Do UTIs Go Away on Their Own? Here’s What Clinicians Say

Full disclosure: Even though I should know better in my 40s, I have definitely tried to wait out a urinary tract infection (UTI). As terrible as the constant urge to pee and burning bathroom trips might have been, I still wondered, “Do UTIs go away on their own?” 

Turns out, the answer is: not usually. 

UTIs typically happen when bacteria get into the urinary tract (which includes the kidneys, bladder, ureters, and urethra). That bacteria starts to cause inflammation in the bladder, and you end up with symptoms like pain when you pee and the constant urge to go. 

Before you start downing cranberry juice and calling it a day, read on to find out what the research actually shows about how long is reasonable to wait before getting help for UTIs, home remedies that may help (and what to skip), and what you can do to keep UTIs at bay in perimenopause and postmenopause. And remember: You can book a virtual visit with a Midi clinician to get evidence-backed relief ASAP.

Do UTIs Go Away on Their Own? The Short Answer

If you have a UTI, your best bet is to get some antibiotics. Your immune system might be able to clear the bacteria if your symptoms are mild, you’re otherwise healthy, and you’re being extra diligent about your hydration. But in reality, only about 20% of women have uncomplicated UTIs that clear up on their own. 

“If you have an actual UTI, you have an organism that is causing an infection,” says Midi clinician Heather Hofflich, DO, a board-certified endocrinologist and internist. “Antibiotics are the standard of care.”  

As much as you might hope to be in the lucky 20%, experts strongly advise against the wait-and-see approach. That’s because there’s no reliable way to tell whether the infection will clear up by itself, and the bacteria could hang around even if symptoms fade for a while. 

Plus, you could get stuck with painful symptoms for days or even weeks—in the limited research done on untreated UTIs, up to 39% of study participants still had an infection 6 weeks later. More importantly, by not getting treated, you’re leaving open the possibility of a dangerous kidney infection. 

“I would always err on the safe side and treat because you don't want to risk having a UTI progress to what’s called a pyelonephritis, where it goes up into your kidney tract,” Dr. Hofflich says. 

So maybe the real question is not “can a UTI go away on its own,” but whether waiting is worth the risk—and that answer is a firm no, experts say.

How Long Does a UTI Last, With and Without Treatment?

Once you start antibiotics, the worst symptoms—burning when you pee, the constant urge to go—typically ease in a few days (as long as the infection was just in the bladder and hadn’t spread to the kidneys). Your bladder might still feel a bit irritated, but that should also fade within a week. 

Even once UTI symptoms disappear, it’s essential that you still finish all the pills your clinician prescribed to make sure you’ve fully cleared the infection. And if symptoms come back soon after, reach out to your clinician again—there might be something else going on, or you might need a different medication.

How long does a UTI last if you don’t get treatment? It’s possible that symptoms will gradually resolve after a matter of days—or they may linger for weeks. There’s also a small but risky possibility that what begins as a simple bladder infection could spread to the kidneys. (More on this in just a bit.)

That’s why most clinicians will generally tell most patients to book a clinician visit if UTI symptoms last more than 1 or 2 days or start to get worse. However, if you’re pregnant, have another medical condition, or are over age 65, UTIs can escalate quickly, so it’s best to get treated right away. 

What Happens if You Leave a UTI Untreated?

The major reason why experts suggest treating UTIs—rather than, you know, sitting around wondering whether UTIs go away on their own—is because if you just let it take its course, the bacteria that causes the UTI in your bladder could potentially spread to one or both of your kidneys, leaving you with a kidney infection. 

Along with the typical UTI symptoms that women experience, like painful urination and a frequent need to use the bathroom, a kidney infection might also include:

• fever 
• chills
• lower back, side, or groin pain
• nausea or vomiting

If these symptoms show up, it’s essential to seek care right away. Kidney infections can have long-term complications, such as kidney scarring that may lead to hypertension (high blood pressure) and chronic kidney disease. They can also trigger more immediate, serious complications: sepsis, for example, occurs when bacteria enter the blood stream, resulting in an acute inflammatory reaction. In rare cases, your body can undergo an extreme, life-threatening overreaction to the infection, which can result in liver failure.

What Are UTI Symptoms in Women?

UTIs have a few classic UTI symptoms, including:

• burning pain when you pee
• an urgency to urinate that doesn’t go away
• going to the bathroom often but only in small amounts

You might also notice red, pink, or brown urine, due to the presence of blood. While this can happen with a UTI, visible blood in your urine is always worth mentioning to a clinician. Some women also get pain in the center of their pelvis near the pubic bone. 

