For men, the signs and symptoms are discharge from the penis, burning or pain when urinating, itching, irritation, or tenderness.

Herpes simplex virus, Adenovirus, Cytomegalovirus[citation needed] Candida Albicans Parasitic causes include Trichomonas vaginalis (rare).

[citation needed] Urethritis can be caused by mechanical injury (from a urinary catheter or a cystoscope), or by an irritating chemical (antiseptics or some spermicides).

It has been easy to test for the presence of gonorrhea by viewing a Gram stain of the urethral discharge under a microscope: The causative organism is distinctive in appearance; however, this works only with men because other non-pathogenic gram-negative microbes are present as normal flora of the vagina in women.

"Idiopathic" and "non-specific" are medical term meaning "specific cause has not been identified", and in this case refers to the detection of urethritis, and the testing for but found negative of gonorrhea.

[6] Thus, depending on the sense, chlamydia can either be the most likely cause or have been ruled out, and frequently detected organisms are Ureaplasma urealyticum and Mycoplasma hominis.

[7] Because of its multi-causative nature, initial treatment strategies involve using a broad range antibiotic that is effective against chlamydia (such as doxycycline).