Urinary tract infection (UTI) is a common condition among women. Oftentimes, it hits the lower urinary tract and causes bladder infection, which is generally treated as uncomplicated.

This may be why a recent study on ScienceDaily.com says that women who have simple lower urinary tract infection would rather wait for their bodies to naturally recuperate rather than bombard it with antibiotics. Researchers from the University of Amsterdam have found this to be good news at the wake of people’s increased reliance to antibiotics, which creates bacteria that are resistant to medication.

The study reports that one third of the women surveyed would rather delay treatment and wait the condition out. Interestingly, a good 70 percent of them showed improvement or were cured a week after the initial diagnosis.

“Women may be more receptive to the idea of delaying treatment than is commonly assumed by many clinicians. Given proper observations to simply doing nothing, or giving pain medication instead of an antibiotic, is an effective treatment and one which will reduce the risk of developing antibiotic-resistant bacteria,” lead researcher Dr. Bart Knottnerus notes.

Of course, there comes a point when intuition just doesn’t cut it and medication is needed. If you think that your condition isn’t getting better, consult your doctor.

(Photo by Sheep purple via Flickr Creative Commons)