10 UTI remedies to try at home before you reach for the prescription antibiotics.
Urinary tract infections are a lot more common than you’d think. All it takes is a small slip in your hygiene habits, and your sensitive lady bits can get infected fairly easily. Worst of all, it’s a painful infection, one that can serious interfere with your using the toilet.
Thankfully, there are A LOT of remedies you can use to deal with your UTI. You don’t necessarily need to take medication, so here are a few UTI remedies to try at home:
- Water — The more you pee, the more you flush the bacteria from your urinary tract! It may not be easy, but it’s worth it to add a few glasses of water to your diet. Take your body weight in pounds, and drink half that number in ounces. (i.e.; you weigh 120 pounds, so you need to drink 60 ounces of water).
- Heating pad — While this won’t cure the UTI, it can certainly help to reduce the pain and inflammation. Use for only 15 minutes at a time on low heat, and you’ll find that it works wonders to soothe the UTI pain.
- Vitamin C –– Vitamin C is a potent antibacterial, so getting more of this vitamin will help to combat the problem. Eat more Vitamin C-rich foods: lemons, grapefruits, strawberries, broccoli, etc. Take Vitamin C supplements to get rid of the bacteria!
- Baking soda –– The alkalinity of the baking soda will help to counteract the acidity in your body, the result of your bacterial infection. It can also help to lessen the acidity of your urine, reducing the burning sensation. Mix a teaspoon of baking soda into a large glass of water, and drink it for pain relief. Be careful with this one though, a lot of people use the wrong ratio and feel crummy instead of great.
- Celery seeds –- Celery seeds are a diuretic, meaning they help you to pee more. The more you pee, the more you flush the bacteria from your urinary tract. Chew on celery seeds by the handful, and the compounds in the celery oil will help to increase urine production in your body.
READ MORE: 20 Natural Remedies to Treat Lady Problems
- Parsley –– Make a pot of parsley “tea” by boiling and steeping fresh parsley leaves in hot water for up to 10 minutes. Strain the leaves and drink the tea while it’s still hot, or put it in the fridge to make an “iced tea”. It’s not the tastiest remedy, but it’s a wonderful diuretic that will flush bacteria from your urinary tract and decrease your discomfort.
- Ginger — Ginger is excellent at dealing with inflammation, making it a very useful remedy for your UTI. Make yourself a large pot of ginger tea, and drink it all day long. Not only will it help to reduce the swelling in your urinary tract, but the added water intake will have you peeing more.
- Blueberries –– It’s believed that blueberries can affect the bacteria causing the UTI, preventing them from attaching to the urinary tract. Have a few handfuls of fresh blueberries every day with breakfast until the UTI clears up. This is by far one of the easiest UTI remedies to try, simply because all it takes is the desire to snack.
- Lemon and Cream of Tartar –– This is not the most “you-friendly” remedy, but it will work! Mix a half-teaspoon of cream of tartar into a glass of water along with some lime or lemon juice, and drink up. The Vitamin C will deal with the infection, and the cream of tartar will lower the acidity of your urine.
- Horseradish –– Mix with water and drink up, and you’ll kill off a lot of the bacteria causing the infection. Horseradish contains compounds that will stop the bacteria from reproducing, making it easier to get the UTI under control!
