8 ways to avoid a urinary tract infection

Urinary tract infections are easy to treat, but that's hardly reassuring when you're rushing to the bathroom every 15 minutes to urinate--and experiencing burning, stinging pain.

One in five women will get a UTI--in the urethra, bladder, or kidneys--at some point in her life. Some women get them over and over again. Men are much less likely to get UTIs because their anatomy makes it harder for bacteria to get inside.

Antibiotics are necessary to knock out urinary tract infections, says Larrian Gillespie, M.D. Once you start taking the drugs, the discomfort will usually disappear within a day or two. In the meantime, here are a few steps to make you more comfortable and help prevent the infection from coming back.

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1) Drink a lot of water. The more you drink, the more you urinate--and frequent urination helps flush harmful bacteria from the bladder, says Mary Jane Minkin, M.D. When you keep filling your bladder and flushing it out, you can reduce the number of bacteria and help improve your condition. 

Water also dilutes the concentrated salts in urine, which can reduce discomfort when you have an infection. Try to drink at least 64 ounces of water each day.

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2) Fight bacteria with baking soda. At the first sign of symptoms, drink a solution made with 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda mixed in 8 ounces of water. Continue this once a day until you can get a culture done at a doctor's office or clinic and can get on antibiotics. Baking soda makes the bladder environment more alkaline, which, thereby, reduces the ability of bacteria to multiply, says Dr. Gillespie. 

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3) Dilute the burn. The concentrated salts in urine can cause stinging pain when you have a UTI. You can reduce discomfort by pouring body-temperature water over yourself while you urinate. 

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4) Relax with a heating pad. Applying heat to the abdomen is a great way to reduce cramps and painful pressure that sometimes accompany UTIs, says Dr. Gillespie. If you don't have a heating pad, a hot-water bottle or washcloth soaked in hot water works just as well. 

5) Avoid orange juice for a few days. Along with strawberries, grapefruit, and pineapple, orange juice has a high acid content. When you have a UTI, it will increase the burn when you urinate, says Dr. Gillespie. 

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6) Don't drink coffee or alcohol. When you have an infection, coffee and alcohol can make it painful to urinate, says Dr. Gillespie. Caffeine and alcohol also stimulate the muscular walls of the bladder, which may increase urinary "urges" and cause additional discomfort. 

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7) Drink cranberry juice. Cranberry juice is a traditional remedy for preventing UTIs, and scientific research suggests it works. Cranberry juice is rich in proanthocyanidins, chemical compounds that appear to help prevent bacteria from sticking to cells in the urinary tract, says Beverly Kloeppel, M.D. If you can't find cranberry juice, look for cranberry juice concentrate that you can mix with water. You should avoid cranberry juice, however, if you have an overactive bladder, because it can irritate the bladder and make it more sensitive. 

If you get frequent UTIs, the key is to drink tart cranberry juice, not sweet cranberry juice cocktail. Drink 8 ounces of unsweetened cranberry juice three times a day or take one 400 milligram capsule of cranberry concentrate twice daily for a few months to see if it makes a difference. "Long-term use of cranberry should be avoided if you have kidney stones," says Dr. Kloeppel.

"If you don't want to drink all the caloric cranberry juice, by all means get cranberry extract pills at the health food store. They do help," says Dr. Minkin.

While you're at it, add some blueberries to your breakfast cereal or morning smoothie--they're related to cranberries and contain the same active compounds, says Dr. Kloeppel.

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8) Eat more yogurt. The research isn't conclusive, but there's some evidence that the organisms in live-culture yogurt, Lactobacillus acidophilus, may help prevent unwanted bacteria from multiplying in the urinary tract and prevent UTIs, says Dr. Minkin. 

Yogurt is especially helpful if you're taking antibiotics. While these drugs are very effective at killing harmful bacteria, antibiotics also kill "good" germs, which can lead to UTIs. Eating a cup of live-culture yogurt daily helps replenish beneficial bacteria while keeping the "bad" bugs away.

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