Can You Go Swimming With A UTI Infection?

Can you swim if you have a UTI, or would you rather heal first?

Before I answer that question, check out the information below:

UTI (urinary tract infection) is the most common infection in the USA, with about 40 percent of the total female population getting it at least once in their lifetime. A good number of these victims experience recurring urinary tract infection.

But while it is more common for women to get UTIs, men too get it. In fact, about 3 in every 25 men will get this infection in their urinary tract at least once in their lifetime.

Seeing as how common this condition is, we ask: Can you swim if you have a UTI? You can swim in a saltwater or chlorine swimming pool when you have a UTI. However, as soon as you get out of the water, take a shower and rinse your body thoroughly to get any pool water out of your private parts. This will prevent the chlorine from irritating your urinary tract.

What is UTI?

Before you can answer this question of: Can you go swimming with a UTI, first, you need to know everything about it.

Urinary tract infection is a type of ailment that affects the urinary system in men and women. The urinary system consists of kidneys, bladder, and urethra.

Some UTI symptoms include pain in the lower abdomen, especially when urinating. Pain when passing urine is also common, and so is a burning sensation.

This infection can be viral or bacterial, but the latter is more common. While it is not always a sinister infection, it is very uncomfortable. Besides, it can be serious if it affects the kidneys and is not treated quickly.

If the e.Coli bacteria, usually from the large intestines, find its way to the urethra, travel to the bladder, and cause a UTI.

Since women have a shorter urethra than men, this explains why they are more vulnerable to urinary tract infections.

Here are some quick facts about UTIs:

• Most can be treated with antibiotics
• Symptoms include pain while urinating, pain in the lower back, or the sides
• Swimming in a dirty pool can cause UTI
• Sexual intercourse with new partners can cause UTI
•  While swimming may not always cause UTI, it can aggravate an existing infection

Can swimming cause a UTI?

Unfortunately, yes. This, and the heat, is the reason why urinary tract infections increase in the summer, as most people swim to beat the sun.

This, however, does not mean that you cannot swim when you have a UTI. You can, but you should be cautious.

Do not swim in poorly maintained pools. These are a major source of urinary tract infections. Also, you do not want to contaminate the pool water with bacteria or viruses from your condition. If you have a private swimming pool, you can swim. Just ensure it is clean!

Despite the addition of chlorine, public swimming pools can have more bacteria and viruses. People can always get into the pool and leave traces of feces, and some pee in the water, and even if this is not the case, the human skin carries billions of bacteria.

If these bacteria travel up the urethra to the bladder, they can cause serious infections in the urinary tract.

How to swim when you have a UTI

As we said in the post on swimming in the ocean with a yeast infection, you can choose to swim with a UTI, or avoid it until it is healed.

But we all know that swimming in summer will cool you down a great deal, so you really don’t want to avoid it. Besides, if you have swimming to lose weight in your workout regimen, you don’t want to avoid it.

The good news is that you can swim safely when you have a urinary tract infection. Just follow the tips I have outlined below:

1. Shorten your swimming time

In the same way that you cannot be infected when swimming with a herpes infection, swimming itself does not pass UTI to you or others.

But there are other bacteria and germs in the swimming pool water, and when these bacteria get inside your urinary tract, they can aggravate your condition.

Because of the tendency of people peeing in swimming pools, millions of bacteria lurking on the skin, and contamination from other sources, you never know what types of bacteria are in the pool water.

Therefore, take a quick dip, and then get out. While it is not too common for water getting inside you when swimming, there is still a risk of pool water getting inside through what we call water entrapment.

2. Get out of the swimsuit

When you get out of the swimming pool, get out of the swimsuit too. Remember, your crotch area is going to be warm, and the bacteria causing UTI love the wet and warm kind of environment. That is why you must get out of the swimsuit fast, take a long shower, and then wear dry clothes.

Even if you have been swimming in the ocean, well, get out of your swimsuit as soon as you get out, dry up, and change into dry clothes.

3. Drink a lot of water before and after swimming

Can you go swimming with a UTI? Yes, but please make sure you drink a lot of water. A UTI gets worse if the bacteria causing it stay too long in the bladder and inside the urinary tract. The best way to flush them out is to drink a lot of water, which will compel you to pee more often.

Take a good amount of water before getting into the swimming pool, and get out as soon as you feel the urge to pee.

When you drink water, you will experience less burning sensation when peeing because the water helps to dilute the urine.

4. Avoid scratching

One of the telltale signs of having a UTI is the sweet itch that you feel in the urinary tract. Avoid scratching at all.

In case you forget, ensure you keep your hands clean all the time, so that even if they come into contact with your body, they will not pass any bacteria.

