Although a hushed subject, urinary tract infections are too common for people to avoid talking about them. The amount of people, men or women (yes, men can get them too) is large, and the symptoms might not even be noticeable. Even though the infections seem harmless, if kept untreated could result in kidney problems, and the infections itself could also go to your bloodstream; both are extreme cases, but surely can happen! We sat down with Dr. Vladimir Perelshteyn to talk about the symptoms of, treatments for, and causes of a UTI.

PRESTIGE: What are the ways one could get a UTI? Any strange ways of receiving them? 
Dr. PERELSHTEYN: Mostly from poor hygiene. That seems to be the leading cause. Also, if you are sexually active, that could also be a cause. Some people think you can get them from wearing a bathing suit of a long time, but that’s false.

P: What makes the infection so common? 
DR: Like I’ve mentioned, the poor hygiene is one of the biggest reasons. And, sometimes it’s not the most common reasons. I know babies with possible congenital defects that could have UTIs at birth, just because of the defect. But, keep clean because that’s most important for this infection.

P: What are the symptoms? 
DR: Everything you’ve heard already. You have frequent urination, a burning feeling when you urinate, depending on severity you could feel a strong pain in your abdomen, and things around that. If you think you have any of those symptoms, you should check in with you doctor.

P: How would you personally assess and treat a patient? 
DR: I would first ask how severe his or her pain is and get a culture. If it was a very strong pain, I wouldn’t wait for the culture to come back, I would simply prescribe antibiotics right then and there. Once the culture comes back, I will see if the patient should be continuing her antibiotics or if he or she should stop. If it were reoccurring, then I would suggest visiting a doctor with that specific specialty for further evaluation.