Follow These Tips To Avoid Urinary Tract Infection
A urinary tract infection can occur anywhere in your urinary tract, which extends from your kidneys to your urethra. Most such infections involve the urethra and bladder, which is the lower tract. Either due to stress or weakness, our body’s defenses may break down, and this creates the right climate for bacteria to multiply, especially in the urinary tract area. Urinary tract infections are more common to women.
Indications that you may have UTI are difficult to ascertain. Symptoms of lower urinary tract infection are a burning feeling while urinating; an increase in the urgency and frequency of urination; bloody, dark coloured, smelly or cloudy urine, pain in the pelvis or rectum. Symptoms of upper tract UTI are nausea, vomiting, pain, chills, and fever.
Good personal hygiene and taking the right precautions is important to
prevent any kind of infection, but this is especially true of urinary tract infections.
Some of the ways in which you can protect yourself are:
- The Right Underwear: This means not only should you keep your body clean, but you must also always wear fresh underwear. Again, cotton underwear is the better material choice, for silk and synthetic fabrics tend to trap and keep bacteria. Since it is important to keep the urethra bacteria free, it is wiser to wear cotton, as it is to wear fresh and dry underwear.
Wear clean and right underwear
- Keep Hydrated: Drinking water (at least 2 litres a day) is good for overall health, but especially for making sure your body is clear of toxins that get washed away from your insides through drinking as much water as possible.
Keep yourself hydrated
- Don’t Hold Your Urine: Drinking lots of water also means that you need to use the toilet frequently. You must not hold the urine in, and pee when you need to because this flushes the bacteria out.
Do not hold for too long
- Try Avoiding Use of Public Toilets: Avoid using public toilets as far as possible. If you do use them, be careful when you do. Use toilet seat sanitizer sprays like Peesafe (available in India), on the public toilet seats before you use them. This is for protection against infection from publicly used toilets.
Image Courtesy: Healthista
- Birth Control Method Used: Birth control pills affect hormone levels and may increase the risk for urinary tract infection. Spermicides increase the risk of irritation and urinary tract infection, so condoms without spermicides are better from this viewpoint.
Pick the right method
- The direction of Cleaning: When washing or wiping this sensitive area, make sure you wash and clean from front to back. Faeces contain E.Coli, the dangerous bacteria that cause UTI, and this should not get near the urethra at any cost.
Cleaning
If you get bacteria caused UTI, you will need a course of antibiotics to get rid of it. Sometimes urinary tract infection may be caused by a virus, for which antivirals are used as treatment. Sometimes fungus may cause UTI, which is treated by prescribing antifungals. However, the most common cause is bacteria. In some people, especially those whose immunity levels are low, UTI can become a recurrent phenomenon, requiring repeated doses of antibiotics. If the UTI spreads to the upper tract, it affects the kidneys. It may get into the bloodstream, causing blood poisoning and can prove very dangerous, even causing death. Hence, prevent such infection from occurring by becoming aware and taking the required care.
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