTIs.
A burning sensation could be a symptom of other illnesses
Dysuria is the medical term for pain or burning sensations when you urinate. It can be caused by a urinary tract infection or consuming certain foods and drinks, such as alcohol, caffeine, spicy and acidic foods, including citrus fruit. It can also be the result of vaginal or sexually transmitted infections, or specific types of cancer, such as renal, vulvar or prostate cancer.
The treatment of dysuria, therefore, depends on what is causing it. This is why getting medical attention from a healthcare practitioner is important in diagnosing and managing its root cause.