Sex and Urinary Tract Infections
Another day in the Emergency Department, more urinary tract infections.
It’s a question that I get asked all the time: Why does sex cause urinary tract infections?
Well, sex in and of itself does not cause UTI’s, per se. Bacteria in the urinary tract cause UTI.
Let’s go through some definitions first.
- UTI: Urinary tract infection, some also refer to it as a bladder infection
- Urinary tract: kidneys, ureter, bladder
- E.Coli: Escherichia coli, bacteria that causes 90% of UTIs. It also causes meningitis, pneumonia, food poisoning and other bad illnesses. E.Coli are bacteria normally found in your large intestines and everyone has it in their bodies. E.Coli is in everyone’s fecal matter.
- Urethra: the opening through which urine leaves the body. The opening is right below the clitoris.
Sex is associated with UTIs because placing anything near the urethra is going to increase the chance of getting a UTI. Similarly, wearing tight underwear (thongs) or synthetic underwear (nylon, silk) is also going to increase the chance of getting a UTI.
Simply stated, when you have sex, sometimes you get a tiny amount of fecal matter near your urethra. E.coli are very smart and they climb into your urethra and crawl up your urethra, up into your bladder. That’s when the UTI begins. E.Coli multiply like rabbits in your bladder and then you feel the pain, need to urinate, and bladder spasms. If you don’t get it treated, it can up to your kidneys and then you get a kidney infection (pyelonephritis), then the bacteria can get into your bloodstream and causes urosepsis (bacteria in your blood from a urinary source), and death.
Most of the time however, the UTI can be treated and there will not be complications. In fact, according to iVillage: “In young healthy women, the vast majority of urinary infections are mild. More than 80 percent actually resolve without any treatment. However, I recommend seeking treatment in all suspected cases of urinary tract infections, to avoid the rare risk of serious complications.”
Hope that answers your question.
