Peeing a Jellyfish: Children's Ketamine Injuries Revealed
BBC Homepage
Skip to content Accessibility Help
Your account
Home
- News
- Sport
- Earth
- Reel
- Worklife
- Travel
- Culture
- Future
- Music
- TV
- Weather
- Sounds
BBC News
Menu
- Home
- Climate
- World
- UK
- Business
- Tech
- Science
- Entertainment & Arts
- Health
- In Pictures
BBC Verify
Newsbeat
Health
Child Ketamine Users Getting Bladder Damage Describe 'Peeing a Jellyfish'
Image source: Getty Images
By Michelle Roberts | Digital health editor
Published 7 hours ago
Children as young as 13 are experiencing ketamine-related bladder damage, according to doctors at the UK's first and only dedicated NHS clinic for this issue.
Medics at Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool have treated over 100 patients since opening their specialist unit last May. Many had been using ketamine for a year or more, suggesting some may have started when they were 12 or younger.
Some children describe the sensation of "peeing a jellyfish", which refers to the shedding of the bladder's protective lining. Prolonged damage can lead to incontinence or uncontrolled urination, and even kidney failure.
Many children at the clinic had been taking ketamine for a year or more.
Some with emotional trauma say the ketamine, often purchased for pocket money prices, helps "shush" or calm their brain.
Image caption: Ketamine's most common form is white or pale-brown grainy powder that is often inhaled (snorted) or sometimes injected by users.
Like weeing over broken glass
Ketamine is a general anaesthetic, so it reduces or blunts sensations in the body. Users describe feeling dream-like and detached, chilled and relaxed. But it can also cause severe harm.
Prof Rachel Isba, who runs the clinic, explains some children experience bedwetting or increased urinary frequency and urgency, sometimes with pain.
"They might have accidents...and a lot of them report pain in their bladder," she says. "It's very painful."
She adds that some users may inadvertently make their condition worse by using ketamine to treat the pain it causes.
"Ketamine is a very good pain reliever. It’s an anaesthetic, and so they get into a vicious cycle or 'K loop', which makes their bladder worse," she says.
She notes that ketamine is cheap, "pocket-money level".
"And you only need a small amount to feel an effect."
Some children find it hard to quit if friends are still using. She also highlights difficulties for those who have pre-existing conditions like ADHD or have been in and out of the care system.
Ketamine abuse in children and young people is on the rise across the UK. Alder Hey doctors saw one young patient in 2023, nine in 2024, and then "a rapid escalation" in 2025, leading to opening their clinic.
They receive about one referral per week from GPs or emergency departments in Cheshire, Merseyside, and surrounding areas. Of the first 60 they saw, 43 were girls.
Despite its name, ketamine bladder can affect the entire urinary tract, including the kidneys and ureters. Symptoms include an urgent and frequent need to urinate, which can be very painful and result in blood-stained urine. Stopping ketamine use can help, but sometimes damage is severe enough to require surgical repair or even removal of the bladder.
Some users also experience abdominal pain and spasms, known as "K cramps". There are also reports of liver damage among heavy users, though it's challenging to distinguish these harms from other substances taken by the individuals.
Isba states that while cannabis and alcohol remain more popular, ketamine is "probably up into third place".