Male UTI Cure

Urinary tract infections are most common in women, but men get them, too. Treatment is the same regardless of gender. You go to the doctor, the doctor confirms the condition, and, most often, you take a course of antibiotics until the infection clears.

Doctor's Visit

• While it's possible for urinary tract infections to clear on their own, doctors recommend against this wait-and-see approach. The infections can spread to the kidneys, and a kidney infection poses a far more serious health threat. Visit the doctor at the first signs of infection; common symptoms include a burning sensation during urination, painful sex and cloudy or odd-smelling urine.

Common Infection

• Antibiotics are the most common form of treatment for UTIs. Generally, they clear an infection within several days to a week, but it is important to take the entire course of antibiotics your doctor has prescribed. Taking them only until the infection goes away increases the chance that the infection will return. Common antibiotics for UTIs are sold under the brand names Amoxil, Trimox, Furadantin, Macrodantin, Cipro, Levaquin and Bactrim.

Severe Infection

• If your infection is severe, your doctor may admit you to the hospital. Hospital treatment for urinary tract infection includes intravenous antibiotics.

Symptom Relief

• While you wait for the infection to clear, you can lessen your symptoms by drinking plenty of water. This dilutes the urine (and therefore lessens burning), and it flushes bacteria from the bladder. Many people stand by cranberry juice as a means of clearing a UTI; research shows that it is effective as prevention but not necessarily as treatment.

  Your doctor may also help you lessen symptoms by prescribing ascorbic acid, which lowers the bacteria count in your urine, and a drug called Pyridium, which reduces both the need to urinate frequently and the burning sensation that accompanies urination.