UTI Symptoms You Shouldn't Ignore: When Urgent Care Is the Best Option

While you might think of a urinary tract infection (UTI) as a common and simple illness, it’s not always the case. Not every UTI has the same cause, and sometimes infections can be serious and fast to spread through your body.

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) account for about 8 million healthcare visits annually. All components of your urinary tract are vulnerable to infection, including the urethra, bladder, ureters, and kidneys.

At Michigan Avenue Primary Care and Immediate Care, we diagnose and treat UTIs, and we see routine, low-risk cases as well as infections that require urgent care. We’ve prepared this guide to help you know the difference.

UTI 101

Urinary tract infections begin when pathogens invade the urinary tract. Entering through the urethra, most UTIs develop from bacteria, most often E. coli but sometimes from fungi and viruses.

Once in your body, these pathogens can migrate through the urinary tract, sometimes penetrating through to the bladder, ureters, and kidneys. When your bladder becomes infected, you have cystitis, while a UTI that reaches a kidney produces pyelonephritis.

It’s possible for anyone, including children, to develop a UTI, but they’re more common in adult women. The urethra is shorter in women so it’s easier for bacteria to reach the urinary tract. The close proximity of the urethra and anus provides a nearby source of E. coli bacteria.

Other risk factors for UTIs besides gender include:

Catheter use
Diabetes
Getting older
Hormonal changes like menopause
Immune system problems
Previous UTIs
Poor hygiene practices
Urinary tract abnormalities

Women may be more at risk of UTIs when they’re pregnant or sexually active, or when they use spermicides and douches.

UTI symptoms

UTIs share a variety of symptoms with other genitourinary conditions. The location and severity of symptoms depends on the extent of the infection and where in the urinary tract it settles. Some of the more common symptoms include:

Frequent urge to urinate (urge incontinence)
Pain or burning during urination
Inability to empty your bladder completely
Pink or brown-tinged urine (a sign of blood in the urine)
Strong-smelling urine

Advanced infections can cause fever, nausea, and pain in the abdomen and lower back.

When urgent care is the best option for treating a UTI

Like many bacterial infections, UTIs respond best when treated early in the cycle. Delaying treatment gives pathogens time to grow and spread to other parts of the urinary tract or beyond. This increases the risk of complications as well as taking longer to resolve the infection and recovery.

Bladder and kidney infections can be much more difficult to treat. Once the infection reaches the kidneys, your risk of developing a serious infection increases significantly. This can lead to kidney damage and permanent kidney function loss.

Prompt care of a UTI with antibiotics relieves the discomfort quickly. Depending on your risk factors, delaying treatment may lead to frequently recurring UTIs as well as chronic symptoms.

Your comfort and health depend on prompt treatment. Contact us at Michigan Avenue Immediate Care when you recognize the signs of a UTI beginning to take hold.

You can book an urgent care appointment through this link or call our Chicago, Illinois, office at 312-201-1234. Don’t delay.