Urinary infection
Speak to a Doctor About a UTI Online, wherever you are.
Burning when you pee, going constantly, or lower-abdominal discomfort that started on a trip? Some urinary symptoms suit a remote assessment well; others — fever, back pain under the ribs, blood in the urine, pregnancy — are on the NHS list for urgent in-person advice, and this page says which is which. For the first kind, Pomodoc connects you by video with an English-speaking doctor licensed to treat you where you are, for a fixed €40. Symptoms not improving within two days mean being assessed, not drinking more water.
Some urinary symptoms suit a remote assessment well. Others are on the NHS list for urgent in-person advice, and the section below says which is which before you decide anything.
- €40
- per consultation
- No insurance
- or local registration needed
English-speaking doctors, licensed to treat you in the country you are in.
Medical Advice for UTI Symptoms
A urinary tract infection can cause pain or a burning sensation when you pee, needing to pee more often than usual, urine that looks cloudy, blood in your urine, lower tummy pain or pain in your back just under the ribs, a high temperature or feeling shivery, and feeling tired or weak.
With Pomodoc, you can speak directly with a doctor by video. Discuss your symptoms, ask questions and understand whether you may need a urine test, medication or an in-person appointment.
- Consult securely by video
- Avoid unnecessary travel and waiting rooms
- Get clear guidance about your symptoms and treatment
- Access care while travelling or living abroad
Can a Video Doctor Treat a UTI?
Sometimes, and the honest answer depends less on how uncomfortable you are than on which pattern your symptoms fit. Here is where a consultation is a reasonable first step and where it is not.
A video consultation may be a useful first step when
- the symptoms are the lower urinary ones: burning, urgency, going often
- this came on recently and is not getting rapidly worse
- there is no fever, no shivering and no back pain
- you want to know whether a test or a pharmacy is worth seeking where you are
- you are unsure whether what you have is a urinary infection at all
In those situations the useful output of a call is usually a plan: what to do now, what to watch for, and whether to seek a test locally. A doctor may issue a prescription when it is clinically appropriate and local rules permit, and that is a judgement rather than a given.
NHS guidance says get urgent advice instead when
- there is fever, shivering, or feeling hot and cold
- the person with symptoms is a man, or was assigned male at birth
- the person is pregnant, or might be
- there is pain in the back under the ribs, which can point to the kidneys
- there is blood in the urine, or symptoms are worsening quickly
- the person is 65 or older, a child aged 15 or younger, has diabetes or a weakened immune system, or uses a catheter
Pomodoc connects you with an English-speaking doctor by video, licensed to treat you in the country you are in, for €40 per consultation. Fixed price, no surprises.
Not sure which side you fall on? That is a reasonable thing to ask a doctor rather than to decide alone, and being told to go and be seen is a useful outcome of a call rather than a wasted one.
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How It Works
Medical advice by video in three simple steps
Start online
Tell us which country you are in and what is going on. It is a short form, not an appointment request.
Join by video
See your English-speaking doctor using your phone, tablet or computer.
Get clear guidance
Discuss your symptoms and receive advice about your next steps.
Why Use Pomodoc?
Explain it in English
Describe your symptoms and ask questions in English, instead of translating them first or hoping the clinic has someone who speaks it.
Get help without leaving your accommodation
Attend your appointment from your hotel, holiday rental, home or workplace.
Private, and not mimed at a counter
Urinary symptoms are awkward to describe across a language barrier in a busy pharmacy. A consultation is a conversation instead.
Understand what to do next
A doctor can help you decide whether you need a test, medication or an in-person appointment.
Travellers who needed a doctor abroad
I was very happy to find this service
I was very happy to find this service! I was able to get a video visit with a physician promptly and get care.
The interview was straightforward and efficient.
The interview was straightforward and efficient. The physician asked appropriate questions and took time to listen to my responses and then asked other questions related to my issues. She zeroed in on questions related to the urinary system.
Reliable and efficient
Reliable and efficient, able to provide medical support while you're away from home.
Reviews of Air Doctor, our medical partner, published on Trustpilot.
More About UTIs While You Are Travelling
Can telehealth treat a UTI?
Sometimes, for the simplest pattern: lower urinary symptoms in a woman with no fever, no back pain and none of the urgent signs above. In England, NHS guidance says a GP may do a urine test but that it is not always needed, and that a pharmacist can give the same medicines as a GP to women aged 16 to 64 who are not pregnant or breastfeeding. That is how the NHS works in England, not a rule for the country you are in. A video consultation can take the same history, and a doctor may prescribe where it is clinically appropriate and local rules permit.
Telehealth is not the route for the cases NHS sends for urgent advice: a man with urinary symptoms, pregnancy, fever or shivering, pain in the back under the ribs, blood in the urine, or symptoms that are getting worse quickly. For those, the useful outcome of a call is being told to be seen in person promptly.
What a UTI usually feels like
NHS guidance lists the adult symptoms as pain or a burning sensation when peeing, needing to pee more often than usual, cloudy pee, blood in your pee, lower tummy pain or pain in the back just under the ribs, a high temperature or feeling hot, cold and shivery, and feeling tired or weak.
In children the picture is less specific: NHS notes a high temperature, appearing generally unwell, wetting the bed or themselves, and being sick. Urinary symptoms in a child are a reason to seek advice rather than to manage at home.
