I was reading an article the other day about Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs) and antibiotics. According to this CNN story LINK, 47% of women were being prescribed a wrong antibiotic for their UTIs. Nearly half! This is bad on many levels, not the least of which is that the pathogens which cause the UTIs are becoming increasingly resistant to the commonly used antibiotics (Mattoo et al. 2021; Wawrysiuk et al. 2019).
UTIs are painful things. There often is burning pain. The urge to urinate that is not relieved by urinating — you have to go, you go and immediately feels like you have to go again. There may be blood in the urine. Cramping pain. They’re not fun and they are not uncommon. A 2011 WHO report “found UTIs contributed to over 8 million office visits and over 1 million hospitalizations” (LaMotte 2021).
As for antibiotics for UTIs in general, sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t work. Whether they work or not is irrelevant to what they do to your gut (Ianiro et al. 2016).
Some people, women most frequently, experience UTIs multiple times a year and know pretty much exactly what’s going on when they have these symptoms. For children (and their parents), the burning pain can be quite distressing.
So, when do you know if it’s time to seek medical treatment? According to Dr. Troy Madsen (University of Utah 2018), if you’re an older man experiencing these troubles, that can be more problematic than if you’re a woman as these symptoms may signify prostate troubles.
When to seek medical treatment for a UTI (ER of Texas 2022):
symptoms have progressed to the point of lethargy
high fever
shaking and chills
severe nausea
vomiting
blood in the urine
So, what’s the answer to this painful condition that winds up with so many people presenting to the ER and taking (possibly) ill-prescribed antibiotics which may lead to antibiotic resistance?
Well, for run-of-the-mill UTIs, homeopathy, of course!
For the treatment of minor urinary tract infections, homeopathy can be a marvelous and fast answer to some relief.
A few well-indicated homeopathic remedies to address these uncomfortable symptoms, (for men, women, children and pets, too!):
Cantharis
very frequent urge to urinate, almost constant
stinging/burning/cutting pains before, during and after urination
passing small quantities of dark urine
may be insatiably thirsty
Staphysagria
pressure upon the bladder — feels as if it didn’t empty
burning pains in the urethra, especially between urination
frequent urging to urinate with either scanty or profuse watery urine
may be thirstless
Apis
burning and stinging pains during urination
retention of urine
difficult or slow urination
may be very restless
Not only can homeopathy help the immediate symptoms, but using homeopathy has even been found to decrease the recurrence. Pannek (et al. 2018) found adjunctive homeopathic treatment led to a significant decrease in UTIs in patients with spinal cord injury.
If you suffer from frequent, recurring UTIs, I highly encourage you to work with a professional homeopath because there’s something else going on there that needs to be brought into the equation.
Stop the burning drip and get with the flow!
Julia Coyte, CHom
Classically Practical homeopath
#wellnessawaits