Kidney infection, also known as pyelonephritis can damage your kidneys for good, or cause a life-threatening infection if it spreads to your bloodstream. That is why it must be treated properly, so medical help is needed immediately.
Usually, kidney infection starts when bacteria enter the urinary tract through the urethra, and multiply.

There are some symptoms that are caused by the infection. Abdominal pain or pressure, the need to urinate during the night, cloudy urine with a strong odor or frequent urination are some signs that show you have a kidney infection. This fact can be also suspected if you have a burning sensation or pain when urinating, pus or blood in your urine, urine retention, back, side or groin pain, or fever.
In the severe kidney infections, there appears also nausea, extreme fatigue, chills, and high fever.
It is known also that young children have other symptoms too, such as irritability, loose bowel movements, enuresis and loss of appetite.

Usually, the bacteria that provoke kidney infection enter the urinary tract through the urethra, and starts multiplicating. Kidney infection can appear in other way too, through the bloodstream. That happens due to another part of the body that is infected, because infection travels through the bloodstream and affects the kidneys.

Not always, having bacteria in the urine means you have an infection. There are known many cases of persons, especially older adults that have bacteria in the bladder, but that provokes no symptoms and no harm, no treatment being needed. This is the so-called asymptomatic bacteriuria.

Studies revealed that women have more chances to develop kidney infection than men. That happens, because women have a much shorter urethra, and the bacteria will travel a shorter distance from the outside of the body till will reach the bladder.
Sexuala activity at women rises the risk of kidney infection, because bacteria can be introduced into the urethra. The risk also rises at women that use diaphragms or spermacides for birth control.
Other factors that increase the possibility of developing kidney infection in men and women too, are medications that lower your immunity, diseases, such as cancer, diabetes or HIV, prolonged use of tubes used to drain urine from the bladder, a kidney stone, structural abnormalities in your urinary system, or an enlarged prostate gland in men.
Vesicoureteral reflux is also a condition that rises the posibilitu of developing kidney infection. That condition allows urine flow from the bladder back up into the ureters and kidneys.

It is important to go for a check up as soon as you suspect that something is wrong with your kidneys. The doctor might suspect an infection localized in your kidneys and will ask for a urine sample in order to test it for blood, pus and bacterial presence. There are no tests for finding out whether the infection is in the kidneys or inside the bladder but if you complain about upper back pain and fever you might have a kidney infection.

Try not to leave this infection resolve by itself because you can develop serious complications like permanent kidney damage or even septicemia if the bacteria get inside your blood stream.

The most exposed to these complications are the children and the pregnant women. Due to such an infection, pregnant women can give birth to underweight babies or can have a premature birth.

Treatment for kidney infection consists of antibiotic drugs. The period of administration and the quantity will be decided by the doctor, depending of the level of bacteria in the urine. The most used antibiotic drugs are: amoxicillin, nitrofurantoin, trimethoprim, and quinolones. It is important to let your doctor know about other medication you are taking because some of the antibiotic drugs do not match with other drugs.

You will feel better after a few days of treatment but it is important to follow the treatment as prescribed by the doctor, not to give up on taking the antibiotic drugs as soon as you feel better, because this could only lead to an incomplete treatment and the disease will eventually return. If the kidney infection is severe, you might be administered the antibiotic drugs intravenous and be hospitalized for a few days.

Sometimes recurrent kidney infections are caused by urologic abnormalities and in that case your current doctor might advice you to go to an urologist for a check up.

In order to prevent kidney infections you should drink a lot of liquids, especially water and you should urinate often and not retain your urine because bacterium will develop.

It is indicated to take a shower after intercourses and also to drink plenty of water after intercourses. Showering is better that bathing because it prevents excess moisture which can increase the bacteria level from your organism.

Be careful when wiping. Try to wipe from front to back after urinating in order not to bring infections towards your urethra.

Hygiene is very important but be careful to wash your intimate areas gently in order to prevent skin irritation.

At home, if you have a kidney infection you can place a heating pad on your abdomen in order to reduce pain. Also, drink a lot of liquids in order to keep well hydrated but avoid citrus juices and alcohol because these liquids will only irritate your kidneys.

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