1. Flush Out Your Bladder
Sometimes, simply keeping your water intake high is enough to manage a mild bladder infection. You should up your water intake from the recommended 8 glasses per day to about 10 or 12 to dilute your urine and increase the frequency with which you urinate. This can rid your body of the infectious agent and begin to provide relief within about 24 hours. However, it isn't always enough, and you should talk to your doctor to discuss more aggressive options to cope with your situation if you don't start to feel better.
2. Cope With or Cure Your Condition Using Antibiotics
Your doctor will treat a more severe or persistent bladder infection using antibiotics, which will rid your body of the harmful bacteria. To make the most effective and safest use of these drugs, you should tell your doctor about any known allergies you have to antibiotics and make sure you continue to take your antibiotics as directed, even after you start to recover. It's necessary to continue treatment for several days after your symptoms disappear to ensure that you've killed off the bacteria causing your bladder infection.
3. Treat a Recurrent Condition
If you're prone to repeated infections, especially as the result of sexual contact, your doctor may direct you to take an antibiotic after sexual activity as a means of coping with your condition. Far more women than men contract sex-related bladder and urinary tract conditions and preventative treatment can often prevent flare-ups from occurring. Nevertheless, unprotected sex is the number one reason men contract bladder infections.
However, not all recurrent infections are caused by sexual activity. Post-menopausal women in particular are at risk for getting repeat visits from bladder bacteria due to a drop in estrogen production. Your doctor may prescribe estrogen treatments to ease the severity of your symptoms and prevent recurrences. However, some causes of bladder infections, such as kidney stones or prostate problems, must be treated surgically.
4. Manage Your Pain
You can cope with the pain by using anti-inflammatory painkillers as directed by your doctor or pharmacist. Usually, an over-the-counter pain reliever will suffice, but if you have kidney stones that you have to pass, your doctor might elect to help you cope with the pain by providing you with a prescription painkiller.
