Understanding Urinary Tract Infections

Let’s understand what UTIs are and how they make you feel. UTIs happen when bacteria get into your urinary system and cause an infection. This can affect different parts of your urinary system, like your bladder, urethra, ureters, and kidneys. Some common signs of UTIs include:

• • Feeling pain or a burning sensation when you urinate

• • Needing to urinate a lot

• • Feeling like you really need to urinate right away

• • Urine that looks cloudy or smells strong

• • Feeling pain or discomfort in your pelvic area

While UTIs usually aren’t life-threatening, they can cause serious problems if you don’t treat them, like kidney infections or sepsis. So, it’s important to get diagnosed and treated quickly.(Mayo Clinic, 2023)

When to Go to Urgent Care:

While some UTIs might get better if you drink more water and use over-the-counter medicines, there are times when you need to see a doctor right away. Here are some situations where you should go to urgent care:

• • If your symptoms don’t go away after a few days or they get worse, you need medical help. Severe pain, fever, or seeing blood in your pee are signs that you need to see a doctor right away.

• • If you keep getting UTIs often, especially if you have other health problems like diabetes or issues with your urinary system, you should talk to a doctor. Repeated UTIs might mean there’s an underlying problem that needs attention to stop more infections.

• • If you’re pregnant and you think you have a UTI, it’s important to get checked out quickly. UTIs during pregnancy can be risky for both you and your baby, so it’s crucial to get treatment soon.

• • If you have symptoms like a high fever, pain in your back, feeling sick to your stomach, and throwing up, it might mean you have a kidney infection. Kidney infections need quick treatment to avoid serious complications like kidney damage or infections in your bloodstream.

• • Even though UTIs are more common in women, men can get them too, especially as they get older. So, if a man has symptoms like pain or burning when peeing, it’s important for them to see a doctor for the right treatment.

Getting medical help for UTIs quickly can stop problems and help you feel better faster. Waiting too long to get treated can make your symptoms worse and make it more likely that you’ll have complications.(Health Harvard, 2024)

Prevention and Home Care Tips:

While it’s important to get treated quickly for UTIs, there are things you can do to prevent them from happening in the first place: (CDC, 2024)

• • Drink plenty of water to stay hydrated.

• • Make sure to wipe from front to back after using the bathroom.

• • Urinate before and after having sex.

• • Don’t hold in your pee for too long.

• • Wear cotton underwear to help air flow.

When to Go to Urgent Care

UTIs are common, but they can cause big problems if you don’t treat them quickly. Knowing when to go to urgent care for a UTI is important so you can get the right treatment soon. If you have symptoms that won’t go away, keep getting UTIs, are pregnant, think you have a kidney infection, or are a man with urinary symptoms, it’s important to see a doctor. By getting medical help fast and taking steps to prevent UTIs, you can keep your urinary system healthy and avoid complications.

Works Cited:

“Urinary Tract Infection (UTI).” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 14 Sept. 2022, www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/urinary-tract-infection/symptoms-causes/syc-20353447 Accessed 23 Feb. 2024

“Urinary Tract Infection.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 6 Oct. 2021, www.cdc.gov/antibiotic-use/uti.html Accessed 23 Feb. 2024.

“Urinary Tract Infection in Men.” Harvard Health, 5 Dec. 2022, www.health.harvard.edu/a_to_z/urinary-tract-infection-in-men-a-to-z Accessed 23 Feb. 2024