Urinary Tract Infection: The Body Gives 4 Signals, Seek Treatment Immediately
Urinary tract infections(UTIs) are not uncommon and can be caused by various factors. Unhealthy lifestyle habits, unclean sexual behavior, and decreased immunity can all create conditions for pathogens to invade the urinary tract.
For men, UTI can quietly occur without notice. However, the body often gives specific signals to alert us.
The body gives these four signals, seek treatment immediately:
1. Frequent Urination
Under normal circumstances, men usually urinate 4-6 times during the day and 0-2 times at night. However, when a UTI occurs, the inflammation irritates the bladder lining, increasing the bladder's sensitivity and leading to significantly more frequent urination.
Patients may need to go to the bathroom every short while, even if the amount of urine discharged each time is minimal. This frequent urge to urinate disrupts everyday life and work routines, causing inconvenience to the patient.
2. Urgent Urination
Urgent urination refers to a sudden, strong, and uncontrollable desire to urinate. Once a patient feels the need to urinate, they must find a bathroom immediately, or they may face the embarrassment of urinary incontinence. This symptom is often caused by a UTI, which causes the detrusor muscle of the bladder to become overly excited and lose its average control ability.
3. Painful Urination
This manifests as pain in the urethra, bladder, or perineum during or after urination. The severity of pain can range from mild burning sensation to intense stabbing pain.
Painful urination is typically caused by inflammation that damages the urinary tract mucosa, stimulating nerve endings when urine passes through these damaged areas.
4. Abnormal Urine
Normal urine should be pale yellow and clear. However, urine may become cloudy during a UTI, and white flocculent or purulent secretions may even be present.
Moreover, severe urinary tract infections can also lead to hematuria, which is urine that contains blood. These abnormal changes in urine visually reflect the inflammation and disease within the urinary tract.
Why do these four signals require prompt treatment?
1. Preventing the Spread of Inflammation
If a urinary tract infection is not promptly treated, inflammation can quickly spread from the urethra to the bladder, ureters, and kidneys. For example, urethritis can progress to cystitis, pyelonephritis, and more severe diseases.
Take frequent urination as an example: if not treated promptly, continuous inflammation stimulation can thicken the bladder wall, reduce elasticity, and thus affect bladder storage and voiding functions. Over time, this can also lead to fatigue and weakness of the bladder muscles.
2. Preventing Complications
Delaying treatment can lead to a series of complications. For instance, urinary obstruction can cause difficulty in urine discharge, leading to hydronephrosis and damaging kidney function.
Suppose abnormal urine conditions like cloudy urine or purulent secretions persist without treatment. In that case, it may indicate ongoing damage to the urinary tract mucosa, increasing the risk of infection spread and malignancy.
3. Protecting Kidney Health
The kidneys are vital organs for excretion and regulation in the human body. If a urinary tract infection ascends to infect the kidneys, it can lead to diseases like pyelonephritis.
Prolonged inflammatory stimulation can affect the kidneys' typical structure and function. Early treatment can effectively prevent infection-related damage to the kidneys, ensuring their normal metabolic and excretory functions.
4. Reducing Recurrence Risk
Timely and effective treatment can thoroughly eliminate pathogens and reduce the recurrence rate of urinary tract infections. Suppose the initial infection is not completely treated. In that case, pathogens may lie dormant and re-infect when the resistance is low, leading to recurrent symptoms and increasing treatment difficulty.
In conclusion, when the body shows these four feedback-mentioned signals, it is essential to take them seriously and seek medical help promptly.
Early diagnosis and treatment can quickly relieve symptoms, reduce suffering, and prevent complications, protecting the health of the kidneys and reproductive system. After diagnosis, treatment with Diuretic and Anti-inflammatory Pill under the guidance of Dr. Lee's TCM Clinic is recommended.
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