{"id":15059,"date":"2021-08-10T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-10T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/1millionbestdownloads.com\/condition-uti-how-do-you-get-a-uti\/"},"modified":"2021-08-10T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-08-10T00:00:00","slug":"condition-uti-how-do-you-get-a-uti","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1millionbestdownloads.com\/condition-uti-how-do-you-get-a-uti\/","title":{"rendered":"How Do You Get a UTI? Urologists Explain Why These Infections Develop"},"content":{"rendered":"
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) can seem to arrive out of nowhere. One minute, it's business as usual when you're doing your business. The next, you're experiencing all the telltale UTI symptoms (think pain and burning when you pee, a never-ending need to go to the bathroom, maybe<\/em> a little blood on the toilet paper).<\/p>\n The situation's definitely no fun, but understanding how you get a UTI can help you know what's going on in your body and how to deal. Let's take a closer look at what causes a UTI and where those germs come from to begin with.<\/p>\n In other words, some less-than-welcome guests crash the normally chill party of good-for-you bacteria in your urinary tract and cause problems.<\/p>\n If you want to point fingers at what's to blame for your UTI, Escherichia coli<\/em> is probably the culprit. (Yes, that same <\/em>E. coli that has contaminated lots of salad greens<\/a> in recent years.) It normally lives peacefully in your bowel, but if it enters the urinary tract, you're on the fast-track to a UTI.<\/p>\n E. coli is responsible for up to 90%<\/a> of all UTIs, according to the University of California San Francisco. However, it's not the only foreign invader that can wreak havoc on your bladder and urinary tract. UTIs can also come from bacteria like streptococci, klebsiella, and proteus mirabilis, according to the Merck Manual<\/a>, and sometimes even fungi.<\/p>\n What's causing your UTI might sound like a minor detail (after all, it's hard to think about much else when it feels like you're peeing fire), but it can make a difference when it comes to your treatment. Your doctor can send a sample of your urine to a lab to figure out which pathogen is causing the infection and get you the right medications to clear it up, usually offering sweet, sweet relief from burning, painful pee in a few days.<\/p>\n RELATED:<\/strong> 11 UTI Causes You Need to Keep on Your Radar, According to Experts<\/a><\/p>\n An untreated UTI could eventually lead to an upper urinary tract infection. You get an upper UTI when those nasty bacteria that have made your bladder their home decide to travel up your ureters and set up shop in your kidneys, as well.<\/p>\n If that happens, you'll want to take care of it right away. This type of UTI can lead to permanent kidney damage or even a life-threatening condition called sepsis.<\/p>\n In addition to the painful urination and cloudy or bloody pee many people have with a lower UTI, look out for upper UTI symptoms<\/a>, such as:<\/p>\n Just like women, men also have urethras and bladders that are vulnerable to bacterial infections. Yet, UTIs happen 30 times<\/a> more often in women than men. What gives?<\/p>\n You can blame anatomy for that one, says Jennifer A. Linehan<\/a>, MD, a urologist and associate professor of urologic oncology at the Saint John's Cancer Institute at Providence Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California.<\/p>\n "The urethra is very short in women, whereas in men, it's very long," she says.<\/p>\n In fact, a woman's urethra is usually no more than 1.5 inches<\/a> long (roughly the length of the first two joints of your index finger). A man's urethra, on the other hand, stretches between 7 and 8 inches long—almost as long as a plastic straw. That means bacteria have to travel a lot farther to infect a man's bladder or other parts of his urinary tract and could get flushed out by pee before they ever have the chance to make a colony.<\/p>\n The location of the urethral opening is also another point to consider when it comes to how you get UTIs as a woman compared to a man. For women, it's located in between the labia in front of the vaginal opening, which just so happens to be pretty close to the anus (where you might find E. coli). Since a man's urethral opening is on the tip of his penis (far away from the anus), it's less likely to come in contact with the bacteria.<\/p>\n With all that being said, it's still possible for guys to get UTIs, just much less likely.<\/p>\n How-Do-You-Get-a-UTI-GettyImages-1318964033<\/span> , MD, a gynecologist and urologist at Providence Mission Hospital in Southern California.<\/p>\n
How do you get a UTI in the upper tract? <\/h2>\n
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How do women vs. men get UTIs? <\/h2>\n