FREQUENT UTIS: UTI SYMPTOMS
UTI symptoms tend to come on suddenly and include:
- Painful urination and a burning sensation
- Needing to urinate frequently
- Sudden urges to empty your bladder, called urinary urgency
- Pain in your central lower abdomen, just above the pubic bone
- Blood in your urine
UTI symptoms that involve the kidneys include the following, in addition to the preceding ones:
- Pain in your sides or back that doesn’t change when you change position
- Fever and chills
- Nausea and vomiting
Certain symptoms in addition to those of a UTI could mean you have a prostate infection (prostatitis). These include:
- Fever
- Chills
- Fatigue
- Difficulty urinating or “dribbling”
- Pain in your pelvis or the area between your rectum and scrotum (perineum)
CAUSES AND RISK FACTORS OF FREQUENT UTIS
A UTI develops when the bacterium gets into the urinary tract through the urethra and starts multiplying. Older men, especially those over 50, have a higher risk of having a UTI. Most cases in older men are caused by the bacterium known as Escherichia coli, which is naturally present in the body. Cases similar to UTIs in younger men are typically caused by sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
UTIs are four times more common in women than in men. As men have longer urethras than women, they are less prone to UTIs because bacteria need to travel a longer distance to reach the bladder.
A person’s risk of developing a UTI increases if they have:
- Diabetes
- Kidney stones
- An enlarged prostate
- An abnormal narrowing of the urethra
- An inability to voluntarily control urination
- An inability to empty the bladder completely
- Not drunk enough liquids
- Not been circumcised
- A past diagnosis of a UTI
- Urinary tract abnormalities that prevent urine from leaving the body normally or cause urine to back up in the urethra
- Had anal intercourse, which can expose the urethra to bacteria
- A health condition or taking medication that suppresses the immune system
- Had a procedure involving instrumentation on the urinary tract (for example, the insertion of a tube to drain the bladder)
UTI TREATMENT
UTIs in men are usually complicated and require treatment. The goal of treatment is to prevent the infection from spreading to the kidneys or the upper urinary tract.
The type of treatment used depends on the cause of the infection. Treatment plans usually include antibiotic medications to kill the bacteria and drugs to reduce the person’s symptoms, including those of pain and burning while urinating.
The duration of treatment can vary between 3 days and 6 weeks, depending on complicating factors, though a minimum of 7 days is usually warranted.
PRESCRIPTION MEDICATIONS FOR UTIS
Medication prescribed by a doctor may include:
- Antibiotics such as nitrofurantoin (Macrobid), fluoroquinolones, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (Bactrim), fosfomycin, or aminoglycosides
- Medications to reduce fever
- Medications to reduce or eliminate pain, including urinary analgesics such as phenazopyridine
Those with more complicated UTIs may require surgery. Surgery can involve either draining areas of the urinary tract that are causing the infection or removing inflamed areas of tissue.