How prostatitis manifests itself: symptoms and signs

Inflammation of the prostate today is the leader in the group of male diseases, transmitted mainly through sexual contact. Its complications threaten infertility, decreased libido, impotence.

The first symptoms of prostatitis in men.

Prostatitis is an inflammatory disease. This is one of the most common urological pathologies, which is diagnosed in representatives of the strong half of humanity.

In most cases, this anomaly is detected in men over thirty years of age, although recently the disease has become much younger. Treatment of prostatitis should be carried out by qualified specialists (urologists or andrologists), since there is a high probability of developing various complications.

How is prostatitis treated?

With the help of drugs

• NSAIDs: relieves inflammation, fever and fever. They have a slight analgesic effect. With the appearance of prostatitis, short treatment with anti-inflammatory drugs and taking vitamins are required to maintain the gland in a normal state. Men are prescribed: Diclofenac, Nise, Voltaren, Nimesulide. Medicines are produced in suppositories, tablets, injections.
• Antibiotics - designed to eliminate the infectious or bacteriological factor of inflammation. The treatment regimen for prostatitis is signed after the pathogen has been identified and its resistance to antibiotics has been tested. The course of treatment is 7-10 days. In severe cases, therapy is extended up to two weeks.
• Hormones are recommended if the usual course of medication has not been beneficial, as well as with decreased sexual desire due to advanced disease. It is forbidden to treat with hormones at an early stage. Medications are taken under the strict supervision of a urologist.
• Symptomatic drugs - to eliminate pain syndrome, take aspirin tablets. Spasms are removed with No-shpa. In case of persistent severe pain, blockade with Novocaine is indicated.
• Vitamins and medicines to maintain the functions of the prostate in good condition. During the remission period, it is recommended to take drugs to normalize the metabolism and improve the blood supply to the glandular tissues and the production of juice. For this, phytopreparations are prescribed: Prostamol-Uno, Prostate-forte and the like. To strengthen the immune system, a complex of vitamins and minerals is shown: Duovit, Vitrum.

Self-medication is dangerous, it does more harm than good. Before taking any of these medications, you should consult a urologist.

With the use of physiotherapy

• UHF and microwave.
• Magnet therapy.
• Mud cure.
• Galvanization.
• Ultraphonophoresis.
• Laser treatment.
• Heat therapy.

Natural medicine

Diagnosis

In order to start treatment of prostate inflammation in time, you need to contact a competent specialist who will conduct a full examination and make the correct diagnosis. The list of recommended diagnostic methods includes the following:

• Blood test - conduct a study of the biochemical composition, for the content of PSA (prostate-specific antigen), general analysis and PCR if necessary.
• Urinalysis: The man is asked to urinate into several different containers to perform the study in different ways.
• Scraping of the surface of the urethral canal to detect an infectious pathogen.
• Bacteriological culture of prostatic and urethral secretions to determine the bacterial pathogen and its resistance to drugs.
• Ultrasound of the prostate - allows you to assess the size and shape of the gland, the presence or absence of tissue fusion, adhesions and scar changes.

A mandatory element in the diagnosis of prostatitis is a digital rectal examination. The finger exam allows the doctor to feel the gland and assess its density, structure, shape, and size. Also, during a rectal examination, a secret is obtained from the prostate, which is then sent for analysis. Additional examination methods are assigned individually to a particular patient if indicated.

These can be urine flow rate measurements, MRI or CT scans, X-rays of the pelvic organs, and other methods.

acute prostatitis

The disease begins with a sharp increase in temperature (up to 40 degrees), excruciating headache, fever. The symptoms that appear are accompanied by pain in the groin, perineum, back, discharge from the urethra, frequent urination and a constant urge to urinate.

Emptying of the bladder occurs with a delay, a burning sensation. The urine itself becomes cloudy, and an admixture of blood may appear in it. There is irritability, fatigue.

The outcome of acute prostatitis can be a complete resolution of the process (with timely treatment). Since changes occur in many organs of the small pelvis, they cannot be left to chance, otherwise the corresponding complications will arise:

• Vesiculitis is an inflammation of the seminal vesicles, causing pus in the semen, which not only reduces the quality of the ejaculate, but also leads to a loss of reproductive function.
• Colliculitis - inflammatory changes in the seminal tubercle become the reason for the development of severe pain during sexual intercourse, disruption of orgasm, impotence of a psychological nature.
• The formation of an abscess in the body of the prostate, its rupture, purulent damage to the rectum leads to an exacerbation of symptoms, a powerful intoxication of the body, up to death.
• Stagnation in the tissues of the prostate leads to a change in its structure, disruption of innervation, blood supply, both to the gland and to nearby organs, with a violation of its functions. The erection becomes insufficient for a full sexual intercourse, premature ejaculation is observed, prolonged sexual intercourse without the onset of orgasm.
• Cicatricial changes in the gland, the spermatic cord lead to infertility, a decrease in the qualitative composition of sperm and sperm motility. Narrowing of the urethra interferes with the normal process of urinating, bladder obstruction can cause acute urinary retention, requiring emergency surgical care.

