Raise your hand if you have not stopped, on some occasion, going to the doctor due to lack of time. If you are one of those who let yourself get carried away by the busy daily schedule and delay that unavoidable medical visit, you are not alone: according to several studies, personal, work and family obligations mean that almost two out of every three Spaniards do not attend. to consultations when they have physical discomfort.
In this sense, one of the conditions that usually endure for more days than necessary is urine infection. This ailment caused by bacteria especially affects women, because their urethra is shorter and, therefore, more susceptible to intestinal infections reaching the bladder or kidneys. Most women have had them or will have them throughout their lives, and although they are easily resolved with antibiotics, they can be really annoying.
The symptoms are burning when urinating, pain of varying intensity in the lower abdomen, increased frequency of urination, and (we give you the definitive clue) a feeling of not having finished urinating. All of this can be accompanied by bleeding or cloudy-looking urine, caused by inflammation of the bladder when it comes into contact with infected urine.
Can it be prevented? Relatively. Healthy lifestyle habits help, drinking plenty of fluids, avoiding retention and emptying the bladder when the first 'urge' is noticed, a balanced diet with a lot of fiber, maintaining correct intimate hygiene using soaps with a neutral pH, avoiding cleaning that is too abrasive for the skin and wearing quality, loose-fitting intimate clothing.
Despite this, they are very common, especially in pregnant women, people who suffer from constipation or who suffer from diseases of the immune system such as type 2 diabetes. The good news is that urinary infection has a good prognosis and is easily cured with antibiotics, in especially sporadic and simple cystitis. In some cases, however, it may be urgent to consult a doctor.
In general, we should call the doctor if any of these symptoms appear: fever, lower back pain, diarrhea or the urge to vomit. He will probably prescribe an antibiotic to treat the infection, which should make the symptoms disappear after five days in adults and two in children.
A very practical option for when we suffer from this type of ailments but our daily schedule makes it difficult for us to go to the doctor is Elma Care, the first Spanish app that brings medical consultations to the mobile phone and resolves any doubt quickly and with all the guarantees. The consultation can be done by chat, call or video call, and will be attended by a large medical team.
The operation could not be faster and more effective: in five minutes the symptoms are detailed to the doctor and in an average of a quarter of an hour he evaluates the case and gives instructions, warning advice and, if necessary, a medical prescription. to control that annoying feeling. Over the next few hours, it will be monitored to see how it progresses.
If things have not improved within 48 hours, the doctor asks the patient for an appointment with the gynecologist or urologist to do tests, and in 72 hours the tests will be reviewed with the specialist through Elma. In a week we will have the tests carried out, analyzed and if necessary, also a treatment.
An app to take into account in a world in which “the patient is already digital and needs flexible, efficient and, above all, reliable solutions,” according to Miguel Ángel Antón, CEO and co-founder of Elma Care. And we must not forget that, as this expert details, “every day millions of people use Google to perform health-related Internet searches. This is worrying, because only 40% of the results are based on reliable sources. The best choice? Put ourselves in the hands of professionals.
