Medical Review by Heidi Moawad
Summary
- UTIs (urinary tract infections) are common, especially in women, and result from bacterial infections in the urinary tract. Common symptoms include painful urination, frequent urges to urinate, and unusually smelly or cloudy urine.
- Risk factors include sexual activity, hormonal changes, and menopause. Complicated UTIs, which may involve additional health risks, require more intensive treatment than uncomplicated UTIs.
- Diagnosis often involves reviewing symptoms and may include urine tests for confirmation. Telehealth consultations can make this process easier.
- Some things that can help prevent or lessen symptoms include drinking more water, avoiding irritating beverages, using heating pads, and OTC pain relief. However, antibiotics are the only effective cure for a UTI.
- If you suspect you may have a UTI, consult your healthcare provider. They can help you learn more and put together a plan to deal with any symptoms you are experiencing.
Learn about UTI risk factors & how you can deal with common symptoms
Did you know that females are up to 30 times as likely to get a urinary tract infection (UTI) as males are? There are lots of things to love about being a woman, but the increased likelihood of having a UTI isn’t one of them.
Painful symptoms can make UTIs burdensome and inconvenient—but the good news is that these symptoms are also treatable. Below, you’ll learn more about how UTIs work, as well as the remedies and medications that might help you find relief. We’ll also tell you when to consult a healthcare practitioner for professional support.
What is a UTI?
A UTI happens when some portion of your urinary tract—usually your bladder—gets infected with bacteria. Most bladder infections aren’t serious and can be treated easily with prescription medications.
Sometimes your kidney, another part of your urinary tract, can become infected. A kidney infection can be more serious. Even if your UTI starts off as a minor bladder infection, not treating it could cause the infection to spread to your kidneys.
Complicated vs. uncomplicated UTIs
UTIs are categorized in one of two different ways, depending on several factors:
- An uncomplicated UTI is the most common type. It usually affects the lower urinary tract and shows up in otherwise healthy people.
- A complicated UTI may be more likely to occur when additional risk factors are present. They are harder to treat, require longer courses of medication, and can lead to sepsis—which can potentially be life-threatening.
Risk factors for UTIs
We already know that UTIs affect women more often than men, but any of the following risk factors for UTIs can make you even more likely to get one:
Before menopause
- Sexual activity
- Changes to the bacteria that live in your body
- A personal or family history of UTIs
Certain activities—like having sex more than four times per week, using spermicides that can change the pH levels in your vagina, or taking on new sexual partners—may also increase these risks.
After menopause
- Sexual activity
- A history of UTIs during premenopause
- Decreased estrogen in your vaginal tissue (vulvovaginal atrophy)
Postmenopausal women can also face an increased risk of complicated UTIs from factors like urinary incontinence, too much urine remaining in the bladder after urinating, inserting a catheter, and other medical conditions.
How do you know if you have a UTI?
You can’t treat a condition if you don’t know you have it—so how do you know if you have a UTI?
Some of the most common UTI symptoms are:
- Painful, burning urination
- Frequent urge to urinate (whether or not any urine actually comes out)
- Smelly, cloudy, or red-colored, blood-tinged urine
- Pain in the abdominal area or near your back
You might also notice some additional symptoms if you have one or more of the other risk factors mentioned earlier. Fever could be a UTI symptom if you have a catheter, while tiredness, weakness, and muscle aches or pains tend to be more common symptoms for older women.
UTI testing & diagnosis
Your healthcare provider will normally diagnose a UTI by reviewing your medical history and asking questions about your symptoms. This can often be done remotely—like over the phone or on a video call.
Some UTIs need to be confirmed through testing your urine. The results of urinalysis or urine culture tests can provide additional information, which can be especially useful if other risk factors are also present.
Different treatment approaches for UTI symptoms
We’ve already talked about the most common UTI symptoms, but what can you actually do about them? Here are five common methods that may help you find relief when you have a UTI:
Drink lots of water
Some research suggests that drinking more fluids—especially water—can make UTIs less likely to recur. One study found that drinking 1.5 extra liters of water each day made premenopausal women with a history of UTIs 50% less likely to get them again, as well as reducing their need for antibiotics.
Avoid irritating beverages
One common way to reduce UTI symptoms is to reduce your consumption of beverages with irritating ingredients—like alcohol, caffeine, and sugar. Some research suggests that this may improve lower urinary tract symptoms, although the results are not precise.
Try a heating pad
It might be time to pull out that good, old-fashioned heating pad your grandmother gave you. Placing a hot pack or piece of gauze soaked in lukewarm water on the suprapubic region has been shown to reduce urinary retention, which can be a contributing factor to some UTIs.
Try over-the-counter pain medications
Many women search for over-the-counter (OTC) UTI treatment. Although OTC medications can’t cure a UTI, some of them have been shown to help relieve certain UTI symptoms. These include:
- Ibuprofen (sold under trade names like Advil®, Midol®, and Motrin®)
- Acetaminophen (sold under the trade names Tylenol®, Panadol®, and others)
However, it’s important to note that these medications are not treatments for UTIs. They can provide relief from the pain or discomfort a UTI causes—but the most commonly recommended way to treat a UTI is with antibiotics.
Antibiotics
Your healthcare provider will normally recommend a course of antibiotics to treat your UTI and make it go away completely. The antibiotics they prescribe to you will depend on numerous factors—including the severity of your infection, whether it goes away on its own, how frequently it recurs, and whether you have any other health problems or allergies that might interfere with certain medications.
For an uncomplicated UTI, these antibiotics are prescribed most often:
- Nitrofurantoin (Macrodantin®, Macrobid®)
- Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (Bactrim®)
- Cephalexin (Daxbia®)
How do I know if I need antibiotics to treat my UTI?
While home remedies and OTC medications might help prevent UTIs or make their symptoms easier to deal with, they are not cures. You will need antibiotics to cure your UTI.
Once you start taking antibiotics, symptoms usually clear up in a few days—with complicated UTIs taking up to a week in some cases. Always take the antibiotics your healthcare provider prescribes to you as directed for best results.
Be proactive about finding UTI relief with help from Lemonaid Health
UTI symptoms are frequently distressing, and they can even become a risk to your health in certain situations—but you don’t have to deal with them by yourself.
Knowing your risk factors can help you control your risks of getting a UTI, while lifestyle changes like drinking more water and avoiding irritants can make symptoms easier to manage. Applying heat and using OTC medications can help you find relief when you need it most—and the right course of antibiotics can help you deal with your UTI for good.
Lemonaid Health can help. We can connect you with US-based medical practitioners for discrete online consultations where you’ll be able to have your questions about UTIs answered by experts, and can also prescribe appropriate medications in clinically indicated cases. Learn more about finding UTI support here and get started today.
Advil® is a registered trademark of PF Consumer Healthcare 1 LLC. Midol® is a trademark of Bayer-Roche LLC. Motrin® and Tylenol® are trademarks of Johnson & Johnson. Panadol® is a trademark of GlaxoSmithKline. Macrodantin® is a trademark of Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals. Macrobid® is a trademark of Allergan Pharmaceuticals International Limited. Bactrim® is a trademark of Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. Daxbia® is a trademark of Crown Laboratories, Inc.
