How To Keep Urinary System Clean

Detox Your Bladder Twice A Week

How to Keep Urinary System Healthy? Maintain HEALTHY KIDNEYS & Bladder Function with These TIPS

Its important to devote one day out of every three to take care of your bladder. At the same time, following these tips and guidelines will also help you detox your kidneys.

Youll probably need to reduce or eliminate the salt that you consume in your meals. If you practice this cleansing for one day out of every three to detox your bladder or your kidneys, follow these tips:

Dont drink coffee, soda, or sugary beverages.
Dont eat foods with excessive amounts of protein.
Every three days, take one day to only eat fruits, vegetables, natural juices, and water. Avoid meats , sweets, and refined flour.
Drink two liters of water a day.

What Is The Role Of The Bladder

Your bladder, like your belly, is a saclike, expandable organ that contracts when it becomes empty. When signalled, the muscles of your bladder will release urine through your urethra, which is the tube carrying urine out of your body.

As your bladder stretches, it can increase its size from around two inches to over six inches long, depending on how much liquid fills it. Typically, the average human bladder reaches full capacity when it holds 16 to 24 ounces of urine. However, you start feeling the urge to urinate when your bladder is around a quarter full.

What Are The Parts Of The Urinary System

The kidneys, ureters, bladder and urethra make up the urinary system. They all work together to filter, store and remove liquid waste from your body. Heres what each organ does:

Kidneys: These organs work constantly. They filter your blood and make urine, which your body eliminates. You have two kidneys, one on either side of the back of your abdomen, just below your rib cage. Each kidney is about as big as your fist.
Ureters: These two thin tubes inside your pelvis carry urine from your kidneys to your bladder.
Bladder: Your bladder holds urine until youre ready to empty it . Its hollow, made of muscle, and shaped like a balloon. Your bladder expands as it fills up. Most bladders can hold up to 2 cups of urine.
Urethra: This tube carries urine from your bladder out of your body. It ends in an opening to the outside of your body in the penis or in front of the vagina .

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Why Is The Bladder Important

Your urinary system or bladder is essential because it filters extra fluid and wastes from your bloodstream, removing them from your body. When your kidneys are functioning normally, they:

Prevent excess fluid and waste buildup in your body.

Produce blood pressure-regulating hormones.

Keep your electrolyte levels like phosphates and potassium stable.

Keep your bones strong.

Produce red blood cells.

Your bladder, urethra and ureters move your urine from your kidneys and then store it until it’s time to release it from your body.

Avoid Tobacco To Help Prevent Bladder Cancer

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Every year, more than 50,000 people are diagnosed with bladder cancer. Tobacco use is a major risk factor, Badlani warns: Smokers are at least three times as likely to get bladder cancer as nonsmokers. If you’re still smoking or using other forms of tobacco, it’s important to stop for bladder health and other reasons as well. Talk to your doctor about how to quit smoking.

For Those With Urinary Incontinence

Kidneys are the beginning of the urinary tract system and act as the regulator for water, toxins, and minerals in our bodies. Without these functions the body cannot maintain the balance necessary for a healthy person. The kidneys help remove waste products, such as urea and creatinine, from the body. Urea and other wastes are made when the body breaks down protein, such as meat. Creatinine is a waste product of the muscles. As kidney function decreases, the levels of urea and creatinine in the blood increase.

Ways To Avoid Urinary Tract Infections

Stay hydrated. Drink plenty of water, which increases urination, thereby flushing out bladder bacteria. How much should you drink? Enough to keep your urine looking clear.
Wipe properly. Women should wipe from front to back after using the toilet. Wiping from back to front may increase the risk of getting UTIs.
Use topical estrogen creams. These creams may help postmenopausal women who have vaginal dryness and struggle with recurrent urinary tract infections.
Don’t rely on cranberry juice. The evidence about whether it helps prevent UTIs is mixed. And the juice has lots of sugar and calories.

Understanding Utis Across The Lifespan

Urinary tract infections are very common in the U.S. In fact, UTIs are the second most common type of infection in the body and are the reason for more than 8 million visits to the doctor each year. About 10 in 25 women and 3 in 25 men will have symptoms of a UTI during their lifetime. A UTI happens when you get an infection in your urinary tract.

Most UTIs are not serious, but some can lead to serious problems like kidney infections. The most common care or treatment for a UTI is antibiotics. Signs of a UTI involve pain or burning when you pass urine, urine that looks cloudy or smells bad, pressure in your lower stomach, and an urge to go to the bathroom often. You can get a UTI at any age, but there are peak times in life when they are more common. Let’s explore UTIs across the lifespan!

What Drinks Are Good For Your Bladder

How to care for your urinary drainage bag

When trying to figure out how to keep your urinary system healthy, consider these healthy drinks.

Water: You can help prevent incontinence by drinking enough water.

Kohli tea: This tea is an extract from a subtropical plant that grows in southern China. It’s a sweet tea sold over the counter in Japan for its antioxidant benefits. It also has a protective effect on your bladder. A study on kohli tea found it had a substantial protective effect in rabbits with partial bladder obstruction in terms of contractile responses and bladder function.

