9 Home Remedies for Preventing and Treating UTIs

If you’ve got to go, go! Peeing may help flush out bacteria that cause UTIs, doctors say.

Studies involving female Taiwanese factory workers with a high rate of UTIs suggest an association between delayed bladder voiding and the infections. After an educational campaign on the importance of fluids and urination, workers’ water intake and bathroom breaks increased and UTI prevalence decreased.

Dr. Hooton says the findings make intuitive sense. The longer you hold it in, the more time you give bacteria “to stick to the bladder wall and cause infection.”

D-mannose is a simple sugar with a potential UTI prevention superpower: It sticks to E. coli bacteria.

A small, randomized trial found women taking 2 grams of D-mannose powder in almost a cup of water daily for 6 months had significantly fewer recurrent UTIs than women taking an antibiotic for UTI prevention and women who didn't take anything. Scientists think it may prevent bacteria from clinging to the bladder and causing infection.

More research is needed to show how much to take or whether it’s well absorbed from the GI tract into the bladder, Dr. Hooton explains, but he suggests trying it because it shouldn’t hurt and could be helpful.

Some women swear by cranberry to stave off UTIs. But study results are decidedly mixed, and many involve older adults in long-term care.

“In younger, healthier women, there may be a role for it,” Dr. Siddiqui observes.

Cranberries contain proanthocyanidins, chemicals that prevent bacteria from sticking to cells lining the urinary tract, according to a 2009 report in the Journal of Medicinal Food.

If you’re going to try cranberry, pills may be more palatable than downing tart, 100% cranberry juice, Dr. Siddiqui says. If it works for you, stick with it–but if not, don’t waste your money. And of course, she adds, if your symptoms are really bad, “we do generally recommend treating with antibiotics.”

A few words of caution: If you’re on a blood thinner, talk to your doctor first because taking cranberry may increase your risk of bleeding, Dr. Siddiqui notes. Also, people with interstitial cystitis, a painful bladder condition, may want to avoid cranberry, she says, because its acidity may cause further irritation.

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Urine that’s more acidic is less welcoming to bacteria, or so the thinking goes. And that’s why some women take vitamin C, which contains ascorbic acid, to ward off UTIs.

But Dr. Hooton isn’t convinced. “You can’t really change your [vaginal] pH very easily by taking vitamin C,” he says.

In a recent review of non-antibiotic UTI prevention strategies, researchers could not recommend vitamin C. They found only two trials, and those studies produced contradictory results.

However, if you are already taking D-mannose and cranberry and you’re otherwise healthy, adding C to your regimen likely won’t hurt. “Many bladder health supplements combine all three of these agents,” Dr. Siddiqui notes.

Over-the-counter products like AZO contain phenazopyridine, a pain reliever that eases urinary pain, burning, urgency, and frequency.

Phenazopyridine is also available in prescription strength under brand names like Pyridium.

When you’re really uncomfortable, phenazopyridine can “help soothe and calm the bladder while you’re waiting for the antibiotic to work,” Dr. Siddiqui says.

Heat can be an effective at-home remedy for UTI pain.

Place a heating pad or hot water bottle on your abdomen or back to ease the discomfort of a bladder or kidney infection, says the NIDDK.

That advice goes for kids with bladder infections, too.

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If you’re still getting UTIs, tight skinny jeans may not be your thing.

“We don’t really think that clothing causes infections or makes infections persist,” but it might “worsen irritation,” Dr. Siddiqui explains.

Wearing underwear with a cotton crotch and quickly changing out of damp workout clothes and wet bathing suits may also help, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Women’s Health.