How prostatitis manifests itself: symptoms and signs

Inflammation of the prostate is now the leader in the group of male diseases that are mainly transmitted 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 diagnosed in representatives of the strong half of humanity.

Most often this anomaly is noted in men over thirty years old, 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 various complications.

How is prostatitis treated?

With the help of drugs

• NSAIDs - reduce inflammation, fever and fever. They have a slight pain-relieving effect. With the onset of prostatitis, a short course of anti-inflammatory drugs and taking vitamins is required to keep the gland in normal condition. Men are prescribed: Diclofenac, Nise, Voltaren, Nimesulide. The drugs are made in suppositories, tablets, injections.
• Antibiotics - designed to eliminate the infectious or bacteriological inflammatory factor. The treatment regimen for prostatitis is signed after identifying the causative agent and testing its resistance to antibiotics. The duration of treatment is 7-10 days. In severe cases, the therapy is extended to up to two weeks.
• Hormones are recommended when usual medication has not worked and when sexual desire is declining due to advanced disease. Early treatment with hormones is prohibited. The drugs are taken under the strict supervision of a urologist.
• Symptomatic drugs - to eliminate pain syndrome, take aspirin tablets. Spasms are removed by No-shpa. If severe pain persists, blockade with novocaine is indicated.
• Vitamins and medications to keep the prostate functioning properly. During the period of remission, it is recommended to drink drugs to normalize metabolism and improve blood supply to glandular tissue, as well as juice production. 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 using any of these drugs, you must consult a urologist.

With the use of physiotherapy

• UHF and Microwave.
• magnetotherapy.
• mud cure.
• electroplating.
• ultraphonophoresis.
• laser treatment.
• heat therapy.

natural remedies

diagnosis

In order to start treatment for prostatitis in a timely manner, you need to contact a competent specialist who will conduct a comprehensive examination and make the correct diagnosis. The list of recommended diagnostic methods includes the following:

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

A mandatory point in the diagnosis of prostatitis is a rectal digital examination. Finger examination allows the doctor to palpate the gland and assess its density, structure, shape, and size. In addition, during a rectal examination, a secret of the prostate is obtained, which is then sent for analysis. Additional methods of examination, if necessary, are assigned individually to a specific patient.

This can be measurements of urine flow velocity, magnetic resonance or computed tomography, X-rays of the pelvic organs and other methods.

Acute prostatitis

The disease begins with a sharp increase in temperature (up to 40 degrees), an 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.

Bladder emptying is delayed, there is a burning sensation. The urine itself becomes cloudy, and admixture of blood may appear in it. There is irritability, fatigue.

The result of acute prostatitis can be a complete resolution of the process (with timely treatment). Since there are changes in many organs of the small pelvis, these must not be left to chance, otherwise there will be corresponding complications:

• Vesiculitis is inflammation of the seminal vesicles, the cause of 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 sex, 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 aggravation of symptoms, severe intoxication of the body, even death.
• Stagnation in the tissues of the prostate leads to a change in its structure, disruption of innervation and blood supply to both the gland itself and nearby organs with a violation of their functions. The erection becomes insufficient for full-fledged sexual intercourse, premature ejaculation is observed, prolonged sexual intercourse without the onset of orgasm.
• Cicatricial changes in the gland, spermatic cord lead to infertility, a decrease in the qualitative composition of sperm and sperm motility. Narrowing of the urethra disrupts the normal process of urination, bladder obstruction can cause acute urinary retention requiring emergency surgical care.

main symptoms

As mentioned above, the disease can be chronic and acute. A common and one of the most important symptoms is increased urination. A healthy man typically experiences no more than 10-11 urinary urgencies during the day (the normal number is 5-6 urinations).

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

• An increase in the number of times you need to urinate (while the daily amount of urine stays the same).
• 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. Therefore, even after emptying, there may be a feeling that the bladder is full.
• Painful urination due to narrowing of the urethra due to the inflammatory process in the prostate.
• Difficulty urinating due to compression of certain areas of the urethra from inflammation. In some cases, this can result in men not being able to empty their bladders at all.
• At night, the walls of the bladder begin to give false signals, which increases the number of trips to the toilet during sleep.

Part of the diagnosis of prostatitis can also be made by monitoring body temperature in conjunction with problems 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, there is a decrease in body temperature to 35. 5-36 degrees, which in any case is an extremely negative and dangerous symptom that should not be allowed.

In the middle stages of the disease, blood can be observed in the patient's urine. This sign is relatively rare and often unindicative, but extremely dangerous. It can manifest itself due to purulent fusion of the prostate, trauma to the prostate gland, and also with complications of the inflammatory process with hyperplasia. Healing in this case is complicated (surgical intervention is often required).

Treatment should begin immediately after the first symptoms of the disease appear. If there have been at least some, albeit minor, as it seems, problems with urination, which in some cases are accompanied by fever and pain in the area of \u200b\u200bthe simple, then you should immediately make an appointment with a urologist for clarification diagnosis. It is imperative to pay attention to the signs of pathology described above, since prostatitis can be defeated quickly and painlessly only with timely treatment.

Why does the prostate become inflamed?

In fact, there are only 2 main reasons:

1. Infection. Most often, prostatitis develops precisely because of an infection in the prostate. Infection can occur via 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 cure the source of the infection. Cystitis, pyelonephritis, urethritis, STIs (sexually transmitted infections) - this is understandable, they are directly related to the prostate. Untreated tonsillitis, sinusitis, flu, tooth decay can also return and affect the prostate inflammation.
2. circulatory disorders. This can be due to structural features and to spasms of the urethra, disturbances in nerve conduction and the work of the abdominal and pelvic muscles, as well as external factors.

