Bladder infections are a common acute problem, especially in females. The likely reason is due to anatomy – the female urethra is very short compared to the male’s.
“Honeymoon cystitis” is a good example. A frequent time for bladder infection in women is after sex, when pressure pushes bacteria into the bladder past the short urethra. To prevent this women have learned to drink water before sex and then to urinate afterward in order to flush out any organisms.
Because of proximity to the anus and its bacteria, girls are taught from a young age to wipe forward after urinating and backward after having a stool. This reduces contamination by E. coli, a common cause of bladder infections.
By the way, bacteria are not the only cause of bladder infections, and antibiotics do not always work. Viruses can also be a cause of bladder infections, just as viruses are a cause of colds.
What are symptoms of bladder infection? Burning on urination is the prime symptom. This can be before, during, or after urination or even throughout. There may or may not be blood in the urine, but often cloudiness or sediment can be seen. Because of irritation, frequency of urination is usual, and often urgency to urinate is followed by scanty volumes.
Diagnosis in a medical facility is usually made by collecting a urine sample and viewing under a microscope to estimate white cells, maybe red cells, and bacteria. When there is time, the urine is cultured to identify and count the organisms. The standard is for the culture to grow greater than 100,000 colonies per ml of urine. The bacteria found are exposed to a range of antibiotic pellets in order to identify which antibiotics the bacteria are sensitive to.
Now to treat a bladder infection
Most mild bladder infections can be handled without antibiotics. The first step is to drink enough liquids to be urinating good volumes of urine every 15 minutes. This flushes out viruses or bacteria that might be lurking. There are suggestions in the literature that cranberry juice helps prevent bacteria from attaching to bladder walls. Clinically, we see that cranberry juice with sugar added actually aggravates symptoms.
An appropriately chosen eRemedy, individualized to the unique symptoms of the infection, typically relieves symptoms within a few hours. This can be found at https://www.mdinyourhand.com/module/27/bladder-infection/. This is convenient because treatment is begun straight from your cellphone or computer, saving a visit to doctor and pharmacy.
There are some herbs that anecdotally seem to help. Bearberry (Artostaphylosuva-ursi) is a close relative of cranberry and has a similar reputation for helping bladder infections; it also has been shown to have antibiotic effects on a variety of bacteria in culture. One study showed that a combination of bearberry, hops, and peppermint benefitted 70% of 915 patients who had more chronic symptoms of bedwetting and painful urination.[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bearberry]. Bachu (Agathosmabetulina) is a South African herb known to work in that region. Germany also has a couple of herbs known in their region – nettle leaf and couchgrass (Elumusrepens). Finally Goldenseal is known throughout the world for its component, berberine, which is known to have powerful antibacterial effects.[http://bodysoulmind.net/body/herbal-remedies-for-bladder-infections-and-cystitis]
Standard medical treatment relies on antibiotics, which do work much of the time, especially when culture and sensitivities are done. To relieve pain, it is common practice to give a mild drug called Pyridium, which is a urinary anesthetic. This turns urine orange, so be forewarned.
Kidney Infection
Just as a cold can occasionally progress to pneumonia in a deeper organ, a urinary tract infection can occasionally progress into kidneys. People suffering with kidney infection experience severe tiredness and fever, plus dull aching pain in the kidney regions alongside the spine and between ribs and hip bones. Poking the back in that area provokes pain. [David Rakel, Integrative Medicine, Saunders-Elsevier, 2007]
An eRemedy from https://www.eremedyonline.com/module/27/bladder-infection/ can usually produce rapid relief even in a kidney infection. If it does not work, it is best to proceed to a doctor; kidney infection can be a serious infection sometimes.
Urinary Retention
In some people who have repeated infections, inflammation and swelling in the bladder and urethra can impede urination to the point of paralysis. This complication actually does happen more equally between males and females. Traditionally, these people need to resort to use of sterile catheters to relieve pressure from the bladder. A common complication of this process is more infections.
A correctly chosen eRemedy from https://www.eremedyonline.com/module/27/bladder-infection/ can usually relieve bladder retention problems relatively quickly. It is nontoxic to try, so a reasonable thing to try.
Enuresis
Bedwetting and involuntary urination can be a side effect of bladder infection, as well as diabetes. If it is due to bladder infection, using an eRemedy should solve the problem quickly.
There is also enuresis of childhood, mostly in boys who tend to be creative and hyperactive and then sleep very deeply to the point where they lose touch with their bladder urges. This is not an acute condition, so it is unlikely that eRemedies can work in this condition, though Classical Homeopathy itself can be very effective.
There are electronic alarms which can be purchased to aid the child’s ability to wake in time to pee naturally; these sometimes work but more often do not.