Aleece Fosnight | Source | Physician Assistant, Sexual Health Counsellor, and Medical Advisor at Aeroflo...

Just because a symptom is common doesn't always mean that you should be experiencing it. For example, something like urinary incontinence after giving birth. Although common, it doesn't have to be normal, and you don't have to put up with those symptoms. You have options, and I always want my patients to know what their choices are. I try not to prescribe antibiotics for every urinary symptom that could potentially be a UTI—I always want confirmation by a urine culture that this is a true UTI. This can be really useful in narrowing down what's going on with your symptoms. It also protects you from unnecessary rounds of antibiotics in the event that something else is going on.