KIDNEY CARE

Home Remedies for Urinary Infections

By Katharine Paljug @kpaljug
 | 
December 26, 2017
Studio portrait of woman holding glass of water --- Image by © pinkypills/Corbis

There are ways to treat a UTI without antibiotics. But some popular home remedies for urinary infections can prove ineffective or dangerous.

Your urinary tract flushes waste and toxins from your body in the form of urine. It is made up of the kidneys, ureters, bladder, and urethra.

A urinary infection, medically called a urinary tract infection (UTI), is caused when a portion of your urinary tract becomes infected. UTIs are common; more than 150 billion people develop urinary tract infections every year.

 

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Treatment for urinary tract infections

Because most urinary tract infections are caused by bacteria, they are often treated with antibiotics.

However, antibiotic resistant UTIs are becoming more common, possibly as a result of antibiotics being overprescribed. This has led some medical researchers to suggest that patients wait several days before taking antibiotics.

Some people should not delay medical treatment for UTIs, including those with weakened immune systems, diabetes, or more than two urinary tract infections within six months. For healthy people with uncomplicated urinary tract infections, however, research has shown that, in many cases, symptoms can resolve on their own without antibiotics.

Home remedies for urinary infections

If you do decide to delay or forgo antibiotic treatment, there are many home remedies for urinary infections that can help your symptoms resolve more quickly. These include:

  • Water
  • Probiotics
  • Green tea
  • Ginger
  • Rosemary
  • D-mannose
  • Cranberry

 

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Updated:  

March 25, 2020

Reviewed By:  

Christopher Nystuen, MD, MBA