Cranberry juice: Researchers report cranberry juice could help prevent bacteria from turning into a urinary tract infection within

Pear or apple juice: If you drink fruit juice, switch it to a less acidic juice like pear or apple juice and dilute it with water.

Barley water

Diluted squash: You can take diluted squash, but try and avoid squash and blackcurrant containing sugar alternatives like saccharin and aspartame, which can irritate the bladder.

Fruit and herbal teas: Fruit and herbal teas come in many varieties and are typically free of caffeine. Ginseng, however, can stimulate the bladder and could increase the urgency and frequency of urination.

Lemon water: Lemon is vitamin C-rich and a powerful antioxidant that alkalizes your body. It helps hinder bacterial growth. Additionally, it acts like a diuretic agent, flushing harmful toxins out from your urinary tract, helping prevent UTI recurrence.

How Can I Keep My Urinary System Healthy

You cant prevent most urinary tract problems. But you can try to keep your urinary system healthy with proper hygiene and a healthy lifestyle. To help your urinary system work the way it should, you can:

Drink plenty of water: Staying hydrated will flush out your system and can help you prevent kidney stones and UTIs. You can try drinking cranberry juice to ward off a UTI. Compounds in cranberries may stop bacteria from growing.
Eat a healthy diet: Low sodium, high-calcium foods may prevent kidney stones.
Wipe the right way: Women should always wipe front to back after using the toilet. Proper wiping reduces the risk of bacteria getting into the vagina and causing a UTI.
Empty your bladder after sex: If youre a woman, you should use the bathroom after having sex. Peeing promptly can clear out bacteria and reduce your risk of a UTI.
Practice safe sex: Protect yourself from an STI with a condom. But be careful with spermicides because they can cause bacteria to flourish.
Do pelvic floor exercises: Also called Kegel exercises, these can reduce your risk of urinary incontinence by strengthening the muscles in your pelvic floor.

Don’t Be Surprised If Your Doctor Doesn’t Rush You Into Treatment

Urinary tract infections can be tricky in older age. They’re not always as easy to spot or treat as in youth. And the decades-long approach to treatment is changing. “We’ve been hasty in using antibiotics, and we’re learning there are significant consequences that can range from side effects of medication to infections with antibiotic-resistant bacteria,” says Dr. Helen Chen, a geriatrician at Harvard-affiliated Hebrew Rehabilitation Center.

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What Can Impact Your Bladder Health

A number of things can affect the health of your bladder, many that you can control with a lifestyle adjustment, but others that you can’t. Here’s a list of factors that can impact your urinary health, some of which may cause bladder pain and discomfort.

Constipation: Constipation causes excess stool buildup in your colon, placing pressure on your bladder and keeping it from expanding as it should.

Diabetes: Diabetes can cause damage to the nerves surrounding your bladder that help with bladder control.

Low physical activity: Being physically active could help prevent bladder issues as well as constipation. It could also help you maintain a healthy weight.

Being overweight: When you’re overweight, it increases your risk of leaking urine.

Smoking: Bladder issues are more common among individuals who smoke. Smoking also increases your risk of bladder cancer.

Some medications: Specific drugs could increase the risk of your bladder leaking urine. For instance, medications intended to calm your nerves so you can relax or sleep could dull your bladder nerves, and you might not experience the urge to urinate.

Caffeine: Caffeine could bother your bladder, changing how your bladder informs you when it’s time to urinate.

Alcohol: Consuming alcohol could make your bladder issues worse.

Pelvic injury: Trauma like childbirth or prostate surgery could damage the nerves and muscles that control your bladder.

The Benefits Of Chlorophyll

Chlorophyll is a great way to care for your bladder and improve your overall health. You can find chlorophyll supplements in natural remedy stores or pharmacies in capsule form.

This natural compound improves the bodys metabolic function and strengthens the immune system. Besides that, its also wonderful for helping to detoxify the blood and give us energy. This health enhancer is worth taking at least five consecutive days each month.

Taking care of your bladder is basic, easy, and theres no reason why you couldnt start today!

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Tips To Keep Your Urinary System Healthy

More than 9 million doctor visits each year are due to problems with the urinary system, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases .

Some of the most common urinary problems include: urinary tract infections , urinary stones, bladder infections and urinary incontinence.

So what steps can you take to prevent these issues? Dr. Robert Pasciak, a urologist at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove, Ill., has five tips on how to keep your urinary system healthy: 1. Dont wait too long to use the restroom. Withholding urination can put added pressure on your bladder which can lead to infection.

2. Pay close attention to hygiene avoid harsh soaps and make sure to shower thoroughly after swimming in pools or lakes.

3. Avoid foods that may irritate the bladder. If you have an overactive or sensitive bladder, avoid carbonated and caffeinated drinks and alcoholic drinks.

4. Stay hydrated. Drink plenty of water throughout the day in order to keep a normal urinary pattern. This works to remove any waste products in your system.

5. Ask the right questions If you suspect something is wrong, talk to your doctor.

How The Urinary System Works

The blood in the body passes through the kidneys. The kidneys filter the liquid waste products out of the blood . This liquid passes through the ureters and into the bladder. When the bladder is full, the child has an urge to urinate . The urine flows down the urethra and leaves the body.

