In women who experience 3 or more bladder infections in a year, these measures may help:

• Increasing the intake of fluids

• Urinating often

• Wiping front to back after defecation

• Urinating within a short time after sexual intercourse

• Avoiding the use of spermicides (used with a diaphragm and/or condom for birth control)

• Avoiding douching

• Taking antibiotics continually in low doses

• Applying estrogen cream to the vulva or inserting estrogen suppositories into the vagina for postmenopausal women who have thinning of the tissues of the vulva and vagina