Get Treatment for Your Urinary Tract Infection ASAP

You know the feel­ing. You keep run­ning to the bath­room, but bare­ly any­thing comes out. When you do pee, it burns. Your low­er bel­ly feels crampy, and you can­not stop think­ing about when you will need to go again.

It may be a uri­nary tract infec­tion, or UTI. And while UTIs are com­mon, they are not some­thing to ignore.

A UTI hap­pens when bac­te­ria enter the uri­nary tract, which includes the kid­neys, ureters, blad­der and ure­thra. Most UTIs affect the blad­der, but the infec­tion can move high­er into the kid­neys if it is not treat­ed. That is when a painful, uncom­fort­able prob­lem can become more seri­ous. The CDC notes that blad­der infec­tions are the most com­mon type of UTI, while kid­ney infec­tions are less com­mon but more serious.

Here are the signs to watch for, why prompt treat­ment mat­ters and when to get care.

Com­mon UTI symptoms

UTI symp­toms can come on quick­ly. You may notice:

• A strong urge to pee, even when lit­tle comes out
• Burn­ing or pain when you pee
• Pee­ing more often than usual
• Pres­sure, cramp­ing or pain in your low­er belly
• Cloudy, dark, bloody or strong-smelling urine
• Feel­ing tired, shaky or gen­er­al­ly unwell

Some peo­ple, espe­cial­ly old­er adults, may have less obvi­ous symp­toms. If some­thing feels off, it is always worth check­ing in with a provider.

Why you should not wait out a UTI

A mild UTI may seem like some­thing you can man­age at home, but wait­ing can give the infec­tion more time to spread.

1. A UTI can turn into a kid­ney infection

Most UTIs start in the low­er uri­nary tract. If bac­te­ria trav­el up to the kid­neys, the infec­tion can become more seri­ous. A kid­ney infec­tion may cause fever, chills, back or side pain, nau­sea or vom­it­ing. NID­DK notes that most kid­ney infec­tions start as a blad­der infec­tion, and they need med­ical treatment.

Kid­ney infec­tions can some­times lead to long-term kid­ney dam­age or a life-threat­en­ing infec­tion if they are not treated.

Ready to get relief from your UTI symptoms?

You don’t have to wait and hope your symp­toms improve. Duly offers same-day pri­ma­ry care appoint­ments and con­ve­nient Imme­di­ate Care loca­tions to help diag­nose and treat uri­nary tract infec­tions quick­ly, so you can start feel­ing bet­ter sooner.

Find UTI care near you

2. An untreat­ed infec­tion can lead to sepsis

Sep­sis is the body’s extreme response to an infec­tion. It is uncom­mon, but it can hap­pen when a UTI or kid­ney infec­tion becomes severe. NID­DK lists fever, chills, con­fu­sion, rapid breath­ing, rapid heart rate, severe pain and short­ness of breath as pos­si­ble signs of sepsis.

Get emer­gency care right away if you have UTI symp­toms along with con­fu­sion, trou­ble breath­ing, severe weak­ness, high fever or intense pain.

3. It may not be a UTI

Burn­ing, urgency and pelvic dis­com­fort can also hap­pen with oth­er con­di­tions, includ­ing sex­u­al­ly trans­mit­ted infec­tions, vagi­nal infec­tions, kid­ney stones, prostate con­cerns or dia­betes-relat­ed uri­nary symptoms.

Get­ting checked helps make sure you are treat­ing the right problem.

4. Preg­nan­cy changes the urgency

Fre­quent uri­na­tion can hap­pen dur­ing preg­nan­cy, but UTIs dur­ing preg­nan­cy need med­ical atten­tion. If you are preg­nant or think you could be preg­nant, con­tact your provider prompt­ly for guidance.

5. You deserve relief

UTIs are uncom­fort­able, dis­tract­ing and painful. The right treat­ment can help you feel bet­ter soon­er. Antibi­otics are often used to treat UTIs, and the best med­ica­tion depends on your health his­to­ry and the type of bac­te­ria caus­ing the infec­tion. Mayo Clin­ic notes that antibi­otics are com­mon­ly used for UTIs, with the spe­cif­ic choice guid­ed by your health and urine results.

When to get care for UTI symptoms

Make an appoint­ment with your pri­ma­ry care provider or vis­it Imme­di­ate Care if you have symp­toms of a UTI. Do not wait if symp­toms are get­ting worse or you have had UTIs before.

Seek care right away if you have:

• Fever or chills
• Pain in your back or side
• Nau­sea or vomiting
• Blood in your urine
• Symp­toms dur­ing pregnancy
• Symp­toms in a child
• A UTI in a man
• Recur­rent UTIs
• Symp­toms that do not improve after start­ing treatment

If you have two or more UTIs in six months or three or more in one year, it may be time to see a urologist.

How UTIs are treated

Your provider may ask about your symp­toms and order a urine test. If you have a UTI, treat­ment often includes antibi­otics. It is impor­tant to take the med­ica­tion as direct­ed, even if you start feel­ing bet­ter before it is finished.

Drink­ing water, avoid­ing blad­der irri­tants and using over-the-counter pain relief as rec­om­mend­ed by your provider may help with com­fort, but home care should not replace med­ical treat­ment when you have UTI symptoms.

The bot­tom line

A UTI is com­mon, but it should still be tak­en seri­ous­ly. The soon­er you get care, the soon­er you can start feel­ing bet­ter and low­er the risk of the infec­tion spreading.

If you think you have a UTI, sched­ule an appoint­ment with your pri­ma­ry care provider or vis­it a Duly Imme­di­ate Care Center.

Sched­ule an appoint­ment for UTI symptoms