How To Prevent And Treat Urinary Infections During The Summer?

The specific knowledge is usually advantageous, the general one therefore helpful in some areas of daily life, so knowing how to treat urinary infections is always useful. With the arrival of summer it is common to contract these types of infections. This usually happens to some women during this season.

From one day to the next they begin to feel discomfort, an urgent need to go to the bathroom and burning when urinating. Summer is undoubtedly a very favorable time to develop cystitis and, therefore, it is important to take action.

Doctors warn that this problem is mainly due to a weakened pelvic floor, as well as some routine changes in our day to day: swimming pools, wet bathing suits, drinking less water, just to name a few.

Then you are presented information on this subject, hoping to serve as guidance.

UTIs during the summer

Habits of daily life tend to change during the summer. Sometimes, far from serving as the perfect excuse to rest, they tend to do activities that may involve neglect of health.

People tend to be away from home for more hours, their diet is not very balanced, they frequently visit a pool with many people taking a bath at the same time. At sea, we are in contact with chlorine and other chemicals, we do not hydrate as much as we should … in short, a series of events that can lead to a urine infection.

The factors are various and a little is discussed below. However, we must be clear that also during the summer our health can be weakened and we can be more vulnerable to many infections, not only to the classic cystitis.

According to Dr. Jorge Saldaña Gallo, medical director of the Center for Advanced Urology in Lima (Peru), although there are many types of germs that can cause a urinary tract infection, the vast majority have their origin in the bacterium  Escherichia coli ( E. coli).

Despite living normally in the intestine, E. coli is capable of colonizing in the area around the vagina, entering the urethra and reaching the bladder. We now explain how to prevent this from happening.

How to Avoid Urine Infections During the Summer

1. Beware of wet swimsuits

• The heat and humidity in intimate areas are two triggers to develop urinary tract infections. The simple fact of going daily to beaches and swimming pools can alter our vaginal flora and cause us various problems.
• We are frequently told that public swimming pools are very dangerous sources for our intimate health. This is due, by common sense, to the exposed that we show ourselves in a place where different types of PH converge.

• Chlorine and other chemicals, added to the fact that we spend a certain amount of time in a wet swimsuit, can cause us to suffer an imbalance of the vital microbiota, thus favoring a picture of cystitis.
• Try not to spend a lot of time in the wet swimsuit. As soon as you finish swimming in the pool, or when you finish your bath on the beach, change, take a shower and put on dry clothes.

2. Menopause

• It is also very common for urinary infections to be more frequent in women between the ages of 50 and 60.
• There is a deficit of estrogens that makes them more vulnerable to infection.
• Your pelvic floor usually has some pathology such as, for example, urinary incontinence or even small genital prolapses (when the pelvic organs lose their support and descend). All this makes them more exposed to infections.

3. Physical and chemical factors

We cannot ignore that summer makes us sweat a little more and that, sometimes, due to the more intense life we ​​do in summer (trips, swimming pools, excursions), we change intimate hygiene products.

There are certain gels or soaps that we can use at this time, which far from helping us, can harm us. An example? Very acidic products or even vaginal douches that can end up altering our vaginal flora and its natural defense mechanisms.

It is worth keeping in mind.

Prevent and treat urinary tract infections in summer

Guidelines for preventing urinary tract infections

• Don’t spend a lot of time in your wet swimsuit.
• Keep your intimate area dry and clean.
• Avoid using very aggressive hygiene products.
• Avoid very tight clothing as it in turn causes us to sweat more.
• Maintain proper hygiene after your intimate relationships.
• Take care of your immune system, keep your natural defenses strong when summer arrives.

• Drink plenty of fluids.

How to treat urinary tract infections during the summer

• As soon as you notice a discomfort or you start to have a fever, go to the doctor. It is important to know what causes the infection. While it is true that it is due to bacteria, it is also possible that it is due to a kidney problem. So avoid treating yourself “on your own”, and have a medical diagnosis.
• Consume cranberry juice. They have the ability to inhibit the adhesion of bacteria to the walls of the bladder and is very effective, both to prevent and to treat.
• Birch and nettles infusion: boil 1 liter of water and add 3 teaspoons (15 g) of birch leaves and 1 teaspoon (5 g) of dried nettles. Allow it to sit for 15 minutes and drink throughout the day, 20 minutes after your meals. Heat it a little so that it is warm.
• Take a glass of water in the morning with 3 g of sodium bicarbonate and the juice of half a lemon.

• Eat fresh cherries.
• Make salads where you include radishes.
• Eat fresh and natural pineapple.
• Make yourself parsley infusions : 1 glass (200 ml) of water with half a teaspoon (3 g) of this medicinal plant.
• Take echinacea.

Here are some natural ways to prevent UTIs during the summer. Repeating once again, that if you present it or suspect it, you should go to the doctor in the first instance.