Urinary Tract Infection Prevention

Common signs and symptoms of a urinary tract infection (UTI):

  • Urinary symptoms: urgency, frequency, pain with urination, new/worsening leaking of urine, and/or visible blood in the urine.
  • Suprapubic pain/pressure, flank pain, and/or abdominal tenderness.
  • Fever/chills.

**Cloudy and/or malodorous urine without other UTI symptoms does not necessarily warrant treatment for UTI, please consult your medical provider to determine if further evaluation is necessary. **

How to prevent UTIs:

  • Increase fluid intake to 2-3L daily.
  • Double voiding: sit on the toilet and lean forward, wait approximately 20-30 seconds to attempt to urinate again.
  • Women should avoid using spermicides for birth control.
  • Women should urinate soon after sexual intercourse.
  • Women should wipe from front to back to reduce contamination.
  • Take a daily probiotic, such as:
    • Live cultures in yogurt (Activia yogurt)
    • Kefir, a yogurt drink
    • Pill formation which is available over the counter at any pharmacy
  • Take Vitamin C 500 mg twice per day
    • Please consult your healthcare provider prior to starting this regimen.
  • Cranberry supplement (via 100% cranberry juice or cranberry tablets/capsules/gummies which are available over at any pharmacy)
Additional medical management options- should be discussed with your healthcare provider.

Please contact our office if you believe you have symptoms of a urinary tract infection. We can place an order for you to drop off a urine sample at Compunet or you can stop by the office without an appointment to provide a urine sample. We may also be able to provide antibiotics for you to begin, while we await your urine culture results.

Please do not hesitate to contact our office with questions or concerns.
937-293-1622

Reference: Hooton, T.M. & Gupta, K. (2020). Recurrent simple cystitis in women. In S.B. Calderwood (Ed.), UpToDate. Retrieved March 20, 2020. https://www.uptodate.com/contents/recurrent-simple-cystitis-in-women?search=cranberry%20urinary %20tract%20infection&source=search_result&selectedTitle=1~150&usage_type=default&display_rank=1#H476737204