Treatments for Urinary Tract Infections

UTIs are treated with antibiotics (a medicine that kills bacteria), usually for seven to ten days. For some infections, however, you may only need a single dose of an antibiotic. The choice of antibiotic and length of treatment depend on your health history and the type of bacteria causing the infection. The antibiotic drugs most often used to treat UTIs are

• trimethoprim (Trimpex);
• trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole or TMP/SMZ (Bactrim, Septra, Cotrim);
• amoxicillin (Amoxil, Trimox, Wymox);
• nitrofurantoin (Macrodantin, Furadantin),
• and ampicillin.

Other antibiotics are sometimes used as well, including ofloxacin (Floxin), norfloxacin (Noroxin), ciprofloxacin (Cipro), and trovafloxin (Trovan). Some antibiotics are not safe to take during pregnancy. Talk with your health care provider about the risks and benefits of taking the different medications.

Getting proper treatment will prevent your urinary tract problems from getting worse and affecting other parts of your body. You can help prevent kidney infections by seeing your health care provider as soon as you have symptoms of a UTI. If you are in pain, ask your health care provider to prescribe a pain reliever since various drugs are available. A heating pad may also help.