Avoiding Urinary Tract Infections and Antibiotics

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Q. I often suffer urinary tract infections and have to take antibiotics. What can I do to avoid both?

A. It’s most likely that each recurrence is a new infection, so adopting new habits may stave off future UTIs.

Empty your bladder after intercourse. Some women get “honeymoon cystitis,” a urethral irritation associated with sex. Urinating afterward can help flush out bacteria.
Drink a lot of water. Six to eight glasses a day will help rinse your system clean.
Take cranberry tablets with vitamin C, which will acidify your urine. This helps keep bacteria away. Cranberry juice is also effective.
Wipe from front to back when you go the bathroom. A majority of UTIs are caused when the bacteria in feces enters the urethra.

See a urologist if UTIs persist. When the origin of your infections can’t be determined and home remedies don’t work, a low dose of antibiotics may have to be prescribed as a preventive measure. In addition, frequent or persistent UTI’s can be a sign of bladder problems that may require further evaluation (such as having a chronic kidney stone).

More Questions & Answers

Dr. Nanette Santoro
Professor and Director, Reproductive Endocrinology
Albert Einstein College of Medicine (Bronx, N.Y.)

Rich Maloof lives in Brooklyn, New York. He specializes in health topics, music and children’s literature. He has written for CNN, Yahoo!, Billboard and the “For Dummies” book series.