Main symptoms

As noted above, the disease can be chronic and acute. A common symptom and one of the most important is increased urination. A healthy man usually has no more than 10-11 urges to urinate during the day (the normal figure is 5-6 urges).

As a result of the development of inflammation of the prostate, a negative effect on the bladder occurs, therefore, in the presence of the disease, the following symptoms will appear:

• An increase in the number of impulses (while the daily volume of urine remains the same).
• The urine comes out in small portions, which is associated with receiving false signals from the bladder receptors due to the presence of an inflammatory process. In addition, therefore, there may be a feeling that the bladder is full even after emptying.
• Pain when urinating, which is due to the narrowing of the urethra due to the inflammatory process in the prostate.
• Difficulty urinating due to compression of certain areas of the urethra by inflammation. In some cases, men are unable to empty their bladders because of this.
• At night, the bladder walls begin to give false signals, increasing the number of trips to the bathroom during sleep.

Part of the diagnosis of prostatitis can also be done by monitoring body temperature, along with problems associated with urination. If these problems are accompanied by an increase in temperature to subfebrile and febrile values, then with a high degree of probability we can talk about the development of pathology. It is important to note that in the later stages of the development of the disease, on the contrary, a drop in body temperature to 35, 5-36 degrees can be observed, which in any case is an extremely negative and dangerous symptom, which should not be allowed.

In the middle stages of the disease, blood can be seen in the patient's urine. This sign is relatively rare and often not indicative, but it is extremely dangerous. It can begin to manifest itself due to purulent melting of the prostate, trauma to the prostate gland, and also in cases of complications of the inflammatory process with hyperplasia. The cure in this case is complicated (surgical intervention is often necessary).

Treatment should begin immediately after the first symptoms of the disease appear. If there have been at least some, albeit insignificant, as it seems, problems with urination, which in some cases are accompanied by fever and pain in the area of simplicity, then you should immediately make an appointment with a urologist to clarify the diagnosis. It is imperative to pay attention to the signs of pathology described above, since it is possible to beat prostatitis quickly and painlessly only with timely treatment.

Why is the prostate inflamed?

In fact, there are only 2 main reasons:

1. Infection. Most of the time, prostatitis develops precisely due to an infection in the prostate. Infection can occur through the bladder, urethra, rectum, blood, and lymph. It turns out that prostatitis itself is often a complication of an existing disease. Therefore, never self-medicate, you must first treat the source of the infection. Cystitis, pyelonephritis, urethritis, STIs (sexually transmitted infections) - this is understandable, they are directly related to the prostate. Even untreated tonsillitis, sinusitis, the flu, and cavities can also come back to haunt the swollen prostate.
2. Circulatory disorders. This may be due to structural features and due to spasms of the urethra, nerve conduction disorders and the work of the muscles of the abdomen and pelvis, and also due to external factors.

However, whether prostatitis develops or not depends, first of all, on predisposing factors:

• Chaotic sex life. The abundance of sexual partners, especially unprotected contacts, this depletes the immune system, which must constantly cope with foreign microflora in female secretions. And sooner or later it fails.
• long abstinence. This is the other extreme. Lack of sex has a negative effect on the general condition of a man, and especially on the prostate. His secret stagnates, blood circulation is disturbed, an infection develops.
• Masturbation. It happens that men try to escape the lack of sex through masturbation. However, this causes a decrease in the tone of the prostate, it becomes lethargic. It is even isolated in a separate type of prostatitis - congestive.
• Overweight. In overweight men, the load on the pelvic organs is greatly increased, as well as on the entire body as a whole. The blood supply is disturbed, because of this, prostatitis and hemorrhoids occur, and a number of other diseases.
• Hypothermia. "Don't sit in the cold, " they tell all the girls. However, this also applies to men. At risk are lovers of extreme winter entertainment, avid fishermen, owners of old cars (oh, how often do I see men lying on cardboard under the car in winter), even passengers on icy trains, as well as lovers of fashion with rolled up pants and no hat. Oh yes, and urinating outdoors in winter is also fraught with serious consequences.
• Inactivity. Basically, this applies to the workflow, when you have to sit in one place for a long time - drivers, office workers. It is especially harmful to cross the legs, since the load on the prostate only increases.
• Stress. Psychological problems, chronic lack of sleep, an overloaded work schedule are the favorites of the contagions.
• Restrain the urge to urinate. Are the 5 minutes saved in a busy workflow worth the potential hassle?
• Bad habits. Well, where without them? Alcohol and nicotine abuse that only rape.
• Wrong nutrition. Fatty, spicy and salty foods are a magnet for diseases of the pelvic organs.
• underlying diseases. Any untreated infectious disease can be complicated by prostatitis.
• Tight underwear. As well as "fashionable" too tight pants. They squeeze the small pelvis, disrupt blood circulation, cause swelling and inflammation.
• Physical overload. Professional athletes, chargers, and active visitors to gyms are at great risk.
• Self treatment. Sometimes men are ashamed to admit their problems even to a doctor, they try to crush the disease with various folk remedies, tried and not so good. However, it happens that without drugs prescribed by a competent doctor, one cannot cope here.

