For millions of women, urinary tract infections are an unavoidable and embarrassing part of life. There has always been a stigma attached to these types of infections, even though there’s really no reason for embarrassment. Lifestyle, types of jobs, even having to wait for long periods of time before taking bathroom breaks can leave many women susceptible to UTIs through no fault of their own.

Once you do develop a UTI, a visit to your physician is in order. This can mean taking time off work, and the most common treatment is a round of antibiotics. While this will often cure any infection relatively quickly, many women find themselves stuck on a cycle of getting an infection, treating the infection, feeling good for a period of time, and then starting over with a new infection.

This was the cycle that plagued Jenna Ryan, one of Uqora’s founders. Physicians could give her a cure for each infection, but the only preventative measure available was a low dose of antibiotics daily. For many people, antibiotics come with other side effects that make this solution less than ideal. Jenna didn’t think that solution was the best for her, and she knew that there were many women who suffer from UTIs on a regular basis.

Uqora was built from the idea that there should be better preventative measures available to women. If you’d like to break the cycle of treating infections after the fact, see if one of Uqora’s products can give you the preventative boost you need to reduce the number of urinary tract infections in your life.

UTIs and Women’s Health

There were not a lot of options for women who had regular urinary tract infections at the time. When Uqora was founded, the idea was largely based on the fact that this is a real issue that has a profound impact on many women and their partners. The stigma associated with UTIs was just plain archaic. They have often been treated with the same type of negative connotation as a sexually transmitted disease. The truth is that UTIs can happen to anyone, regardless of their sexual activity. Intercourse can be a possible cause, but, truthfully, they also can occur in monogamous relationships.

The stigma made the infection much more difficult for the women who dealt with UTIs, which just added a layer of stress that no one needs. Women were embarrassed about having them and talking about them. On top of that, they were experiencing pain and discomfort and often had side effects from the antibiotics used to cure the UTI.

The concept behind Uqora was to find a way to promote better health for women to prevent the urinary tract infection before it began. Preventing them meant no discomfort, no doctor’s visit, no medication, and finally, a way to be proactive.

Mission and Marketplace

Uqora was founded by Jenna Ryan and Spencer Gordon. The idea took shape in 2014. Jenna suffered through eight urinary tract infections within that 12-month cycle. As any woman knows, each infection means rounds of antibiotics, often embarrassing visits to the doctor, and a chunk of time in your life when you simply don’t feel your best.

At the time, no doctor could recommend anything preventative to keep the cycle from repeating. They continually suggested low doses of antibiotics on a continual basis, or cranberry juice and extracts that have little-to-no preventive impact. Of course, that treatment can come with side effects and isn’t one that every patient wants. Jenna thought that there should be a better way.

Enter Spencer Gordon, Jenna’s boyfriend and partner. Spencer had studied microbiology at UC Berkeley and specialized in research and human metabolism. Together, they set out to develop products that catered to women’s health.

Jenna and Spencer experimented with possible solutions and vigorously researched studies from hospitals and universities that dealt with urinary tract infections. What they found was that there were various natural ingredients that had been shown to prevent infections in the urinary tract, and they knew this information was something they could build on for a real solution.

Both Jenna and Spencer realized that this product would serve a huge market and improve women’s lives in a real way. Prior to Uqora, the topic of UTIs remained largely taboo. Women simply suffered the symptoms and contacted their physicians for treatment after coming down with an infection.

Uqora seeks to remove that stigma. Women shouldn’t blame themselves for UTIs. There should be no scarlet letter attached. These infections are often rooted in causes that have nothing to do with the person’s lifestyle or choices or sex life. And even if they did, there should be no judgment attached regardless.

Uqora set out to develop products that let women have control over their urinary and vaginal health. These natural products allow women to actively work to feel better and keep their system functioning optimally to prevent UTIs before they begin.

