Did you know that Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) can give you serious symptoms like blood in your urine and experiencing excruciating pain in your lower abdomen and around your pelvic area? These symptoms can leave you uncomfortable, and the only way out is to find a solution to free yourself from the infection. Most of these urinary tract infections occur in women, though it affects men as well. You will feel like you want to visit your doctor every millisecond until you heal completely because of the discomfort that comes with UTI. There are different ways to prevent and eliminate these infections. Although medication can help, it is prudent if you indulge in other home remedies to heal or prevent contracting these infections. While antibiotics are the most advanced method of treating UTIs, you can eliminate or prevent them in many other ways mentioned below.
What is UTI?
Urinary tract infection is infection of any part of urinary system which includes kidneys, bladder, ureters and urethra. It can be lower or upper urinary tract infection. Lower urinary tract infection is infection of urethra to bladder and causes symptoms like burning or painful micturition, blood in urine, urgency to urinate and foul smelling urine. Upper tract infection is infection of kidneys and renal pelvis and can be more severe with high fever, back pain and need urgent medical treatment.
Prevention and alleviation of UTI
Make it a habit of drinking plenty of water to enhance healthy living. While urination can be painful when you have a urinary tract infection, taking as many fluids as possible is good. Because when you drink more, you will urinate more and flush all the harmful bacteria around your urinary tract. Cranberry juice is thought to prevent recurrent UTI, but evidence is not strong enough yet.
Don’t hold on to urine.
You should pee from time to time and anytime you feel the urge. Holding urine in bladder causes stasis of urine and provides a nidus for infective organisms to grow. Passing urine helps to flush bacteria.
You should wipe yourself properly to avoid the multiplication of the infection to enhance good health. Wiping should be away from urinary tract, ie front to back. It is shown to reduce the urinary tract infection.
Taking probiotics will help enhance healthy digestion and immunity. Besides, they are effective when it comes to UTI prevention and treatment, especially whenever they are used together with antibiotic therapies. That way, you can be sure that you will build good bacteria around your urogenital system, reducing your reoccurring UTI.
Increase your vitamin C intake
Make sure to take vitamin C supplements or fruits rich in them. Increasing your vitamin C intake may help boost your immune system. This will help treat UTIs, as denoted by some researchers conducted on the same.
Voiding Urine after sex:
Voiding urine after sex can be very helpful prevention method for women with recurrent urinary tract infections. If you have problem with recurring UTI, this practice can be helpful in preventing it.
Switch birth control methods
Sometimes the contraceptives you take can lead to UTI problems for some ladies. Always talk with your doctor and get proper advice on the best method, depending on how your body responds to different methods. Spermicide and diaphragm can increase the risk of UTI.
Use a heating pad
Applying a heating pad around your lower abdomen is important as it helps relieve some discomfort brought forth by UTI. This will lower your frequency in the bathroom as it can lead to painful burns.
Avoid tight clothes
Wearing a cotton line yet losing clothes will save you because it lowers symptoms of existing UTI problems. This is unlike tight clothing from other fabrics that traps warmth and moisture, enabling bacteria to grow around your private parts. This will worsen the infection problem.
Although medication can help you sort out your urinary tract infection problems, focusing on the above practices will save you from the infection issues you are suffering from. If these home methods are not of help, then it is important to seek medical attention from your doctor.