Everybody who has suffered from perineal itching, burning, and needing to excuse oneself to the toilet again and again will understand the desire to want to prevent urinary pain caused from infection. Lucky for all of us, the causes of UTI are often easy to avoid, and how to prevent UTI is easily remembered and done. 

Since women are much more likely to suffer from this kind of pain, most of these tips are going to revolve around women and the habits women can change to prevent urinary infections. Keep it in mind, however, that men can and do get these infections too, and also need to get treatment as soon as possible after the symptoms are recognised.

What Should I Look For?

The symptoms of UTI usually revolve around pain with urination, increased need to urinate, and changes with the urine. Sometimes, though, symptoms can be hard to recognise for some people, and nothing is noticed as being wrong until a fever has begun to show that something is majorly wrong and requires treatment. Make sure you pay close attention to your body and day to day functions like urinating, to prevent any health emergencies and to maintain the healthiest body that you can have.

The Red Flags

• Fever: a fever is a late symptom and should be taken seriously. If your temperature is over 100 °F, you should contact a doctor to get an exam and a test for your urine to look for infection in the bladder and kidneys.
• Pain With Urination: this is a cardinal sign of UTI. When urinating, burning pain is experienced all through the urethra.
• Urinary Frequency: this just means you have to constantly get up to sit on the toilet or bear down to urinate in order to get any kind of momentary relief.
• Flank Pain: low back pain near the kidneys is a late sign, and an indication that the infection has spread to the kidneys. Seek immediate medical care if you have flank pain.
• Dark, Cloudy, or Stinky Urine: It is common to have cloudy, stinky urine with UTI. This means there is pus in the urine. If you also have dark, brown, or red urine, you might have frank blood in the urine, and should seek immediate medical attention to find out for sure what is wrong.

 How To Prevent UTI:

Preventing UTI is easier than you think. Once you know the easy ways to prevent this painful problem, you’ll practice the safety measures it takes to prevent UTI as if it was second nature to you. 

• Wipe Front To Back, or Use The “Bidet Method”: Always wipe from your front side to your back side after urinating, and especially after defecating (pooping). This is to prevent any fecal matter (poop) from getting anywhere near your urinary meatus (the tube that your bladder empties out from). If you are prone to repeated UTIs, even if you always do this, you might want to try the “Bidet Method''. Your doctor might call this a “sitz bath”: instead of wiping after urination, keep a dixie cup or some other vessel nearby that you can fill with warm water from the sink before urinating. Afterward, pour the warm water over your privates to clean them off, and at the same time prevent any irritation or bacteria being moved to the wrong place with toilet paper.  
• Always Pee Immediately After Sex: this one is really important. Try not to fall asleep, if you can help it - and empty your bladder so you can also flush away any residual semen from the entrance to your bladder. This practice is key to cutting down on the number of UTIs you will suffer from. 
• Drink Lots Of Water: Staying well hydrated is essential. Drinking cranberry juice is not a bad idea, but has been recently proven to not actually prevent UTI all by itself. Drinking lots of anything that isn’t full of sugar to keep your kidneys flushed with water is very beneficial to good urinary health. 
• Wear Cotton or Other Breathable Fabrics: near your lady parts. This is a good idea to keep bacterial growth at a minimum. Make sure you wear clean panties every day.