Uqora’s Products

Uqora offers three separate products as well a complete system package with all the products included. These products don’t include medication or antibiotics. They were developed from science-backed data that combines natural ingredients to help the body maintain the right balance for your overall health. Each product is targeted for certain aspects of importance to urinary health. They can be taken separately or together.

• Target. This product is a drink that’s specially designed to flush out your urinary tract. It also delivers much-needed immune system support to help keep your urinary system healthy. To use, we recommend drinking Target once every three days for regular prevention. Since sex is one of the biggest risk-factors of UTIs, it’s important to drink Uqora every time after sex to flush out any bacteria that may have been introduced. If you’re just not feeling yourself, have been unusually stressed out, or otherwise feel that your system could use a little extra help, drinking Target can help. This drink is loaded with nutrients that are good for urinary and whole-body health, such as vitamin B6, vitamin C, and citric acid.
• Control. Control is an oral pill that is designed to clean out biofilm, which can build up in your urinary tract and cause recurring issues. Biofilm is the tool that bacteria from past infection use to stay hidden in the urinary tract, later causing a UTI that can seem to come out of the blue. We recommend taking two pills per day. Control contains ingredients like green tea extract and D-Mannose, which have been shown to cleanse biofilm in preliminary laboratory results. This is an excellent regular preventative measure to keep your urinary tract cleansed and less prone to infection.
• Promote. Unlike Target and Control, Promote is specially designed to promote balance in the vaginal micro biome. Research has shown that the health of the vaginal micro biome directly influences the health of the urinary tract. This probiotic increases the good bacteria that’s present in healthy vaginal tissue while eliminating bad bacteria. Promote is also a capsule, and, unlike other probiotics, this one is specifically designed for vaginal health. Most probiotics are designed for digestive health. You can take this alongside other probiotics or in combination with other supplements.

Uqora also offers a package with the complete system so that you can proactively manage your urinary and vaginal health while keeping your system cleansed of biofilm. The three products are specially designed to aid women in preventing urinary tract infections while promoting vaginal and urinary tract health.

Backed by Science

The initial idea for the Uqora line stemmed from Jenna’s desire to find a preventative measure that worked. She knew that other women suffered from these issues and that it took needless time out of their schedules, as well as adding stress to them emotionally and physically. When female health is concerned, the physicians and scientists haven’t historically listened to or proactively addressed pain points that were not viewed as “serious.”

Because Jenna has also dealt with these symptoms on a continual basis, it became a passion project to find products that offered real preventative help. Jenna’s passion also intertwined with her partner’s and she and Spencer set out to find answers.

Spencer heads up the research and development initiatives at Uqora. With his background in microbiology and his experience in helping his girlfriend, Jenna, deal with the symptoms on a continuous basis, Spencer was determined to find preventative measures that could help women regulate and maintain a healthier urinary and vaginal system.

Spencer and Jenna have since been joined in the Uqora mission by Dr. Payal Bhandari, M.D., and Dr. Sherry Ross.

Dr. Bhandari brings a wealth of experience, having practiced as a family physician since 2005. It is Dr. Bhandari’s belief that many factors go into good health and that illnesses can often be avoided through lifestyle and dietary changes.

Dr. Ross is an OB/GYN and author with over 25 years in the field. Her book, “She-ology: The Definitive Guide to Women’s Health,” has been well-recognized by leading publications, such as Women’s Health magazine. Dr. Ross has spent her career deeply committed to bringing positive changes in the health of women.

Uqora, realizes that many women have suffered in silence with their urinary tract infections. They’ve had doses of antibiotics that often cause other symptoms and discomfort. They’ve lost days of work. They’ve wondered if it’s their fault that they continue to struggle with UTIs, even if they’re taking every preauction to prevent UTIs.

That’s why Uqora created products to offer preventative care. These effective products can help you improve the overall health of your urinary tract and vaginal microbiome so that you feel better and experience fewer infections.

Follow Uqora on LinkedIn and Medium