UTIs are very common, but there are things you can do to lower your risk of getting one.

Read on as our team at AFC Urgent Care Knoxville provides some helpful prevention tips.

• Here’s what to do: Drink lots of water. This will make you urinate more frequently, which will flush bacteria out of your urinary tract. Aim for six to eight glasses of water a day.
• What to do next: Avoid holding your urine for long amounts of time. Holding your urine can encourage bacteria growth, so try not to wait more than that three to four hours to pee and empty your bladder each time.
• What to do after: Urinate before and after sex. Sexual activity increases the chances of getting a UTI because bacteria can easily get into the urethra during sex. To reduce your risk, urinate before and after intercourse to flush out bacteria that might have made their way into the urethra.
• Something else to try: Increase your vitamin C intake. Eating more vitamin C-rich foods like oranges and grapefruit can increase the acidity of your urine, which can help can kill off infection-causing bacteria.
• A tried-and-true prevention tactic: Drink unsweetened cranberry juice. Studies show that cranberry juice definitely helps prevent future UTIs by working to prevent bacteria from adhering to the urinary tract.
• Another remedy: Take a probiotic. Probiotics are available in supplement form or can be found in fermented foods, such as kefir, kimchi, kombucha and probiotic yogurt. Probiotics are known to work best alongside antibiotics because antibiotics can cause disturbances in levels of gut bacteria.
• Doctor recommendations: If none of these prevention tactics work and you experience symptoms like a burning sensation when urinating, cloudy urine, strong-smelling urine or urine that appears red, schedule a doctor’s appointment. UTIs are often effectively treated with antibiotics, which can be prescribed by your doctor.
• Action steps to take: If you have been prescribed antibiotics, don’t stop taking them before the dosage is up even if you start feeling better. Taking the full amount of antibiotics will ensure that the bad bacteria is eliminated from your body.

We hope you stay healthy and well this year! If you have other questions or need medical care, don’t wait to reach out to our AFC Urgent Care Knoxville team.