1. Submit a Blood or Urine Sample
If you're showing signs and symptoms of a bladder or urinary tract infection, your doctor should perform an analysis on a sample of your blood or urine, or both. Your doctor will be looking for laboratory evidence of a high concentration of bacteria in your urine, and your specific diagnosis may then be confirmed by testing a sample of your blood.
2. Get a Physical Examination
During your initial visit to your doctor's office, the physician may also perform a physical examination in addition to drawing a fluid sample. Your lower back and your abdomen area will be inspected for signs of bladder or kidney swelling. This physical examination alone cannot provide a definitive diagnosis of a bladder or urinary tract infection. The test is a supplementary means of determining whether you may be suffering from an infection, and your doctor may be reluctant to prescribe antibiotics based on this examination alone. More doctors are delaying prescribing antibiotics until there's definitive proof that they're needed, since many illness-causing bacteria are becoming increasingly resistant to these medications.
3. Ultrasound for Female Patients
The physical structure of their reproductive systems makes ultrasound detection a practical option for female patients. Urinary tract and bladder infections can assume the physical shape of the affected bodily structures, and an ultrasound is a quick, reliable and non-invasive method for taking a snapshot of your insides. If your doctor diagnoses a bladder infection, you should expect to get better faster if you're a woman. Most female urinary tract infection patients show significant improvement in 3 days or less, while men may need up to 10 days from the start of treatment to make a full recovery. Men don't seem to respond quite as quickly to treatment over the short term, perhaps because of their longer urethras or because of coexisting prostate infections.
