Paige DeSorbo is Here to Normalize Frequent UTIs

I feel like I should knock on wood before sharing this, but here we go: I’ve never had a urinary tract infection (at least…I don’t think I have?).  But when I recently shared this with a few friends, they were shocked. As someone who is not personally prone to UTIs, I truly had no idea how common they are.

And that’s in part because (all together now!) we’ve been so discouraged as women from talking about the real stuff that’s happening in our bodies. I imagine many women have felt like they need to hide their UTI-related discomfort, to essentially suffer in silence, for fear of sharing “too much information”. But, you know what I say: When it comes to intel about our bodies, there is no such thing as “too much”. 

That’s why I love that Paige DeSorbo is speaking out about her own experiences with chronic UTIs — stigma be damned. 

During an appearance on the Broad Ideas podcast, the reality star shared that she typically gets an infection every four-ish months.

“ I’ll have girls that DM me that have never had a UTI before in their lives and they’ll be like, ‘Is this just a normal thing that you’re walking around with during the day?’ And I’m like, ‘They are so debilitating,’” DeSorbo said. “In college, I used to be able to go to class, go to do whatever. As I got older, they would truly debilitate [me]. I wouldn’t be able to move off of the toilet literally, I’d have to pee every four seconds.”

She also shared that she’s been taking cranberry and oregano supplements to keep this frequency at bay. While there’s research to back up the effectiveness of cranberry products in this application, as always, your best bet is to go chat with your doctor if you experience frequent UTIs.

Whether DeSorbo’s approach works for you or not, it’s the normalization that matters here. By talking openly about her own experience with a health issue that is, well…not super sexy, she’s helping other women and girls feel less alone.