Why a test exists, and what happens without one
NHS guidance says a GP may do a urine test for a suspected urinary infection, although this is not always needed — and when one is needed, it cannot be done over video. That is a real limit rather than a technicality: the symptoms of a urinary infection overlap with other things, and treating on symptoms alone is a clinical judgement rather than a certainty.
What a consultation can do is take a history, check whether anything on the urgent list applies, and tell you whether seeking a test where you are is worth your time. Where you can get one, and how easily, varies from place to place, which is what the country pages below are for.
If this keeps happening
NHS guidance treats recurrence as its own situation: two infections within six months, or three within twelve. In that case a GP may prescribe a different antibiotic, consider a low-dose antibiotic for up to six months, or refer for further tests.
That is a conversation for continuing care rather than a holiday one. If you are away and this is the third time this year, the useful step is managing the current episode safely and then raising it with your own doctor once you are home. Nobody can set up six months of treatment from a hotel room, and Pomodoc does not provide ongoing care.
Practical things that help while you wait
Drinking enough fluids and taking paracetamol for discomfort are the standard self-care measures, and NHS lists painkillers alongside antibiotics as part of how urinary infections are managed. None of that treats an infection; it makes waiting for a decision more bearable.
What it should not do is replace a decision. If symptoms are not improving within 48 hours of starting treatment or treating it yourself, or anything on the urgent list appears, the answer is to be assessed rather than to drink more water.
Good things to know.
Can a doctor treat a UTI online?
Sometimes, and it depends on the pattern. For lower urinary symptoms in a woman aged 16 to 64 with no fever, no back pain, no blood in the urine and none of the other urgent signs above, a video consultation is a reasonable first step and a doctor may prescribe when it is clinically appropriate and local rules permit. NHS guidance says to seek urgent advice instead if you are a man, are pregnant, are 65 or older, have diabetes, a weakened immune system or a catheter, have a fever or shivering, have back pain under the ribs or blood in your urine, or if the patient is a child aged 15 or younger.
Do I need a urine test for a UTI?
Not always. NHS guidance says a GP may do a urine test, although this is not always needed, and when one is needed it cannot be done by video. Symptoms of a urinary infection overlap with other conditions, so treating on symptoms alone is a clinical judgement. A consultation can tell you whether seeking a test where you are is worth doing, and what to ask for.
Why is a UTI in a man treated differently?
NHS guidance lists being a man, or having been assigned male at birth, as a reason to get urgent advice about urinary symptoms rather than to wait. It is a short answer with no caveats attached: if that applies to you, the right step is prompt assessment rather than managing it yourself.
What if I am pregnant and think I have a UTI?
Seek urgent advice. NHS guidance lists pregnancy as a reason to get urgent help with urinary symptoms rather than to wait and see, and that applies whether or not you are away from home. A consultation is not the right route for this on its own.
Can I buy antibiotics for a UTI abroad without seeing anyone?
That depends entirely on where you are, and the rules differ more than people expect. In some places a pharmacist can supply treatment for simple cases; in others anything needs a prescription. The country pages below set out the position where it has been verified, rather than guessing at a general rule.
How long should I wait before speaking to someone?
NHS guidance treats symptoms that get worse quickly, or that do not improve within 48 hours (2 days) of starting treatment or treating it yourself, as a reason to get urgent advice. If anything on the urgent list applies from the start, including fever, back pain, pregnancy or being a man, do not wait at all.
How much does a Pomodoc video consultation cost?
€40 is the fixed price of the video consultation with a doctor. It includes the consultation and, where clinically appropriate and local rules permit, a prescription. Medication you buy at a pharmacy, and any in-person care you go on to need, are separate. There is no subscription and no booking fee.
When is a video consultation not the right call?
Not when it is an emergency. A video consultation is for suitable non-emergency concerns: and for urinary symptoms NHS guidance lists fever, pain in the back or sides, blood in the urine, or being pregnant as reasons to get urgent advice instead. In the country you are in, in a life-threatening emergency call the local emergency number first. It is also not the right tool when a doctor needs to examine you, take a swab or run a test — if that is what your symptoms need, the useful outcome of the call is being told so early, and the guide above says which routes are better for that.
Sources
- Urinary tract infections (UTIs)NHSThe adult and childhood symptom lists; the reasons to get urgent advice, including fever or shivering, being a man, pregnancy, being 65 or older, a child aged 15 or younger, diabetes, a weakened immune system, using a catheter, recurrent infections, pain in the lower tummy or back, and blood in the urine; the kidney-infection warning about back pain under the ribs; the threshold of symptoms getting worse quickly or not improving within 48 hours (2 days) of starting treatment or treating it yourself; the recurrence thresholds of two infections in six months or three in twelve; that management may involve antibiotics or painkillers; that a GP may do a urine test although this is not always needed; and that a pharmacist can give the same medicines as a GP to women and girls aged 16 to 64 who are not pregnant or breastfeeding.
Sources last checked: . General information, not a diagnosis.
Need Medical Advice About a UTI?
Speak to an online doctor by video and get guidance about your symptoms from wherever you are.
- €40, fixed price
- English-speaking doctors
- 139 countries
- Prescriptions where available
Video consultations are for suitable non-emergency medical concerns. In a life-threatening emergency, call your local emergency number, or 112 from any phone in the EU. This page is general information, not medical advice about your own situation.