How is the disease diagnosed?

The diagnosis is established by a urologist or an andrologist.after examining the patient, collect an anamnesis and study the symptoms. The doctor must find out the patient's contraceptive method, the presence of STIs in the sexual partner, the possibility of having anal intercourse without a condom. These data facilitate diagnosis and guide the doctor's thinking in the right direction. The prescription of the appearance of symptoms of the disease or discomfort in the perineum allows us to judge the course of prostatitis and its severity. The urologist necessarily examines the patient's genitalia and performs a rectal examination of the prostate. To do this, he inserts a finger into the patient's anus and palpates the anterior wall of the rectum that protrudes from the prostate. Pain and its size indicate the intensity of the inflammatory process.

Next, the doctor conducts a series of instrumental, microscopic, bacteriological and immunological studies to clarify the cause of the disease. The most common diagnostic method is a urine sample from 4 or 3 glasses. The first method is more time consuming and difficult to implement in practice, as it requires the patient to deliberately interrupt urination several times. The second modification is simpler: the patient urinates continuously into three different containers in equal portions. The first part tells about the state of the urinary tract, the second about the pathology of the bladder and kidneys, from the third they receive information about the state of the prostate gland. All collected material is examined under a microscope. With prostatitis, white blood cells and sometimes bacteria are found in the third part of the urine.

For microscopy, the secret of the prostate gland is also taken. To do this, the doctor massages the prostate through the wall of the rectum for a while so that it empties into the urethra. Smears are made from material collected in the laboratory, stained, and viewed under high magnification. A sign of inflammation is leukocytes, a bacterial etiology of the disease is bacteria in a smear. To determine the type of pathogen, the prostatic secret is sown on nutrient media. If pathogenic microorganisms are present in it, then after 3-5 days they form microbial colonies, which can then be studied. The bacteriological method makes it possible to obtain data on the sensitivity of the microflora to antibiotics.

Of the instrumental diagnostic methods are carried out:

• Ultrasound of the kidneys;
• TRUS of the prostate with dopplerography - an ultrasound probe is inserted into the rectum for the best visualization of the prostate gland, its blood flow is also evaluated;
• Ascending urolithography is necessary for persistent recurrent prostatitis. A radiopaque substance is injected into the urethra, after which a series of consecutive images are taken.

In addition to these methods, all types of STI research are of great importance. Among them are:

1. Ejaculate PCR, prostate secretion, scraping of the urethral mucosa - the method allows you to detect a wide range of pathogens;
2. ELISA in blood: to detect specific antibodies against STI pathogens.

types of prostatitis

According to the criteria of the American National Institute of Health (NIH USA) of 1995, there are four categories of prostatitis:

• Category I: acute prostatitis;
• Category II: chronic bacterial prostatitis;
• Category III: chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS);
• Category IIIa: chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome with signs of inflammation;
• Category IIIb: chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome without signs of inflammation;
• Category IV: asymptomatic (asymptomatic) chronic prostatitis.

Occasionally, chronic granulomatous prostatitis, not mentioned in this classification, also occurs.

In turn, most experts distinguish between:

According to the course of the disease:

• acute prostatitis;
• chronic prostatitis;

Depending on the causes of the disease:

• bacterial prostatitis;
• nonbacterial prostatitis

In most cases (especially in men under 40 years of age), bacterial prostatitis is observed.

Based on this, there are:

• acute bacterial prostatitis;
• chronic bacterial prostatitis;
• abacterial chronic prostatitis.

Prevention

To prevent the appearance of inflammation or recurrence of chronic pathology, you must follow these recommendations:

• Reduce the amount of alcohol consumed;
• Do sports regularly;
• Avoid hypothermia;
• Stop smoking;
• Avoid stressful situations;
• Treat inflammation in time; first of all, this applies to genital infections;
• Take a contrast shower;
• Avoid lifting heavy objects;
• Use barrier methods of contraception;
• Have sex regularly;
• Take vitamin preparations;
• Participate in strengthening immunity;
• Visit a urologist twice a year;
• Eat well and balanced.

Purpose of the prostate in the male body: what is it responsible for?

The prostate is an exocrine gland in the male body.

Iron belongs to the reproductive system and is responsible for the production of a series of specific substances:

• the main one is the secret (prostatic juice), which provides the necessary viscosity of the ejaculate and, consequently, the normal motility of sperm. When the sperm is too thick, fertilization is difficult and a woman simply cannot get pregnant from an apparently healthy man;
• other components maintain the normal composition of sperm. These include biologically active substances, immunoglobulins, enzymes, vitamins, microelements, etc. The norms of these substances are individual, and it is the prostate that regulates their content.

Therefore, she is responsible for the reproductive capabilities of a man, for the opportunity to have a regular and full sexual life and to have children. This is the main function of the gland, but there are others, no less important.