Dealing with a urinary tract infection is one thing; dealing with a kidney infection is a whole new ball game. How are the two connected? Kidney infection is a member of the UTI clan and is a nasty infection to both get and deal with.
Is it life threatening? Well, it can certainly cause life threatening infection if not treated promptly. If you suspect UTI don’t discount the possibility something more sinister may be at play and see your doctor as soon as possible.
Kidney Infection Symptoms
Here are are some possible tell tale signs of kidney infection:
- As with urinary tract infection, kidney infection could be present if there is a strong urge to urinate and you urinate frequently. In other words, going to the bathroom in an abnormal number of times.
- Two pain symptoms to take notice of are pain when urinating and pain in the abdominal region.
- Stained urine. Take note of the color. If it’s clouded and contains blood and if the odor is unpleasant then you have cause for concern.
- Fever, chills, particularly at night, fatigue and vomiting could also signal kidney infection especially if you are suffering these symptoms in association with the symptoms mentioned above.
What Are Your Treatment Options?
By being prudent and not delaying seeing your doctor, kidney infection can clear up rather quickly in a healthy person.
The usual recommended treatment is antibiotics however, your treatment will also depend largely on the results of your urine tests. If it’s a relatively straight forward treatment with no complications to deal with, then you could expect the infection to clear up in a few days. Your doctor will more than likely also recommend you continue your course of antibiotics until it’s completion.
Nastier kidney infections of a recurrent nature will require extra medical care. In fact, your doctor could refer you to a specialist with greater experience in dealing with kidney infection. Worst case scenario for severe infection: spending time in hospital.
Kidney infection can be a serious condition to deal with so if you notice symptoms or signs which may be a clue to infection then the best course of action is to visit your doctor.