Normally the urinary system is a bacteria-free and highly sterile system. When a urinary tract infection (UTI) develops, this means that the urinary system has been overrun by bacteria and the bacteria has rapidly multiplied infecting the entire system. A urinary tract infection can manifest in three types of conditions:

Urethritis – This is a UTI condition in which the urethra is infected.

Cystitis – A bladder infection

Pyelonephritis – An infection involving the kidneys. This type of infection can become a serious and deadly condition. When pyelonephritis occurs, the bacteria from the bowel may have passed through the urinary tract via the urethra.

UTIs are commons health problems that affect millions of people in the United States each year. Because the urethra of a woman is shorter than men, women are thus more prone to UTI infections than their male counterparts. In the United States about 20% to 50% of the women will experience UTI at some point in their lifetime.

Chinese herbal remedies and acupuncture in Palm Harbor provide very effective treatment for cystitis or bladder infection, which is usually referred to as Urinary Tract Infection.

Cystitis is usually a very common problem that acupuncturists encounter in their daily practice. It is a condition that develops when the urethra or urinary bladder becomes inflamed as a result of a bacterial infection. Almost all cystitis cases (90%+) are the result of an E. Coli bacterial infection that enters the bladder and urethra leading to infection and inflammation.

The bladder and urethra usually do not contain bacteria because even if bacteria have managed to enter the bladder, it is often washed away during urination. However, if the bacteria stubbornly resist the process of urination and manage to stay in the bladder, they can rapidly grow and easily cause inflammation and infection in the affected area.

UTI that are not severe are often resolved spontaneously without the need for treatment. However, if the infection has spread into the kidneys, then treatment is very much required. An upward spread of the infection causes the kidneys to be infected as well as lead to symptoms such as pain that travels downward to the groin and thighs, stomach pain, flank pain, back pain, and kidney pain. The kidney infection can worsen to become a urinary tract infection upper urinary tract infection or acute pyelonephritis. Cystitis is known as a lower urinary tract infection.