If you’ve been diagnosed with a kidney infection, you will definitely need to visit the doctor to get the proper treatment. But what does that look like?

Our team at AFC Urgent Care Fountain City is here to help you feel more informed about kidney infections and their common treatments, so read on!

How Could I Get a Kidney Infection?

Kidney infections are caused by bacteria or viruses. Scientists believe that most kidney infections start as a bladder infection that moves upstream to infect one or both of the kidneys.

Although bladder infections and UTIs aren’t usually that serious by themselves, their bacteria may infect your kidneys if you don’t get medical treatment to stop the infection. To get a better understanding of what kidney infections look like, we’ve listed some common symptoms below.

Common Kidney Infection Symptoms

• Fever
• Vomiting
• Pain in the back, side(s) or groin
• Chills
• Nausea
• Urinating often
• Feeling like you have to urinate often, even if you just went
• Pain or burning when urinating
• Pus or blood in your urine
• Cloudy or bad-smelling urine

What Treatment Is Effective Against Kidney Infections?

It really depends on the severity of your infection. Most kidney infections can be treated with doctor-prescribed antibiotics, but some need more specialized treatment. If you have a serious infection, your doctor may require you to seek treatment at the hospital.

The bottom line: Visit the doctor if you believe you have a kidney infection. Once you have visited your doctor or our AFC center, the at-home treatments that we’ve listed below can work to help alongside the antibiotics to help you feel better!

At-Home Complementary Treatments

• Drink lots of water.
• Drink unsweetened cranberry juice.
• Avoid alcohol and coffee.
• Take probiotics.
• Use non-aspirin pain relievers.
• Consume apples and apple juice.

Feeling rough? Don’t wait to visit our AFC Urgent Care Fountain City team today to get the care you need!