Cystitis or Urinary Tract Infection

A lot of women will recognize this scenario. A feeling of having to urgently go to the loo to urinate, and when you get there, a few dribbles and then pain. Most adult women at some point will develop urinary tract infection, in most the symptoms are mainly in the bladder and will hopefully not travel up the urinary tract into the kidney. This article really only deals with uncomplicated urinary tract infection in women. Men and children will always need to see a doctor when they develop a UTI, as there may be underlying problems with the urinary tract itself. Adult women are most likely to develop UTIs and in the vast majority of cases a short course of antibiotics will deal with the infection.
The symptoms in most women are urgency to pass urine, pain on passing urine, sometimes blood in the urine, and frequency, i.e. the need to pass urine again and again, or so it seems. When urine is passed it is usually a teaspoon full even though the bladder felt it was going to burst.

It is not always possible to get to a physician at the time that the symptoms develop. The aim of this article is to keep the women comfortable until such time that a physician can be seen. When going to the appointment with the doctor, take a sample of urine in a clean container, this means you do not have to pass urine at the doctor's surgery and a simple dip stick test at the surgery will enable the doctor to know whether there is evidence of infection and blood in the urine.

The main stay of treatment before you can see the doctor is to stop having to urinate so often. The reason the bladder wants to empty is that there is a high concentration of bacteria which are irritating to the bladder lining. Therefore the first and most important thing to do is increase fluid intake. The advice is to drink at least half a litre of water every hour - more if it can be tolerated. Water is better than anything else, though some squash may be added to it. Steer clear of anything containing caffeine or alcohol, as both of these are irritating to the bladder.

Because urine is acid and the bladder lining is irritated by the infection, the other thing that can help is to make the urine less acid. This needs to be done with care in people who have heart conditions. The best way to make the urine less acid is to use Bicarbonate of Soda. 1 level teaspoon in a glass of lukewarm water, it tastes disgusting but often the relief starts to happen within half an hour and it is certainly worth trying before going to sleep, as there is nothing more irritating than having to get up every 20 minutes at night to pass one teaspoon of urine.

Pain relief in the form of simple painkillers like Aspirin or Paracetamol can also be beneficial. In some cases a hot water bottle over the lower back and then changed to the bladder area and back and forth can also be helpful.

Always seek medical advice as soon as possible, as if the infection is not treated it can spread up the ureters and into the kidneys.

The information above is really only for cases where immediate medical treatment is not available and will alleviate the symptoms, but not the underlying infection.

By: Osiris
Published: 07/05/08