Menopause and UTIs: What’s Going On?

Menopause and bladder infections. What’s the connection?

Bladder infections, also called urinary tract infections (UTIs), are another common symptom for many women during menopause. A urinary tract infection is an infection that occurs in that part of your urinary system, including your bladder, kidneys, the ureters, which are the tubes between your kidneys and bladder, and the urethra, the tube through which the urine exits your bladder and leaves your body.

As estrogen production falls in menopausal women, UTI’s can occur much more frequently, and there’s several reasons for this. As we age, the vaginal tissue thins, making it more prone to infection. May also have trouble fully emptying your bladder, which can also increase the chance of infection in your bladder.

And when less estrogen is being produced in your body, bacterial levels can change, allowing infection to set in. So for some women, UTI’s are uncommon thing and you may start to feel more, but for a lot of women in menopause, they’re recurring and they’re affecting their quality of life and their sexual enjoyment.