 [ Symptoms ] can cephalexin be used to treat a uti [ Disease ] sometimes the reason we order a culture and sensitivity test on the urine is to a identify the pathogen causing the infection and b to select the best antibiotic to treat this particular infection not all utis are the same if you are self treating i do not recommend it taking an antibiotic that may not be appropriate can complicate your treatment and make identifying the pathogen very difficult should the cephalexin fail