Although we often associate bladder infection with females, men can also suffer the painful symptoms of this very annoying condition.
These infections are much more common in girls and women than in boys and men younger than 50 years of age. The reason for this is not well understood, but anatomic differences between the genders (a shorter urethra in women) might be partially responsible.

Bladder infections become more common in older men. About 3 in 100 men in their 60s, and about 1 in 10 men in their 80s, will have a bladder infection.
About 40% of women and 12% of men have a urinary tract infection at some time in their life.

What is bladder infection?

Bladder infections involve the parts of the body -- the kidneys, ureters, bladder and urethra -- that produce urine and carry it out of the body. Urinary tract infections often are classified into two types based on their location in the urinary tract:

Lower tract infections.

These include cystitis (bladder infection) and uretritis (infection of the urethra). Lower urinary tract infections commonly are caused by intestinal bacteria, which enter and contaminate the urinary tract from below, usually by spreading from the skin to the urethra and then to the bladder. Uretritis also may be caused by microorganisms that are transmitted through sexual contact, including gonorrhoea and Chlamydia. Another form of male urinary infection is prostatitis, which is an inflammation of the prostate.

Upper tract infections.

These involve the ureters and kidneys and include pyelonephritis (kidney infection). Upper tract infections often occur because bacteria have travelled upward in the urinary tract from the bladder to the kidney or because bacteria carried in the bloodstream have collected in the kidney.