A urinary tract infection happens when bacteria enter the urethra and grow.

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Seek Medical Attention For Utis

It is important to seek medical attention if you think you may have a UTI particularly if you think you may have a bladder or kidney infection, both of which are very serious conditions. Early treatment of urinary infection can help to prevent infection spreading to the bladder or kidneys.

Your doctor will test your urine to check which micro-organism is present. Urinary tract infections usually respond quickly and well to antibiotics.

Common Bladder Problems And When To Seek Help

What Is the Urinary Tract System?

Bladder problems can disrupt day-to-day life. When people have bladder problems, they may avoid social settings and have a harder time getting tasks done at home or at work. Common bladder problems include urinary tract infections, urinary incontinence, and urinary retention.

Some signs of a bladder problem may include:

Inability to hold urine or leaking urine
Needing to urinate more frequently or urgently
Cloudy urine
Pain or burning before, during, or after urinating
Trouble starting or having a weak stream while urinating
Trouble emptying the bladder

If you experience any of these symptoms, talk to your health care provider.

Treatment for bladder problems may include behavioral and lifestyle changes, exercises, medications, surgery, or a combination of these treatments and others. For more information on treatment and management of urinary incontinence, visit Urinary Incontinence in Older Adults.

Is Uti Common After Spinal Cord Injury

Yes. Here are 3 of the more common reasons people with SCI develop UTIs.

1. Most people lose normal urinary function after SCI. They need a bladder management option to empty the urine from their bladder to keep their bladder and kidneys healthy. Most bladder management options make it easier for bacteria to enter the bladder through the urethra.

Please read Bladder Management Options Following Spinal Cord Injury” to learn more about normal urinary function, how it changes after SCI, and bladder management options.

2. Most people lose normal bowel function after SCI, and contact with stool is common during bowel management. Stool has bacteria that can cause a UTI. UTIs are often caused when bacteria from stool gets into the bladder when the bladder is being emptied.

Please read Bowel Function after Spinal Cord Injury to learn more about normal bowel function, how it changes after SCI, and bowel management options.

3. Once in the bladder, bacteria are hard to get rid of. People with normal bladder function can usually get rid of most bacteria by fully emptying their bladder when they urinate. However, many people with SCI cant fully empty their bladder, even with good bladder management. This allows bacteria to stay in the bladder almost all of the time, making it easier for a UTI to develop.

Avoid Holding Your Pee

Avoid holding in your urine, as this can encourage bacterial growth. Try not to wait more than 3 to 4 hours to pee, and completely empty your bladder each time.

This is even more important if youre pregnant as pregnancy puts you at an increased risk for a UTI. Holding your pee can further increase the risk.

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Ways To Clean Out Your Urethra

Fact Checked

Many women suffer from painful urinary issues such as urinary tract infections and urethritis 1. Taking care of yourself and having a clean urethra is key to staying healthy and avoiding bladder issues.

If you are experiencing serious medical symptoms, seek emergency treatment immediately.

Cranberry Juice And Supplements

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Thereâs probably no harm in trying, but they’re not a proven fix.

Over the years, a lot of studies have focused on a substance found in cranberries thatâs thought to prevent bacteria from sticking to the lining of the urinary tract. None of these studies have shown how much of this substance it would take to help prevent UTIs.

Drinking cranberry juice or taking cranberry pills is usually fine, unless you take a blood-thinning medication, a medication that affects your liver, or aspirin.

Probiotics, especially in a vaginal capsule, and D-mannose, a kind of natural sugar you can buy at health food stores, might help prevent unfriendly bacteria from growing in the urinary tract, but both need to be studied more.

You should talk to your doctor before you try cranberries or any supplements to find out the right dose and to make sure they won’t cause other problems.

Cleveland Clinic: âUrinary Tract Infections,â âCan Cranberry Juice Stop Your UTI?â

Urology Care Foundation: âUrinary Tract Infections in Adults: After Treatment,â âUrinary Tract Infections in Adults: How Are UTIs Treated?â

Mayo Clinic: âUrinary Tract Infection .â

American Urological University.

JAMA Internal Medicine: âCranberry-Containing Products for Prevention of Urinary Tract Infections in Susceptible Populations: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.â

UpToDate: “Recurrent urinary tract infection in women.”

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When Should You Contact Your Healthcare Provider About Your Urine Drainage Bag

Contact your healthcare provider if you have:

Cloudy, foul-smelling urine.
Red or pink urine, mean that there is blood in the urine.
A fever greater than 101 degrees Fahrenheit.
Pain or burning in your urethra, bladder or lower back.
Swelling, draining, or redness in your urethra .

You should also contact your healthcare provider if no urine has drained from your catheter in six to eight hours or if your catheter is leaking.

Symptoms of a urinary tract infection may include:

A need to urinate often.
A painful, burning feeling in the area of the bladder or urethra while you are urinating.
Nausea or vomiting.

You may also feel bad all over â tired, shaky, washed out âand feel pain even when you are not urinating. The urine itself may look milky or cloudy or even reddish if blood is present.

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