Yolanda smallA urinary tract infection (UTI) involves the kidneys, ureters, bladder, and the urethra. The kidneys remove waste from the body producing urine and storing it in the bladder until the individual needs to void. Sometimes patients will get a fungus or bacteria that will travel up to the bladder and cause an infection which leads to pain during urination. UTIs are common in all ages from infants to adults. Signs and symptoms are pain during voiding, cloudy urine, abnormal odor of the urine, blood in the urine, frequent or small amounts of urination, lower back pain, pelvic pressure, or pain in the scrotum for some males. UTIs could be diagnosed at your doctor’s office by collecting a sample of clean catch urine. An in-house test could be done called an UA dip. It checks for leukocytes, Ph, specific gravity, protein, ketones, blood, nitrite, urobilinogdn, glucose, and bilirubin. Upon signs of infection, the doctor could prescribe an antibiotic and send urine out for cultures to see if the antibiotic is the right treatment for the patient. Cultures normally take up to 3 days to grow the bacteria. There are home remedies you could try first. Drink plenty of water, drink cranberry juice or take cranberry pills, avoid anything that would irritate the bladder such as caffeine, alcohol and spicy foods. Take vitamin C, or you could try buying an over-the-counter medication like Azo (which is the most common). Continue to empty your bladder. If a UTI is not taken care of appropriately it could lead to serious illness and spread into the blood such as a kidney infection which requires hospitalization. For a normal standard UTI, a patient will take 7-10 days of antibiotic medications.  If you feel better, always remember to finish the antibiotic course and drink plenty of water throughout the time.

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