Do you keep getting urinary tract infections? Here's what you need to know

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) bring a special kind of misery. If you have had one - or several - you know the near-constant urge to get to the bathroom and the burning sensation that comes with urinating.

Most UTIs clear up quickly with a course of antibiotics. For some people, though, they return with frustrating regularity. Structural abnormalities in the urinary tract or difficulty emptying the bladder completely can leave a person more prone to frequent infections. Family history may come into play too, which surprises many people: having a first-degree female relative (a parent, sister, or daughter) with more than five UTIs in her past raises your own risk of recurrent infections.

Steps that can help you avoid recurrent UTIs

Doctors consider UTIs recurrent when someone has three infections within any 12-month span, or two within any six-month span.

Recurrent UTIs carry social, emotional, and financial costs - anxiety, depression, missed work, and the expense of repeated office visits and tests. Even so, several measures can help keep them at bay:

Talk with your doctor. If your infections tend to follow sexual activity, your doctor may prescribe a single antibiotic dose to take only after sex. Postmenopausal women might consider vaginal estrogen products to support the health of local tissue.

Practice good hygiene. Along with regularly washing the outer genital area with a gentle soap, wiping from front to back after using the toilet helps keep digestive-tract bacteria away from the urethra. Urinating after sex can also flush bacteria out.

Drink plenty of water. Generous fluid intake helps wash bacteria out of the bladder.

Reconsider your birth control method. Spermicide, diaphragms, and spermicide-lubricated condoms can all contribute to frequent UTIs. If infections keep recurring and you use one of these, think about switching.

Consider probiotics or cranberry juice. Their effectiveness is unproven, but they may reduce the number of UTI-causing bacteria living in the vagina.