How to Fight Urinary Tract Infections Naturally

Urinary tract infections (UTI) are a painful and irritating problem that afflict thousands of women each year. While they are generally not a major threat to your overall health, they can be embarrassing and difficult to deal with, as well as a major impediment to travel and business. While most medical professionals recommend a round of antibiotics to fight UTIs, if you experience this type of infection frequently you may want to alter your behavior and habits in order to combat the infection naturally, as multiple rounds of antibiotics often result in "super bugs" that are resistant to treatment as well as compromise the effectiveness of birth control pills and other medications. Read on to learn how to fight urinary tract infections naturally.

Things You'll Need

• Water
• Rose hip tea
• 100 percent cranberry juice

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Instructions

• 1

  Drink two to four cups of rose hip tea each day. Rose hip tea raises the acidity of your urine, which makes your urinary tract much more inhospitable to the bacteria that cause UTIs. You can buy rose hip tea at a health foods store or you can brew your own from rose hips picked from rose bushes that have been allowed to fruit instead of being pruned to increase the number of blooms.

• 2

  Make sure to drink plenty of water. Staying hydrated keeps your bladder and urinary tract cleansed and does not allow the conditions necessary for an infection to develop. Most health professionals recommend that you drink at least four 8 oz. glasses of water a day.

• 3

  Avoid drinking coffee, colas and energy drinks. One or two a day will not cause a major problem as long as you also flush your system with plenty of water, but these types of drinks cause dehydration, which is a major factor in the development of most UTIs.

• 4

  Get your daily dose of cranberry juice. Cranberries not only cleanse the kidneys, but they also keep your urinary tract clear. However, it is very important that you are drinking cranberry juice, not cranberry cocktail or another type of drink that is not pure juice. Many cranberry drinks actually are just sugary mixes from concentrate, and these beverages can actually make an existing infection worse and set the stage for an infection if you do not already have one.

• 5

  Go without underwear. Even if you only do so at night, allowing that sensitive area to "breathe" plays a major role in keeping you clear of irritation, which can originate inside or outside of your body. While "going commando" may not be appropriate by day, give yourself a little freedom at night or, at the very least, wear very loose panties to bed.