Urinary tract infections, or UTIs, are a common source of grief for men and particularly women. But while many of these infections can be cleared up at your doctor’s office,
there are times when more urgent care is needed to resolve the infections before serious complications can occur. These are four signs that you can’t wait on an appointment and should head into urgent care as quickly as possible to begin treating your UTI.
You Have No Regular Doctor or Urologist
Of course, if you don’t have a doctor you regularly visit, to begin with, urgent care is likely to be an easier solution than finding an office, filling out the requisite paperwork and then hoping for a reasonable appointment date. Because an urgent care facility is equipped to handle most minor medical conditions and emergencies, it can tide you over until you settle on a family doctor. In the case of a UTI, the quicker you can be tested and prescribed antibiotics, the better.
You Are Too Uncomfortable to Function
UTIs are frequently accompanied by a constant need to use the restroom and painful urination when you get there. This uncomfortable cycle can have you hopping up from your chair throughout the day, detracting from your productivity and leaving you feeling tired and miserable. Rather than spend a week or two in this limbo, it is often better to simply visit your local urgent care clinic.
You Find Blood in Your Urine
Urine is stored in your bladder, but it actually originates in your kidneys; there, it picks up any waste your body needs to expel. But during a UTI, the infection may eventually spread into your kidneys, causing them to leak blood. You will notice this blood when you urinate, or your urine may be a dark orange color. This is a sign that should be taken seriously since damage to your kidneys can be permanent and severely impact your body’s ability to function.
You Develop a Fever and Back Pain
As the infection gains a solid footing in your kidneys, you will start to develop a fever and feel pain in your lower back. Whenever you experience these symptoms alongside the typical symptoms of a UTI, head into urgent care immediately for an evaluation and to begin medication. Infections at this point are much harder to treat and much more likely to leave lasting damage, which is why you should visit urgent care before this stage if at all possible. With appointments available at most times, there’s no excuse to allow your UTI to progress any further than it already has.
