In the modern world, prostatitis occurs in almost 50% of the male population. The disease brings not only pain and discomfort, but can also lead to very unpleasant consequences, up to and including infertility. Therefore, every man should know how prostatitis manifests itself. Man's health and reproductive capacity largely depend on it.
Knowledge of the signs of prostatitis and regular examinations by a doctor guarantee timely detection and successful treatment of the disease.
etiology of the disease
Prostatitis is a urological disease of inflammatory etiology. The disease can be caused by many factors.
The classification of prostatitis depends on what provoked the disease of the prostate, how common the process is and what the character of the lesion is.
The following classification criteria are distinguished:
- The appearance factor is congestive and contagious. In the first case, the problem arises not because of infection, but because venous blood or secretion has stagnated in the pelvic organs. The second involves the introduction of pathogenic microorganisms into the prostate. There is also prostatitis of mixed origin.
- damage area. With prostatitis, the gland can become inflamed in different ways. It can be a chronic or acute form of the disease, which, in turn, is divided into parenchymal, catarrhal and follicular types of inflammation. The lesion can be sclerotic in nature or present as an abscess. This category also includes atypical chronic prostatitis, the symptoms of which do not correspond to the classic clinical picture.
The symptoms of the disease also depend on the cause that caused them. The infectious form occurs as a result of the penetration of pathogenic microorganisms into the prostate through the genital tract or develops against the background of chronic infection.
Non-infectious prostatitis can be triggered by a weakened immune system, hypothermia, sedentary lifestyle, abstinence from sexual intercourse or, conversely, excessive sexual activity. Each case requires a different treatment.
Prolonged lack of sexual intercourse leads to stagnation of prostatic secretion and the development of congestive prostatitis.
Depending on which form is diagnosed, the signs and symptoms of prostatitis can vary. Self-treatment is strictly forbidden, since an ignorant person can confuse the manifestation of one disease with another, for example, inflammation of the prostate with spermatitis, vesiculitis, urethritis or benign hyperplasia. Improper treatment can lead to extremely sad consequences.
General Symptoms
How does prostatitis manifest itself? If you do not take into account a specific type, the disease can manifest itself with the following characteristic symptoms:
- severe pain, first localized in the urogenital tract, and then spreading to the entire groin and abdominal region;
- Pain in the scrotum and perineum is constant, especially with urination and erection;
- during an erection, the sex organ cannot reach the size it had before;
- Sexual intercourse becomes shorter.
The symptoms can appear all together or individually. If we talk about pain, its intensity largely depends on the form and degree of the disease. Unfortunately, at the initial stage, many patients do not pay attention to such manifestations, as a result of which the disease progresses and can develop into chronic prostatitis, which is dangerous for the onset of infertility.
If a man observes such symptoms in himself, then the risk of prostatitis is high and you should immediately seek qualified help.
Even minor manifestations of prostatitis should be a reason to see a doctor.
Symptoms of acute bacterial prostatitis
Bacterial prostatitis is a form of the disease caused by an infection. It easily turns into chronic prostatitis, so you need to seek help immediately.
Often, acute bacterial prostatitis is a secondary manifestation that accompanies any disease of the pelvic organs and has similar symptoms.
Acute bacterial prostatitis can present with the following symptoms:
- increase in body temperature;
- chills accompanied by muscle tremors;
- pain in the prostate area;
- pollakiuria and stranguria;
- Spread of pain to the lumbar region and the entire perineum;
- problems urinating.
If the patient passes the tests, the disease can be suspected in the following cases:
- increase in the number of leukocytes in the blood;
- Bacterial cells are present in the secretion of the prostate;
- cloudy whitish urine with a pH above 7. 0.
When analyzing urine with prostatitis, characteristic changes appear.
These are the main signs of acute bacterial prostatitis. If you ignore them and do not start treatment, the acute form will soon turn into a chronic one, the signs of which should be known to every man.
Symptoms of chronic bacterial prostatitis
Chronic prostatitis occurs as a result of neglect in the treatment of the acute form of the disease and is characterized by periods of exacerbation and remission.
It may be a discovery for a man that he once had acute prostatitis, supposedly treated and cured, but after a while the symptoms of the disease (albeit in a muffled version) reappeared. In this case, it is worth thinking about the chronic course of the disease.
The lack of pronounced symptoms is dangerous due to the late accidental detection of chronic prostatitis in an already advanced form.
Chronic prostatitis has no clear manifestations, which often leads to serious complications.
In such a situation, however, there is something to consider:
- burning and cutting (sometimes bordering on unbearable pain) during going to the toilet and sexual arousal;
- a constant urge to urinate, at least once an hour, at the end of the procedure there is no feeling of complete emptying;
- there is a burning sensation in the urinary canal during and after going to the toilet;
- the jet has a weaker pressure than before - there may even be an interruption in the flow;
- at night you constantly want to go to the toilet;
- after the end of sexual intercourse, an unpleasant burning sensation remains in the genitals;
- ejaculation occurs quickly enough;
- Insomnia and baseless anxiety can be observed.
All these main symptoms of chronic prostatitis are easily confused with sexual disorders. The problem is that few men can admit it to themselves. Therefore, they begin self-medication aimed at restoring sexual power, which only complicates the situation.
The insidious thing about chronic bacterial prostatitis is that it requires constant monitoring, otherwise it can lead to infertility, the diagnosis of which can be made only after the patient has undergone a comprehensive diagnosis.
An ultrasound examination is a mandatory part of a complete examination to detect prostatitis.
The symptoms of the disease can express themselves differently, this applies not only to chronic but also to acute bacterial prostatitis.
It is about the number of bacteria in the body and in the individual body of each patient. As soon as pathogenic organisms begin to activate and multiply, the male will begin to worsen. If, in addition, the patient leads an unhealthy lifestyle (smokes, does little physical activity, consumes alcohol and harmful products), then one should not be surprised that the disease is constantly progressing.
Nonbacterial prostatitis and forms of its manifestation
Abacterial prostatitis is also widespread. It would be helpful to know what symptoms can occur in this case. A feature of the pathology is the regular occurrence of pain, and not only during sexual intercourse or going to the toilet.
Nonbacterial prostatitis is characterized by frequent nocturnal urges to go to the toilet and the nightly urine excretion predominating over the daily amount.
In addition, the following manifestations are associated with non-infectious prostatitis:
- pain in the genitals;
- pain and discomfort in the groin area;
- nocturia and testicular pain;
- decrease in the amount of urine excreted;
- difficulty starting to urinate;
- Pain from the groin and perineal region gradually moves to the lumbar region;
- pain in the groin, tailbone and pubis;
- Discomfort after defecation.
In addition to the physical suffering in the case of illness, there are also psychological complaints.
Signs of the disease may be accompanied by mental disorders. The patient becomes irritable, as he is constantly tormented by pain and discomfort.
If measures are not taken in a timely manner, a man can even fall into a state of depression, and then he will have to seek help not only from a urologist, but also from a psychologist.
It should be noted that atypical prostatitis in its clinical picture can be similar to a number of other diseases, and asymptomatic prostate disease may not have pronounced manifestations at all. Therefore, it is so important to go to a qualified doctor who will prescribe a number of diagnostic measures and examinations - urine, blood, semen tests, ultrasound, if necessary, a biopsy, etc. Only after this will the doctor make the correct diagnosis and prescribe oneappropriate treatment.
Most often, a biopsy is performed to rule out a malignant process.
Knowing the symptoms of prostatitis is important for every representative of the strong half of humanity to point out what kind of disease bothers him, since the functionality of the entire genitourinary system depends on it. And the sooner a man asks for help, the sooner he will recover.