How prostatitis manifests itself: symptoms and signs

Inflammation of the prostate today is the leader in the group of male diseases, 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, which is diagnosed in representatives of the strong half of humanity.

Most often, this anomaly is detected in men over the age of thirty, 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: relieve inflammation, fever and fever. They have a slight analgesic effect. With the onset of prostatitis, a short treatment with anti-inflammatory drugs and vitamin intake is required to keep the gland in a normal state. Men are prescribed: Diclofenac, Nise, Voltaren, Nimesulide. Drugs 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, the therapy is extended up to two weeks.
• Hormones are recommended if the usual course of drugs was not beneficial, as well as with a decrease in sexual desire due to advanced disease. It is forbidden to deal with hormones at an early stage. Medicines are taken under the strict supervision of a urologist.
• Symptomatic drugs: to eliminate the pain syndrome, take aspirin tablets. Spasms are removed by No-shpa. With persistent severe pain, blockade with Novocain is indicated.
• Vitamins and medicines to keep the functions of the prostate functioning. During the period of remission, it is recommended to drink drugs to normalize metabolism and improve blood supply to the glandular tissues and 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 taking any of these drugs, it is necessary to consult a urologist.

With the use of physiotherapy

• UHF and microwave.
• Magnetotherapy.
• Mud cure.
• Galvanization.
• Ultraphonophoresis.
• Laser treatment.
• Thermotherapy.

natural remedies

Diagnostics

To start the treatment of inflammation of the prostate on time, 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 the biochemical composition, for the content of PSA (prostate specific antigen), general analyzes and PCR if necessary.
• Urinalysis: The man is asked to urinate in different containers to conduct the study in different ways.
• Scraping from the surface of the urethral canal to detect an infectious pathogen.
• Bacteriological culture of prostatic secretion and urethral secretions to determine the bacterial pathogen and its drug resistance.
• Ultrasound of the prostate: allows you to evaluate the size and shape of the gland, the presence or absence of tissue fusion, adhesions and scarring 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 evaluate its density, structure, shape and size. Also, during a rectal exam, a prostate secret is obtained, which is then sent for analysis. Additional methods of examination are assigned individually to a particular patient, if indicated.

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

Acute prostatitis

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

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

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

• Vesiculitis is inflammation of the seminal vesicles, the cause of pus in the sperm, which not only reduces the quality of the ejaculate, but 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, interruption 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, powerful intoxication of the body, up to death.
• Stagnation in the tissues of the prostate leads to a change in their structure, disruption of innervation, blood supply, both to the gland itself and to organs located nearby, 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, the spermatic cord lead to infertility, a decrease in the qualitative composition of the sperm and the motility of spermatozoa. Narrowing of the urethra interferes with the normal process of urination, 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 and one of the most prominent symptoms is increased urination. A healthy man usually experiences no more than 10-11 pulses to urinate during the day (the normal figure is 5-6 pulses).

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 pulses (while the daily volume of urine remains the same).
• Urine comes out in small portions, which is associated with the reception of false signals from the receptors of the bladder due to the presence of an inflammatory process. Also, therefore, there may be a feeling that the bladder is full even after emptying.
• Pain when urinating, due to narrowing of the urethra due to the inflammatory process in the prostate.
• Difficulty urinating due to inflammation of some areas of the urethra. In some cases, for this reason, men cannot empty their bladder at all.
• At night, the bladder walls start giving false signals, which increases the number of trips to the bathroom during sleep.

Part of diagnosing prostatitis can also be made 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 decrease in body temperature to 35. 5-36 degrees can be observed, which is in any case an extremely negative and dangerous symptom, which should not be allowed.

In the intermediate stages of the disease, blood in the patient's urine can be observed. This sign is relatively rare and often not indicative, but extremely dangerous. It can begin to manifest itself due to purulent fusion of the prostate, trauma to the prostate gland, and also in cases of complications of the inflammatory process with hyperplasia. Treatment in this case is complicated (surgery is often required).

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 the pathology described above, since it is possible to defeat prostatitis quickly and painlessly only with timely treatment.

Why does the prostate gland become inflamed?