That said, in older women, UTIs might look completely different, bringing on delirium or confusion, along with dizziness, drowsiness, poor appetite, or incontinence.  

Some symptoms—particularly that hallmark burning-when-urinating feeling—can somewhat overlap with other conditions or symptoms, like yeast infections, bacterial vaginosis, or vaginal dryness. So it’s possible to confuse a UTI for something else. 

Still, clinicians can usually make a diagnosis on symptoms alone—research shows that if you’re dealing with both burning pee and the need to frequently urinate, it’s more than 90% likely you have a UTI. Clinicians will typically only order a urine test if your symptoms aren’t quite so clear, if you’re at a high risk of complications, or if an infection has come back after you’ve already taken antibiotics. 

Why Do UTIs Keep Coming Back in Perimenopause and Menopause?

Unfortunately, UTIs become a lot more common for women in midlife. That’s because during the menopause transition, your estrogen levels gradually decline. Estrogen helps foster “good” Lactobacilli bacteria in the vagina that keep things acidic enough to fight off “bad” bacteria like E. coli. 

“You lose the protective vaginal microbiome,” Dr. Hofflich says. 

Meanwhile, genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM), caused by low estrogen, can thin and dry out the vaginal and urinary tissues. This simultaneously causes similar symptoms to UTIs and puts women at a higher risk of developing recurrent UTIs. 

“This weakened barrier in the vaginal area leads to increased risk,” Dr. Hofflich says. 

Plus, our bladder muscles typically get weaker as we age, so we don’t get rid of all the urine inside when we pee, creating an all-too-welcoming home for bacteria. Pelvic organ prolapse—when weak muscles in the pelvis cause other organs to shift out of position—becomes more common with age and can keep your bladder from emptying completely. 

FYI: Clinicians classify UTIs as recurrent if you get 2 or more within 6 months or 3 within a year. Once you hit that threshold, a clinician might prescribe long-term, low-dose antibiotics to help avoid new infections. And if you’re perimenopausal or postmenopausal, Dr. Hofflich says vaginal estrogen is key to prevention, although many primary care physicians don’t think to prescribe it. 

“I get patients all the time with recurrent UTIs, and no one’s mentioned the estrogen connection,” she says. That’s why it helps to see a healthcare professional who specializes in menopause, like a Midi clinician. 

What Actually Helps at Home and What Does Not

Although you can’t reliably cure a UTI on your own, some home remedies for UTI symptoms may help you feel a little better or help prevent another infection: 

• Hydrating thoroughly can help make your urine less concentrated and help flush out the bacteria in your urinary tract. Drinking more water has also been shown to reduce the risk of recurrent UTIs among premenopausal women. 
• A heating pad and over-the-counter (OTC) pain relievers like acetaminophen can ease some of the painful symptoms. 
• OTC UTI medication like phenazopyridine can numb the lining of your bladder to relieve the pain when you’re peeing. (Just don’t be surprised when it turns your urine bright orange-red.) 
• What about the famous cranberry prevention? Cranberries have a flavonoid called proanthocyanidins (PACs) that make it harder for bacteria like E. coli (the main UTI culprit) to stick to your bladder. A 2023 systematic review found that cranberry products could reduce the chances of an infection in certain people, like women with recurrent UTIs, though the evidence didn’t show a clear benefit for others, like older adults. Given this, the American Urological Association recommends trying cranberry as a preventive option for women with frequent UTIs—while it’s not a perfect fix, it’s a low-enough risk that experts feel it’s worth a shot. Just be wary of cranberry juice, specifically—it has a low amount of PACs, and most juices contain high amounts of sugar. Fortunately, there are concentrated cranberry tablets available you can take instead.
• D-mannose is a sugar that helps block E. coli from attaching to your cells, but the evidence on how effectively it can treat or prevent UTIs is limited.
• Probiotics might help lower the risk of recurrent UTIs, but the science is still preliminary. 

One other important note: Don’t just self-diagnose and use leftover antibiotics or a friend’s prescription. Taking antibiotics without a clinician’s guidance can lead to antibiotic resistance, potentially making infections harder to treat with the same medications down the road. 

How UTIs Are Diagnosed and Treated

When getting care for a UTI, a clinician will ask about your symptoms and medical history (like past UTIs). If things point to an uncomplicated UTI, they can order antibiotics, so you can start treatment ASAP, taking into account any allergies and other personal factors.