You must also avoid scratching or touching your crotch when you are in the water because the pool water contains bacteria. You don’t want to pass them to your urinary tract or bladder.

5. Do not swallow pool water

It is okay to go swimming with a UTI, but never swallow pool water. The same way you should stop a toddler from drinking pool water, do not swallow it too.

Of course, even when you keep your mouth shut all the time, there is a small risk of swallowing pool water. To flush it out of your system, you should drink water soon before, during, or after swimming.

6. Swim in a cold water pool as opposed to warm water

Even if you can heat a swimming pool for winter, it is not a good idea to swim in warm water when you have a UTI.

The warm and moist environment can allow many bacteria to thrive, and if some travel up the urethra, they could make your urinary tract infection worse.

7. Shower before and after swimming

Most swimming pool regulations might not require you to shower before you swim. However, if you have a urinary tract infection, you should shower before swimming.

This will help you reduce the number of microbes on the skin so that you do not shed too many of them in the water.

The fewer bacteria there are in the water, the lower the risk of having fecal bacteria like E. coli travel up the urethra.

After swimming, you shower again to flush out bacteria that you might have collected from the pool water.

Can you swim in the ocean with a UTI?

You can swim in the ocean with a UTI, but you still have to employ a lot of caution. The ocean is a breeding ground for bacteria, viruses, and different types of contamination.

Therefore, as soon as you get out of the water, find somewhere to rinse the salt water off your body and change into dry clothing. Under no circumstances should you stay in a wet swimsuit.

The ocean water is colder than the pool water, so you might need to wear a wetsuit for swimming. Once you get out of the water, get out of the wetsuit as soon as possible, and take a shower.

Please note that the saltiness of the ocean water is not good for urinary tract infections. The same way that chlorine from the pool can irritate the affected part of your urinary system, salty water is even worse. It will cause severe irritation in women and girls.

Can swimming trigger UTI?

If your urinary tract infection is not completely healed, it is possible for swimming to trigger it. Also, when the chlorine water of the pool gets inside the tract, it can cause irritation and pain.

I will demonstrate to you how swimming in the pool can trigger a UTI infection. You see, while chlorine added to the pool kills bacteria, it does not kill all of them.

Unfortunately, the E.coli bacterium, which is mostly found in the rectum, is very common in swimming pools. It is also the most notorious of all the bacteria that could cause UTIs.

It can find its way to the water from the fecal matter in which most people live in the swimming pool. They do not do this deliberately, but it is due to poor hygiene.

Therefore, if you have a urinary tract infection and then you swim in a pool, it is possible for the E.coli bacteria to find their way up the urethra, thus triggering the infection.

Since you cannot be sure about the contamination levels of the public swimming pools, perhaps you should avoid them or take a quick dip, shower, and change to dry clothing as soon as you get out.

Can you get a UTI from swimming in a hot tub?

When you have a hot tub that measures 12 feet long and is almost 5 feet deep, you can swim in it comfortably.

And yes, you can also get a UTI infection from swimming in the hot tub. Bacteria that cause urinary tract infections thrive in wet and warm environments, and that is exactly what the hot tub presents.

If you have never had a UTI before, or if you had it and then became completely healed, it is hard to get a new infection from the tub. The risk is very low, although not completely non-existent.

There is cause for worry if you have had an infection in the past or have one currently that is not healed. The bacteria in the hot tub is going to trigger the UTI.

Because of the hot and humid environment of the hot tub, viruses, bacteria, and other microbes breed fast. In addition to having the risk of triggering a UTI, you can also get skin infections, eye infections, and others from the hot tub.

Can you swim while on antibiotics for UTI?

You can swim when you are on antibiotics for a UTI. However, be sure to employ all the precautions we gave you here. For instance, you should never stay in a wetsuit or swimsuit. Get out of it as soon as you get out of the swimming pool.

The main thing is to avoid keeping the infected area damp and to take your antibiotics as advised by the doctor.

Also, avoid using things that make the UTI worse, such as foods and drinks that contain caffeine. This means avoiding tea, coffee, and soda. You should also not take alcohol because it dehydrates.

Conclusion and recommendation

Can you swim with a UTI, or should you avoid it? If you choose to swim, it is best to know the risks involved. The biggest of them is the aggravation of urinary tract infections.

This does not mean that you cannot swim if you have a UTI. You can take a quick dip in the summer, but avoid making the situation worse by doing the following:

• Getting out of the swimsuit soon after you get out of the pool
•  Taking a shower before and after swimming
• Using your antibiotic medications to heal the UTI after swimming
• Avoid swimming in public pools whenever you can
• Keeping hydrated helps the body flush out the UTI-causing bacteria
• Shocking the pool after it has been contaminated