I Think My Child Has Nocturnal Enuresis: Can You Help?
Potty training is a huge milestone in every family, but what do you do when your older child can’t stay dry through the night? Here’s how we can help.
Why Do I Have UTIs So Frequently?
Painful, frequent, urgent urination: These are the hallmarks of a urinary tract infection (UTI). Thankfully, a short course of antibiotics is usually enough to clear the infection and relieve your symptoms — until another one develops just a few months later.
Recurrent UTIs are incredibly frustrating. Our experts at Golden Gate Urology in Berkeley, California, want to help. In this blog, we discuss why you keep getting UTIs and how you can finally stop them.
What are recurrent UTIs, and who gets them?
We classify UTIs as recurrent if you have at least 3-4 infections in one year. Women and older adults are most at risk for recurrent UTIs.
A woman’s urethra is much shorter than a man’s and is closer to the anus and vagina, where bacteria often accumulate. Postmenopausal women are more susceptible to UTIs because of pH changes in the vagina during menopause.
Older women with medical conditions such as bladder prolapse and older men with enlarged prostates may have difficulty emptying their bladders. Retaining urine in the bladder for too long allows bacteria to grow and a UTI to develop.
Younger men can get UTIs, but they’re rarely recurrent and usually indicate a blockage such as a kidney stone or an enlarged prostate.
Why do you keep getting UTIs?
One reason could be the prescription you’re taking to clear the infection. The bacteria causing your UTIs can become resistant to antibiotics and keep coming back until you find the right type of antibiotic to address it.
Some patients start to feel better and don’t finish their course of antibiotics. That’s a mistake. Stopping short of an entire course of antibiotics won’t completely kill the bacteria; the result is often a recurrent infection.
Even if you take the right antibiotics and follow your prescription, recurrent UTIs can happen. Depending on your age and what’s causing your UTIs, we may prescribe antibiotics you take before and after sexual activity or vaginal estrogen cream for menopausal women.
If those interventions don't work, we may consider the possibility the problem stems from your kidneys, bladder, or other area of your urinary tract.
What else can you do to prevent recurrent UTIs?
For women, UTI prevention usually involves hygiene habits. We recommend:
- Wiping from front to back after bowel movements
- Urinating immediately before and after sex
- Not touching or using feminine deodorant on your genitals
- Wearing cotton underwear
Older adults should consider double voiding (urinating and then going back to urinate again). The goal is to fully empty your bladder regularly to reduce the presence of bacteria.
Does drinking cranberry juice help?
Researchers used to think that cranberry juice makes urine more acidic and less hospitable to bacteria. Now, it’s more widely believed that cranberries make it more difficult for bacteria to stick to the urinary tract walls.
The jury is out on the effectiveness of this method, so don’t rely on cranberry juice alone to cure your recurrent UTIs. But if you want to add drinking cranberry juice to your urinary tract health plan, there’s no harm.
It’s time to take control of your bladder health. If you want to break the cycle of recurrent UTIs, we’d love to talk with you about your treatment options. Call our friendly staff at 510-255-0013 or schedule your consultation online today.
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