However, whether prostatitis develops or not depends primarily on predisposing factors:

• Chaotic sex life. The abundance of sexual partners, especially unprotected contacts, exhausts the immune system, which constantly has to deal with foreign microflora in female secretions. And sooner or later it fails.
• Long abstinence. That's the other extreme. The lack of sex negatively affects the general condition of a man, especially the prostate. His secret stagnates, blood circulation is disrupted, an infection develops.
• Masturbation. It happens that men try to escape from the lack of sex through masturbation. However, this leads to a decrease in the tone of the prostate, it becomes lethargic. It is even isolated into a separate type of prostatitis - congestive.
• overweight. In overweight men, the load on the pelvic organs, as well as the body as a whole, is greatly increased. The blood supply is disturbed, which leads to prostatitis, hemorrhoids and a variety of other diseases.
• hypothermia. "Don't sit in the cold, " they say to all girls. However, this also applies to men. Lovers of extreme winter entertainment, keen fishermen, owners of old cars are at risk (oh, how often in winter I see men lying on cardboard under the car), even passengers on icy trains, as well as fashionistas with their pants rolled up and no hat. Oh yeah, and urinating outside in the winter also comes 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. Crossing your legs is especially harmful, as the load on the prostate will only increase.
• Emphasize. Mental problems, chronic lack of sleep, an overloaded work schedule are the favorites of infections.
• Suppression of the urge to urinate. Are the 5 minutes saved in a busy workflow worth the potential problems?
• Bad habits. where without herAbuse of alcohol and nicotine that only hurt.
• Wrong diet. Greasy, spicy, salty foods are a magnet for diseases of the pelvic organs.
• background 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, loaders, active visitors of gyms are at high risk.
• self treatment. Sometimes men are ashamed to admit their problems even to a doctor, they try to smash the disease with various folk remedies, proven and not so good. However, it happens that one cannot cope here without medication prescribed by a competent doctor.

How is the disease diagnosed?

Diagnosis is made by a urologist or andrologistafter examining the patient, taking a medical history and examining the symptoms. The doctor must find out the patient's birth control method, the presence of STIs in the sexual partner, and the possibility of anal intercourse without a condom. This data facilitates the diagnosis and steers the doctor's thinking in the right direction. Prescribing the appearance of symptoms of the disease or discomfort in the perineum allows us to assess the course of prostatitis and its severity. The urologist necessarily examines the patient's genitals and conducts a rectal examination of the prostate. To do this, he inserts a finger into the patient's anus and feels the protruding prostate on the front wall of the rectum. Pain and its size indicate the intensity of the inflammatory process.

Next, the doctor conducts a number of instrumental, microscopic, bacteriological and immunological studies to clarify the cause of the disease. The most common diagnostic method is a 4- or 3-glass urine sample. The first method is more time-consuming and more difficult to implement in practice, since the patient has to consciously stop urinating several times. The second variant is simpler: the patient continuously urinates equally into three different containers. The first part talks 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. All collected material is examined under a microscope. In prostatitis, white blood cells and sometimes bacteria are found in the third portion of urine.

For microscopy, the secret of the prostate is also taken.To do this, the doctor performs a massage of the prostate through the wall of the rectum for some time so that it is emptied into the urethra. Swabs are taken from the collected material in the laboratory, stained and examined 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 secret of the prostate is sown on culture media. If pathogenic microorganisms are present in it, after 3-5 days they form microbial colonies, which can then be examined. The bacteriological method makes it possible to obtain data on the sensitivity of microflora to antibiotics.

Of the instrumental diagnostic methods are carried out:

• ultrasound of the kidneys;
• TRUS of the prostate with dopplerography - for the best visualization of the prostate, an ultrasound probe is inserted into the rectum, in addition, its blood flow is assessed;
• In persistent recurrent prostatitis, ascending urethrography is required. A radiopaque substance is injected into the urethra, after which a series of sequential images are taken.

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

1. PCR ejaculate, prostate secretion, scrapings from the urethral mucosa - the method allows you to detect a variety of pathogens;
2. Blood ELISA - to detect specific antibodies against STI pathogens.

Types of prostatitis

According to the 1995 American National Institutes of Health (NIH USA) criteria, 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 included in this classification occurs.

Most experts, in turn, distinguish between:

Depending on the course of the disease:

• acute prostatitis;
• chronic prostatitis;

Depending on the causes of the disease:

• bacterial prostatitis;
• non bacterial prostatitis

In most cases (especially in men under 40), bacterial prostatitis is detected.

Based on this there is:

• acute bacterial prostatitis;
• chronic bacterial prostatitis;
• chronic nonbacterial prostatitis.

prevention

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

• Reduce the amount of alcohol consumed;
• Do you do sports regulary;
• avoid hypothermia;
• Stop smoking;
• avoid stressful situations;
• Treating inflammation in a timely manner – this applies primarily to genital infections;
• Take a contrast shower;
• Avoid lifting heavy objects;
• Use barrier methods of contraception;
• Have sex regularly;
• take vitamin supplements;
• Engage in strengthening immunity;
• Visit a urologist twice a year;
• Eat right and balanced.

Purpose of the prostate in the male body: what is it 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 number of specific substances:

• The most important is the secret (prostate juice), which ensures the necessary viscosity of the ejaculate and, accordingly, the normal motility of sperm. If the sperm is too thick, fertilization is difficult and a woman simply cannot conceive from an apparently healthy man;
• other components maintain normal sperm composition. 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.

Thus, she is responsible for a man's reproductive capacity, the ability to have a regular and fulfilling sex life and have children. This is the main function of the gland, but there are others that are no less important.