UTI Prevention & Treatment Services
HOW ARE URINARY TRACT INFECTIONS TREATED?
The critical step before treating any UTI is an accurate diagnosis At Pacific Coast Urology Medical Center we diagnose a UTI by doing a routine urinalysis. At our Center we take your urine sample, put it in a high speed centrifuge and then examine what’s left under a microscope. Other offices, and most urgent care centers, cannot do this.
Dr. Robert Pugach treats UTI as follows:
- The first treatment step is to prescribe the correct antibiotic! By testing your urine in our office we’re able to know immediately if there are bacteria and white blood cells in your urine. Most importantly, we can often determine the likely type of infection so you can start taking the correct antibiotic right away! We start with one that makes the most sense based upon the microscopic examination of your urine. But, to be sure, we routinely send urine samples to a laboratory so that the infecting organism can be identified and tested to see what antibiotics are most effective.
- The second treatment step is to determine why an infection developed. Our comprehensive approach doesn’t stop with a prescription. We want to keep our patients from having another infection. So, we’ll typically do some simple office tests and check your medical history to identify risk factors and ways to prevent UTIs in the future.
UTI PREVENTION TIPS
UTIs aren’t necessarily simple. To prevent them, here are some basic health tips:
- Drink plenty of fluids to keep well hydrated
- Do not delay urinating
- Be sure to empty your bladder each time – do not rush when urinating
- Practice clean sexual hygiene
- During or after menopause, consider a urological evaluation if you find that your urinating pattern is changing.
Many patients ask if cranberry juice is effective in preventing UTIs? In some studies cranberry juice has been shown in some studies to be effective in reducing recurrences of UTI. Cranberry juice contains tannins, Manoose-D and proanthocyanidins which have been found to block E.coli (common bacteria) from sticking to the mucosal surfaces of the bladder and gut, thereby helping to clear bacteria from the urinary tract.
Drinking cranberry juice alone isn’t the answer! Call, Pacific Coast Urology Medical Center to schedule a consultation to learn more about preventing and diagnosing UTIs. We have a nutritional counselor who can help!
Don’t delay treatment if you suspect you have a urinary tract infection. If you do have one, we’ll treat it and find out why it happened. We’re here to keep you healthy!
Contact Pacific Coast Urology Medical Center at 888.735.4336 or email us via our Contact Us Form.