In fact, there are only 2 main reasons:

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

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

• Chaotic sex life. The abundance of sexual partners, especially unprotected contacts, exhausts the immune system, which constantly has to deal with the 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. Its secret stagnates, blood circulation is disturbed, an infection develops.
• Masturbation. It happens that men try to escape the lack of sex with 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.
• Excess weight. In overweight men, the load on the pelvic organs is significantly increased, as well as on the whole body in general. The blood supply is disturbed, as a result of which prostatitis and hemorrhoids and a host of other diseases occur.
• Hypothermia. "Don't sit in the cold, " they say to 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 of frozen trains, as well as fashionistas with pants rolled up and hatless. Oh yes, and even urinating outdoors in winter is fraught with serious consequences.
• Inactivity. Basically, this applies to the workflow, when you have to sit in one place for a long time: drivers, employees. It is especially harmful to cross the legs, as the load on the prostate only increases.
• Fatigue. Psychological problems, chronic lack of sleep, overloaded working hours are the favorites of infections.
• Restrain the urge to urinate. Are the 5 minutes saved in a busy workflow worth the potential problems?
• Bad habits. Well, where without them? Alcohol and nicotine abuse that violate only.
• Wrong power supply. Fatty, spicy and salty foods are a magnet for diseases of the pelvic organs.
• underlying diseases. Any untreated infectious diseases can be complicated by prostatitis.
• Tight underwear. As well as too tight "trendy" pants. Squeeze the small pelvis, cut off blood circulation, cause swelling and inflammation.
• Physical overload. Professional athletes, shippers, 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, proven and not so good remedies. However, it happens that without the medicines prescribed by a competent doctor, you cannot cope here.

How is the disease diagnosed?

The diagnosis is established by a urologist or andrologistafter examining the patient, taking an anamnesis and studying the symptoms. The doctor must find out about the patient's method of contraception, the presence of sexually transmitted diseases in the sexual partner, the possibility of anal intercourse without a condom. These data facilitate the diagnosis and guide the doctor's thinking in the right direction. Prescribing the onset 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 genitals and conducts a rectal examination of the prostate gland. To do this, he inserts a finger into the patient's anus and gropes on the anterior wall of the protruding prostate of the rectum. Pain and its size indicate the intensity of the inflammatory process.

Subsequently, the doctor conducts a series of instrumental, microscopic, bacteriological and immunological studies in order 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 difficult to implement in practice, as it requires the patient to deliberately stop urinating several times. The second modification is simpler: the patient urinates continuously in three different containers in equal portions. 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 gland. All collected material is examined under a microscope. With prostatitis, white blood cells and sometimes bacteria are found in the third portion of the urine.

For microscopy, the secret of the prostate gland 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. The spots are made from the material collected in the laboratory, colored and studied at high magnification. A sign of inflammation is leukocytes, a bacterial etiology of the disease is bacteria in a stain. To determine the type of pathogen, the prostate secret is sown on nutrient media. If pathogenic microorganisms are present, after 3-5 days they form microbial colonies, which can then be studied. Bacteriological method allows 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: an ultrasound probe is inserted into the rectum for the best visualization of the prostate gland, its blood flow is also evaluated;
• Ascending urethrography is required for persistent recurrent prostatitis. A radiopaque substance is injected into the urethra, after which a series of consecutive images are acquired.

In addition to these methods, all kinds of research on sexually transmitted diseases are of great importance. Among these are:

1. Ejaculate PCR, prostatic secretion, scraping from the urethral mucosa - the method allows to detect a wide range of pathogens;
2. Blood ELISA - to detect specific antibodies against STI pathogens.

Types of prostatitis

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

• Category I: Acute prostatitis;
• Category II: Chronic bacterial prostatitis;
• Category III: chronic prostatitis syndrome / chronic pelvic pain (CP / CPPS);
• Category IIIa: Chronic prostatitis / chronic pelvic pain syndrome with signs of inflammation;
• Category IIIb: Chronic prostatitis / chronic pelvic pain syndrome with no signs of inflammation;
• Category IV: Chronic asymptomatic (asymptomatic) prostatitis.

Chronic granulomatous prostatitis also occurs occasionally, not mentioned in this classification.

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;
• non-bacterial prostatitis

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

Based on this, there are:

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

Prevention

To prevent the occurrence of inflammation or the recurrence of chronic pathologies, it is necessary to follow these recommendations:

• Reduce the amount of alcohol consumed;
• Exercise 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;
• Having sex regularly
• Take vitamin preparations;
• Strive to strengthen immunity;
• Visit a urologist twice a year;
• Eat right 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 number 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 spermatozoa. 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 the 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, it is responsible for a man's reproductive abilities, the opportunity to have a regular and full sex life and to have children. This is the main function of the gland, but there are others, no less important.