Prevention of Urinary Tract Infections
March 8, 2009 by Peggy Rowland
Filed under Women's Health
It’s National Kidney Month, so what better time to talk about urinary tract infections (UTIs)? Women get UTIs much more frequently than men, but there are some simple things you can do to help prevent them.
The National Kidney Foundation suggests preventing UTIs by:
• Drinking lots of fluids, including cranberry juice cocktail
• Urinating when the urge strikes (don’t delay)
• Wiping from front to back to keep bacteria from entering the urinary tract
• Cleaning genital area each day and before sex
Symptoms of UTIs include burning feeling during urination, cloudy or blood-tinged urine, strong odor in urine or an urgent need to urinate with only a few drops passing. (Source: National Kidney Foundation)
Can you have a UTI without symptoms?
Actually, yes. I didn’t have any of the symptoms above, but a routine test during an annual exam a couple of months ago showed I had a UTI. It took two rounds of different meds to clear it up. There’s an argument for not skipping your physical. If UTIs aren’t treated properly, kidney damage may occur.
On World Kidney Day, March 12, you may be able to receive a free kidney screening. Visit the World Kidney Day page at the National Kidney Foundation for more information.
(Image via stock.xchng)
As a woman who has been plagued by bladder infections for years, I can tell you it’s also important for a woman to urinate after sex to cleanse the urethra of any bacteria that may have been pushed into it, wear cotton underwear, and I take L Acidolphilus, which seems to help.
This is good advice because my mother suffered from a bad Urinary track infection and it cost us a lot of money to get it solved. If you can prevent it than that will save you a lot of money
Everyones should have there daughters read this article