Do you have frequent, painful UTIs? You might be amazed by how much you can do at home to ease your pain.
Taking an antibiotic isn’t really the only way to get over urinary tract infection symptoms.
In reality, some solutions don’t require a prescription– and they can be performed right at home in addition to any treatment your doctor has suggested. But beware with do-it-yourself home solutions and check in with your doctor prior to attempting a new method.
For example, mixing sodium bicarbonate and water as a drink to assist combat a urinary tract infection (UTI) can be dangerous if you drink too much of it. About 5 percent of baking soda-related poisonings in California in between 2000 and 2012 were from drinking baking soda to alleviate a UTI, according to February 2014 research in the Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics.
How to cure urinary tract infection in males: home remedies that works
The following seven viable home solutions– from drinking lots of water, to applying heat, and wearing loose cotton clothing– just might alleviate your painful UTI symptoms, or avoid them in the first place:
1. Get Your Fill of Water
One of the first things to do when you have a urinary tract infection is to drink lots of water, doctors will tell you. That’s since drinking water can help flush away the bacteria that’s triggering your infection, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). This puts you on the right track for recovery.
How much should you drink? Go for half of your body weight in ounces of water, approximately 80 ounces (oz) a day, states Holly Lucille, ND, RN, a naturopathic doctor in personal practice in West Hollywood, California, and author of Creating and Maintaining Balance: A Woman’s Guide to Safe, Natural Hormone Health. If you weigh 140 pounds, that indicates you must try to get 70 oz of water a day. And if you have kidney disease, the NIDDK stresses caution: Check with your physician about how much fluid is safe for you to drink.
2. Load Up on Vitamin C for a Healthy Urinary Tract
Getting a lot of foods high in vitamin C is essential, since huge quantities of vitamin C make urine more acidic. This prevents the growth of bacteria in your urinary tract, according to the Johns Hopkins Medicine health library. If you have an active UTI, taking vitamin C supplements may assist too.
3. Soothe UTI Pain With Heat
Swelling and inflammation from UTIs cause burning, pressure, and pain around your pubic area. Using a heating pad can assist relieve the area. Keep the heat setting low, don’t apply it directly to the skin, and limit your use to 15 minutes at a time to prevent burns.
4. Cut Bladder Irritants From Your Diet
When you have a UTI, caffeine, alcohol, spicy food, nicotine, carbonated drinks, and artificial sweeteners can irritate your bladder even more. This makes it harder for your body to recover. Focus on healthy foods, such as high-fiber carbs, which are good for your digestive health.
5. Go on, Empty Your Bladder Again
Every time you empty your bladder– even if it’s just a small amount– you rid it of some of the bacteria causing the infection, according to the NIDDK. So keep making those bathroom runs.
6. Consider Herbal Remedies
You might discover some remedy for taking the herb uva ursi (bearberry leaf), which is used as a treatment for lower urinary tract infections. However MD warns that it ought to be taken just for brief amount of times– five days or less– as it might cause liver damage. In addition, the herb goldenseal may be used as a remedy for UTIs, according to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. It’s clever to tell your doctor about this and any other medications or herbs you’re taking, since side effects or drug interactions can often be serious.
7. Modification to Healthier Habits
Lifestyle modifications matter since they can help you recuperate from a UTI and might avoid another infection, according to NIDDK.
- Quit smoking cigarettes
- Use loose cotton clothing and underwear
- Wipe yourself clean from front to back
- Pick just fragrance-free personal health products
About Cranberry Juice and UTIs
For several years, unsweetened cranberry juice was thought to help flush away bacteria and keep them from sticking to the bladder wall, perhaps helping to prevent or lower frequent UTIs. But a review of 14 research studies released December 2013 in the journal American Family Physician showed that cranberry juice might not have genuine advantages.
While more research studies may clear up this problem, for now, cranberry juice is no more suggested as a UTI fighter.
