Repeated burning or urgency deserves assessment. Similar symptoms can have different causes; prevention works best when the diagnosis and your personal risk factors are clear.
Illustrative image — not a hospital or patient photograph.
Build helpful daily habits
Drink enough to avoid dehydration, within any fluid limit given for kidney or heart disease. Go when you need to urinate, take time to empty comfortably, and discuss difficulty emptying.
Keep the genital area clean and dry; avoid perfumed products. If you have a vulva, wipe from front to back and try passing urine after sex. These steps may help but do not guarantee prevention.
Find the reason for recurrence
Bring previous urine cultures and a list of antibiotics used. Your clinician may check for stones, incomplete bladder emptying, diabetes or other reasons, and arrange a urine test when appropriate.
Discuss spermicide-containing contraception if infections follow sex. Around or after menopause, prescribed vaginal estrogen may help some women. Preventive medicines need an individual review.
Use treatment safely
Take antibiotics exactly as prescribed. Do not restart leftover antibiotics or borrow someone else's. If symptoms return or treatment is not helping, contact your clinician.
Cranberry products and other supplements are not treatments for an active infection. Ask about uncertain benefits, interactions and suitability before using them.
