How to treat a UTI and related symptoms

Find out how to treat a UTI and the related symptoms at home in ways that complement medical treatment prescribed by a doctor or healthcare professional.

Your doctor should be your first port of call for finding out how to treat a UTI, as they’re likely to prescribe a course of antibiotics to clear the infection.

However, you can also make a range of lifestyle and dietary decisions at home to alleviate your symptoms and speed up your recovery process.

Read on to learn more about how to treat a UTI at home in ways that complement your doctor’s recommendations.

How to treat a UTI

These are some of the steps you can take to aid the UTI recovery process while at home:

• Hydration: Staying sufficiently hydrated and passing water regularly can help speed up your recovery. Water is the most effective option by far; men should aim to have 3 litres per day while women should drink around 2.2 litres (use this calculation for a precise estimate).
• Vitamin C: Consuming foods and beverages rich in vitamin C can be beneficial in treating a UTI. This vitamin makes your urine more acidic, limiting the growth capacity of associated bacteria. You could also take vitamin C supplements, but only on the advice of a doctor.
• Resting: Getting sufficient rest on a regular basis helps create the ideal environment for your body to fight the infection. You should aim for 7.5-9 hours each night. If you have difficulty sleeping, you may need to get additional sleep throughout the day to reach this figure.
• Paracetamol: Taking painkillers such as paracetamol can help alleviate the pain associated with a UTI. However, you should speak to your doctor if you intend to take these long-term. Avoid ibuprofen and aspirin if the UTI was caused by a kidney infection, as this could exacerbate your condition.
• Hot water bottle: Applying a hot water bottle or heat pad to your back or abdomen is an effective method of alleviating pain. You can use this technique regardless of whether the UTI was caused by a kidney infection.
• Bladder irritants: Consuming certain foods and beverages can irritate your bladder further. Avoid caffeine, carbonated drinks, alcohol, spicy food and nicotine. Choose foods known to improve digestive health, including high-fibre carbohydrates such as porridge oats.

UTIs can grow in severity if left untreated for a protracted period of time, so always speak with your doctor first if you notice any potential symptoms.

Specially adapted care programmes

To treat a UTI effectively, diagnosing the condition early and providing targeted care make a huge difference.

At The Good Care Group, we recognise the effects a UTI can have, both regarding the immediate symptoms and risk of an unnecessary hospital admission.

As such, we’ve developed a specialist approach whereby all our live-in carers are issued with UTI testing kits, and trained in their effective usage. These tests maximise the chance of an early diagnosis and provide useful information for doctors to tailor your treatment.

This approach has enabled us to reduce UTI rates by 30% and hospital admissions by approximately two thirds.

Find out more about how The Good Care Group can help your loved one avoid UTIs and other preventable health conditions by speaking to our friendly team.