UTI Home Remedies – What you can do at Home for Urinary Tract Infections

The urinary tract includes the bladder, the kidneys, and the urethra and a bacterial infection in any of these can cause a UTI or a urinary tract infection.

Though the symptoms of a UTI can range from mild to severe, there are many uti home remedies that can help to resolve the problem.

UTI home remedies can depend in part upon the underlying cause and also the severity of the infection.

The general risk factors for UTIs are gender, since women are more prone to them than men, sexual activity and frequency (which is the reason that UTIs are often referred to at Honeymoon cystitis), the use of urinary catheters and a genetic predisposition to UTIs (in some families, there may be a frequency of bladder infections noted).

UTI Home Remedies – Prevention

An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure they say, so use the following uti home remedies to prevent infections from occurring-

• Don’t hold back the urine. Holding it can increase bacterial populations leading to infections.
• Drink plenty of water. This flushes toxins and helps keep the urinary tract functioning well, preventing urine from becoming too concentrated or acidic.
• Wipe from front to back and not the other way around, so that there is no danger of fecal bacteria getting into the urethra.
• Cut out artificial sweeteners and lower intake of alcohol and caffeine since these can irritate the bladder and make it more susceptible to infection.
• Clean up before and after sex and urinate right after to get rid of bacteria. Rather than a diaphragm use a condom.
• Use cotton underwear or at least the sort that have a cotton crotch – this helps keep the area clean and dry and less prone to infection.
• Those who have frequent infections of the urinary tract may find that Vitamin C supplements may help to curb recurrence.

The following simple UTI home remedies are recommended by many people who have claimed them to be effectual-

• Baking soda is thought to help reduce the acidity in the urine, so as soon as any symptoms of UTI start to manifest themselves, a teaspoon of baking soda in a glass of water may help arrest the problem from escalating.
• Cranberry juice is among the most commonly recommended UTI home remedies since it is known to have certain antibacterial properties. This can help to treat mild infections and keep UTIs at bay.
• Fruits such as blueberries and pineapple seem to have similar natural antibiotic properties.
• A hot compress may help ease the pain that a UTI can bring with it. Drinking water is an effective UTI home remedy, because any increase of fluid intake is good, and also, using a hot water bottle help to ease the symptoms.
• Aromatherapy is also thought to be one of the effective UTI home remedies.
• Yoghurt is known to increase the population of friendly bacteria in the gut and hence could be of help in treating UTIs.

It is important to remember however that UTI home remedies may not be a wholly effective substitute when antibiotics are required to treat the infection.