Cystitis- how contracted?

[pinner]

What predisposes women to contract cystitis? Is it caught (infectious? contagious?), caused, or random?

[SHsheff]

Why would you post on SF rather than seeking an authoritative source?

 

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Cystitis/Pages/Causes.aspx

[pinner]

Simply to hear others' views. Many may have contracted it; have you, for instance?

[melthebell]

lots of ways, some dodgy, some normal everyday reasons

[medusa]

Confusingly, cystitis can have a number of causes. Most people with the symptoms of cystitis have a Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) which is normally bacterial, but some UTIs are symptomless for no apparent reason, and routine testing for pregnant women has shown that up to 20% of women may have a UTI without symptoms at any point.

 

The symptoms of cystitis can also be caused by allergies and some autoimmune disorders.

 

Women are more prone to UTIs than men purely because of the length of urethra. Most UTIs are caused by motile bacteria, so the length of tubing from the outside to the place where they can grow is relevant. Men have approximately 20cm of urethra which provides a physical way of reducing the amount of bacteria which can make their way from the skin outside on the body as far as the bladder where they can stay and cause an infection.

 

Urine is normally one of the naturally clean body fluids, so the only way for a UTI to grow is for bacteria to be introduced from the outside. When they do get into the bladder they can grow undisturbed for all of the time between times when you go to the loo, and many bacteria also have ways of attaching themselves to the uroepithelial cell walls to withstand the forces of the bladder emptying and so can divide and grow again afterwards.

 

So- if you have cystitis you don't necessarily have a UTI, and if you have a UTI you don't necessarily have any symptoms.

 

Cystitis and UTIs can both be made more likely to hit by physical aggravation (anything from sex to the seams on underwear), by poor hygiene, by allergies or sensitivities to perfumed products, by physical abnormalities or simply by being someone who is prone to them.

[manofstrad]

It is caused by women wiping from back to front after number two's.

 

My wive and I have always taught our daughters to wipe fron the front backwards.

[0742Sheff]

I thought it said Cyclists. I wondered what you were all on about. Damn I'm getting old

[SHsheff]

Simply to hear others' views. Many may have contracted it; have you, for instance?

 

Your post made it sound, perhaps, as if you associate cystitis with a STD. I wonder if your partner has cystitis and you suspect her of sleeping around? Otherwise, why such a potentially aggressive question to me? All I did was respond to your post with an informative source.