Yes, it’s that simple, which is why virtual visits are entirely appropriate for uncomplicated UTIs. 

Depending on which drug gets prescribed, you might need only a single dose, or you might be taking the medication for up to 7 days. If your symptoms aren’t getting better after a few days, reach out to your clinician—you might need a different antibiotic, or the clinician may need to look for other underlying causes of your symptoms.

Healthcare professionals typically ask for a urine sample only if your symptoms are unclear, you’re at a higher risk of complications (like during pregnancy), or you’re dealing with recurrent UTIs. These tests can show whether it is indeed a UTI you’re dealing with and exactly which bacteria are behind the infection. 

If you’re dealing with recurrent infections, a healthcare professional may also want to get a look at your urinary tract—either through imaging or by using a probe—if they think there’s something about the structure of your anatomy that’s causing the issue. 

How to Prevent UTIs From Recurring After 40

Vaginal estrogen is the primary way that clinicians can help women over age 40 who get UTIs over and over, according to Dr. Hofflich. This prescription medication gives you a targeted dose of the hormone right where you need it, which helps maintain a healthy vaginal microbiome that’s less susceptible to infection. Science supports this prevention tactic, too: There are many supporting studies that show vaginal estrogen is both safe and effective. 

Depending on your history, a clinician might also recommend increasing your hydration, taking cranberry supplements, or potentially taking D-mannose or methenamine. In some cases, they might suggest taking a long-term, low-dose antibiotic or one that you use only after sex. 

If you’re not sure which is the right route for you, Midi’s trained clinicians can help talk you through the best plan for prevention during your virtual visit. That way, you won’t have to keep treating UTI after UTI. (Bonus: Midi is in network with most major insurance plans nationwide.) 

When to Reach Out to a Clinician Instead of Waiting

While an uncomplicated UTI might go away on its own, book a visit with a clinician if symptoms have stuck around for more than 1 or 2 days, if symptoms are getting worse, or if you’ve been having recurrent UTIs. 

A few red flags signal that you need emergency care ASAP:

• fever 
• intense back or side pain
• chills
• nausea or vomiting
• confusion
• inability to keep fluids down

And certain groups of people shouldn’t wait to get seen, no matter how mild their symptoms, including those who:

• are pregnant 
• are over age 65
• have a weakened immune system 

Come prepared to your visit with info on when your symptoms started, any past UTIs you’ve had (and the antibiotics you took for them, if you know), any current medications you’re taking, and any allergies. A clinician will typically be able to prescribe an antibiotic right away—which will help those painful (and annoying) symptoms clear up quickly. 

Key Takeaways

• The majority of urinary tract infections (UTIs) do not go away on their own. 
• By waiting to see if your UTI resolves, you’re putting yourself at risk for serious complications like kidney damage or sepsis. (And probably dealing with not-so-fun symptoms for a longer time.)
• UTIs become more common in midlife, thanks to dropping estrogen levels. Estrogen plays a major role in keeping the vaginal microbiome healthy. 
• Vaginal estrogen is the best way to prevent recurrent UTIs in menopausal women. 
• Since clinicians can diagnose an uncomplicated UTI based on symptoms alone, virtual visits are a convenient way to quickly get the antibiotics you need to feel better.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How long will a UTI last without treatment?

Mild UTIs might go away on their own after a few days without treatment, but this isn’t common. It’s also possible to get a long-term UTI that lingers for weeks. That’s why it’s so important to book a visit with a clinician to get the necessary treatment. 

What does a minor UTI feel like?

Even a mild UTI can be uncomfortable: You’ll likely feel some burning or stinging when you pee, you’ll likely need to pee often (and feel like your bladder never quite empties), and you might also feel some aching in your lower belly (below the belly button). 

Will a UTI flush itself out?

Experts estimate that about 20% of uncomplicated UTIs go away on their own, particularly if you’re well hydrated. Still, most clinicians recommend seeking treatment to avoid the risk of dangerous complications. 

Can my body fight off a UTI without antibiotics?

If you’re a healthy adult who’s not pregnant, who’s under age 65, and who doesn’t have a compromised immune system, it’s possible that your body could fight off a mild UTI without the help of antibiotics. Yet waiting to see whether that happens leaves open the possibility that the UTI could lead to a kidney infection or sepsis. This is why it’s not recommended to let things linger and see whether your UTI resolves on its own.

Can you have sex when you have a UTI?

While you technically can have sex when you have a UTI, most clinicians advise against it. Sex can make symptoms worse and keep them hanging around for longer.