How Do I Know If I Have a Bladder Infection?: Symptoms and Prevention

There are plenty of ways you can tell if you have a bladder infection or not. Here are possible symptoms that you might have one:

• Urgency to use the bathroom after you have urinated
• Burning sensation while and after using the bathroom
• A sensitive feeling in the bladder after urinating
• Having only a little urine come out when using the bathroom
• Dark or smelly urine
• Back or lower stomach pains

There are many people that have had a bladder infection before in their lifetime and there are others that continously get it. Many people search online and read books to find out how to get rid of it or take tests to find out if they really do. So the question is, how do you know if you have a bladder infection? Are there any signs that can let you know before hand if you actually have a bladder infection. People will think that they have a bladder infection and really don't, it may be from a lack of water or nutrients to flush your bladder out. There have been a few times, I thought I had one because I had symptoms but it wasn't positive that I had one. I went to the the doctor and it came out to be that I didn't, I was just suffering from dehydration. I also found out from the doctor that mostly women get a bladder infection instead of men because the way the bladder is shaped in a woman or a man. A woman's bladder sit lower than a man and it makes it easier for bacteria to get caught in the bladder wall. So that makes it hard for a woman's bladder to flush out or even easier for bacteria to get attached to it. Men's bladder sit higher and that's why it is unlikely for a man to get one, but it is still possible.

Here are some tips to avoid a bladder infection and to keep a clean bladder or urinary tract.

• Drink at least 8 glasses of water per day
• Drink cranberry juice or take a cranberry supplement to prevent bacteria to sticking to your bladder. The nutrient Cranberry helps flush out or kill bacteria that is surrounded by your bladder. Eating natural cranberries can help as well.
• Always use the restroom when you first need to. Don't hold your urine at all because it puts a strain on your bladder and also keeps bacteria on your bladder wall.
• Don't use a lot of creams or jellies for sexual intercourse, use just enough.
• Always urinate before and after sexual intercourse. This happens to be the most vulnerable your bladder can be and letting urine out would be the best way to get rid of bacteria.
• Always wipe front to back when urinating.

Here are some tips to avoid a bladder infection in men:

• Drink 8 glasses of water per day
• Don't hold urine, when you need to go, go..
• Urinate before and after sexual intercourse
• Drink cranberry juice or eat raw cranberries

If you have suspect that you have a bladder infection, seek medical attention as soon as possible because the more you wait the worse your bladder can get and your kidneys as well. When you seek medical attention, a doctor usually tests you first to see if you're negative or positive for a bladder infection. If you are then, get ready to take some medicine. If not, the doctor will give you a list to follow to make sure you keep a healthy and clean bladder.

Once the doctor prescribes you the medicine make sure you take all of it.

Don't miss any of it and if you do follow up and take what is needed to be taken.

Make sure you read the prescription label for side effects and directions. Drink plenty of water with the medicine and it is better to take the medicine with food.

If you choose to calm the symptoms down, you can get over the counter medicine to take like AZO which really works because it flushes out the bladder but it only calms the symptoms. It doesn't cure a bladder infection. Using AZO with cranberry is a good option as well because it has a cranberry extract that can help your bladder.