Can Urinating After Sex Prevent a UTI?
Yes - urinating after sex sexual intercourse helps flush microbes back out of your urethra, making you less likely to develop a UTI. Ideally, you should use the toilet within 15 minutes of having sex.
How Can You Prevent a UTI After Sex?
While nothing can guarantee you won't develop a UTI, there are some general hygiene practices you can adopt to reduce your chances or prevent UTI after sex. After sex, gently wash your genital area to remove bacteria.
If you have anal sex, make sure to clean your anus thoroughly beforehand, and avoid switching to vaginal sex afterwards, as doing so could transfer bacteria to your urethra. You should also wipe with toilet paper from front to back - never back to front - after using the toilet, to prevent bacterial transfer. Good hygiene is essential to avoid UTI after sex.
In general, make sure to drink enough water every day and maintain good personal hygiene - this means changing your underwear everyday and changing pads or tampons regularly when you're menstruating.
How Long Does It Take for a UTI To Develop?
A UTI develops because harmful bacteria are growing in the urinary tract. There is an incubation period between when the bacteria is introduced and when you start to feel symptoms. This time frame varies depending on the bacteria. The most common cause of UTIs is E. coli, which has an incubation time of three to eight days. That means you will notice UTI symptoms anywhere from three to eight days after sex or other exposure to bacteria [3].
Can You Have Sex With a UTI?
It's best to avoid having sex with UTI because the movement involved can irritate the urethra and push bacteria further up inside, worsening the infection. UTIs can also make sex feel painful and unpleasant.
How Soon Can I Have Sex After a UTI?
There is no hard and fast rule about when you can resume sexual activity after a UTI. Since the infections aren't transmissible, there is no need to worry about lingering bacteria affecting your partner. However, the symptoms associated with a UTI can make sex uncomfortable. Any kind of vaginal penetration, whether it's a penis, a finger, or sex toys, might irritate sensitive tissues in your pelvic region. Having sex too soon might make symptoms worse. Waiting until your symptoms are completely gone is usually the best plan [4].
You can ask your doctor for guidance on when to have sex again after a UTI.
Can a UTI Cause Bleeding During Intercourse?
Vaginal bleeding due to a UTI is not very common, but it is possible. One of the effects of infection of any kind is inflammation. Inflammation may spread beyond the site of the infection to surrounding tissue. In the case of a UTI, other areas in the pelvic region may become inflamed, sensitive, and prone to irritation. If the tissue of the vagina or vulva is affected, sexual contact may cause irritation or bleeding [5].
Why Do I Keep Getting a UTI After Sex Every Time?
If you've taken the necessary precautions but still develop a UTI after sex every time, ask your doctor to conduct some more tests on your urinary tract. These could include an ultrasound scan or a CT scan to check if there's injury to the area or another disease causing the UTI.
Sometimes, frequent UTIs can be a sign of a more serious condition such as diabetes, so make sure to attend regular health check-ups.
How To Diagnose a UTI?
To get a diagnosis, you generally have to provide your doctor with a urine sample so they can check for levels of white blood cells and bacteria in urine. However, our Urinox-UTI test panel makes diagnosis much easier and can give you the same assessment at-home results in just two minutes. It can check for signs of inflammation and bacterial activity in the urinary tract. Urinox-UTI test is an easy-to-use urine dipstick test that you can use at home to assist in the diagnosis of UTIs. It is the same test used by doctors worldwide. You can learn more about Urinox-UTI here.
Final Words
UTIs can be painful and troublesome. However, with proactive testing, prevention strategies, home remedies, and treatment with a course of antibiotics, relief is possible.
It's important to know the science of UTIs and prevention so you can make the best decisions for your health.
