If you feel like you hear more women complain of urinary tract infections (UTIs) than men, you’re not imagining it. Alarmingly, 50-60% of women will get a UTI at least once in their lives, and women outpace men by a whopping 30 to 1 when it comes to these infections.
Our team of skilled women’s health experts at CareOne Internal Medicine and Primary Care is well-versed in gender differences associated with urinary tract infections, and we want to explain why these differences exist. As well, we dive into how to recognize an infection and the important next steps.
There are several reasons women are more prone to UTIs than men, including:
The biggest influencer when it comes to the gender difference in UTIs is anatomy. To start, the urethra in women is much shorter, which means bacteria only have a quick trip to make before reaching the bladder, where many UTIs originate.
Men’s urethras are much longer and travel the length of their penises, so bacteria have a much more difficult time gaining access to the bladder.
The opening of your urethra is close to other openings, namely your anus, which allows for more cross-contamination. For example, E. coli is often found in the stool, and this same bacterium is responsible for 75% of UTIs. (This is why you should always wipe front to back!)
Aside from anatomical differences, women also deal with different issues that can change the bacterial balance, such as pregnancy and menopause, which leave them more vulnerable to UTIs.
As well, if you use certain types of birth control, such as a diaphragm, cervical cap, or spermicide, these options can introduce new bacteria that can lead to urinary tract infections.
There’s good news, if you can call it that, with UTIs — the symptoms are hard to ignore and come on quickly and often severely.
These symptoms include:
Again, these symptoms are hard to ignore, which gives you the motivation to act quickly.
By acting quickly, your most important step is to come see us. After a brief review of your symptoms, we take a sample of your urine for a quick analysis.
If we spot signs of infection, we prescribe a short course of antibiotics, which should make quick work of the infection. In fact, antibiotics can often bring you relief within 24 hours.
If you don’t act quickly, you run the risk of the infection spreading to your kidneys, which is more serious. So, coming to see us sooner rather than later is very much in your best interest.
If you have more questions or suspect you have an active UTI, please don’t hesitate to schedule an appointment at one of our CareOne Internal Medicine and Primary Care convenient locations in Houston or Katy, Texas. We also offer telehealth appointments.
