Causes, signs and symptoms of prostatitis in men

Prostatitis in men belongs to the group of andrological (exclusively male), urogenital pathologies. The disease occurs in the form of acute or chronic inflammation. This is the most common urological disease today. Previously, it was believed that it manifests itself only at the age of 45-65 years, now more and more doctors diagnose “prostatitis” to young people aged 20-30 years. The disease has significantly “rejuvenated”.

The nature of the lesion of the prostate gland depends on the sexual habitus of the person.

• The defeat of the prostate gland in boys, before their puberty, can theoretically be, but inflammation of the undeveloped gland is not considered as an independent disease.

• In men who are sexually active, prostatitis often occurs as an acute inflammation.

• The pathology of the gland, in persons of mature and elderly age, can manifest itself in the form of three independent diseases (chronic prostatitis, adenoma – benign hyperplasia, adenocarcinoma – malignant hyperplasia).

• In persons who have undergone (chemical, physical, radiation) castration, the gland is atrophied.

The prostate gland (prostate) is an accessory gland of the male genital area. It is located on the fistula of the urethra and ejaculatory ducts. The significance of the gland, before puberty, has been little studied. In an adult male, the prostate gland:

• produces a secret that liquefies sperm, ensures the viability of spermatozoa in the female genital tract;

• produces prostaglandins, substances that promote increased blood supply to the penis before the onset of an erection, together with the testicles, is involved in the production of the hormone testosterone;

• provides rapid evacuation (release) of sperm from the urethra and takes part in the formation of orgasm.

• through reflex mechanisms, it prevents urine from entering the semen during sexual arousal, and is involved in the complex mechanism of erection.

The prostate is a vulnerable organ to disease-causing agents. It is inevitably involved in the pathology of the walls of the urethra, bladder, vas deferens. A powerful flow of blood, lymph, circulating through the branched vascular system of the damaged gland, provokes the phenomena of stagnation, edema of the organ, aggravates the pathology. The gland is well innervated, damage is accompanied by pain.

What should men know about prostatitis?

Prostatitis is an inflammatory disease of the prostate gland (prostate), most often caused by an infectious agent that enters the prostate from the urethra itself, the bladder, and the adjacent rectum. However, the infection itself does not mean the development of the disease, for this, as they say, “a favorable combination of circumstances” is necessary.

What factors are predisposing to the occurrence of prostatitis:

• Long sedentary work and a sedentary lifestyle. The risk group includes drivers, programmers and everyone who spends their working day without getting up from their chair to walk and stretch

• Regular violation of the stool in the form of constipation

• Severe or repeated hypothermia of the whole body

• Excessively active sex life or prolonged abstinence. Both of these are not beneficial for the normal functioning of the prostate gland.

• Overeating, abuse of spicy food and alcohol, constant stress.

The prostate is a very small organ, 3 cm long and 4 cm wide. It weighs only 20-25 grams. However, the secret of the prostate has bactericidal properties, so the inflammatory process in the gland can develop only in the presence of congestion in this organ, when its secret loses its properties.

How does prostatitis manifest itself in men?

There are chronic and acute forms of prostatitis:

• Symptoms of acute prostatitis are characterized by severe inflammation in the prostate area. In this case, the patient has a strong fever (body temperature rises to 38-39 ° C), pain in the groin and perineum, painful urination and defecation.

• Chronic prostatitis worries a man less, so he may not immediately pay attention to the signs characteristic of the disease. The patient occasionally rises in body temperature to 37 ° C, sometimes he is disturbed by discomfort when going to the toilet, a little mucus or pus is released from the urethra. Such discharge is one of the typical signs of chronic prostatitis.

Signs of prostatitis in men

There are six signs (harbingers) of prostatitis – dysuria syndrome. Use as clinical markers is conditional. However, the presence of two of the six symptoms is a reason to contact a urologist.

• The stream of urine sluggishly falls down or its range is less than 20 cm

• Difficult, drop by drop, urination.

• Pain when urinating.

• Intermittency, bifurcation, spraying of the jet, process time

• Feeling of incomplete emptying of the bladder.

• Frequent urination at night.

It is strictly forbidden to draw clinical conclusions when these signs are detected. Prostatitis has a complex pathogenesis, with the inclusion of various mechanisms. It is impossible to treat the disease, focusing on general clinical symptoms. Contact a urologist to determine the symptoms, the nature of the damage, the stage of the disease, and the appointment of treatment. Diagnosis and treatment is carried out taking into account the organs and systems involved in the pathogenesis. In some cases, consultations of a venereologist, surgeon, oncologist are necessary.

Symptoms of prostatitis in men

Prostatitis can occur in the form of acute and chronic inflammation. Acute forms develop according to the type of catarrhal, follicular, parenchymal inflammation. Manifestations of chronic prostatitis are associated with concomitant disease. The following symptoms are of the greatest importance for recognizing the nature of the pathology, the causes and mechanisms of the body’s defense reactions.

Frequent urination with prostatitis. In a healthy person, the maximum number of urges to urinate does not exceed 10-12 times a day, usually 4-5 times. The daily volume of urine in an adult healthy person is 1000-2000 ml. The volume of urine at which the urge occurs is 120-170 ml, the accumulation of urine of more than 350 ml causes a strong desire to empty the bladder. Products of inflammation of prostatitis constantly irritate the receptors of the walls of the urinary organs, resulting in urination:

• Frequent urination (pollakiuria), while the daily volume of urine is not increased;

• Urination in small portions, inflammation products give false signals to the receptors about the filling of a half-empty bladder, after emptying, there is a feeling of its fullness;

• Painful urination (stranguria) due to narrowing of the urethra by an inflamed prostate;

• Difficulty urinating due to compression of the urethra by an inflamed gland, sometimes prostatitis is accompanied by the inability to empty the bladder (ischuria);

• Urination at night (nocturia), irritated bladder walls give a constant signal to produce urine;

temperature for prostatitis. An increase in body temperature to subfebrile and febrile values ​​is characteristic. High temperature accompanies purulent prostatitis at an early stage of septic shock. In the late stage of septic shock, on the contrary, low temperature (hypothermia) up to 35-36 ⁰ C. Low temperature is dangerous for humans due to the tendency of blood platelets to disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). The prognosis of prostatitis complicated by sepsis in the presence of DIC is cautious or unfavorable.

Blood in the urine with prostatitis. The symptom of hematuria (blood in the urine) is a rare but very dangerous sign. Persistent bleeding is difficult to stop. There are several causes of hematuria in prostatitis, including:

• purulent fusion of the gland with a portion of the blood vessel and perforation of the vessel into the urethra;

• accidental injury during instrumental studies of the genitourinary organs;

• prostatitis complicated by hyperplasia, more often of a malignant form.

Pain syndrome. Complicated prostatitis is accompanied by pain outside of urination. Sometimes the pain appears intermittently, for example, during bowel movements. The cause of the pain is the constant irritation of the gland with inflammation products. Often noted dull (aching) pain in the perineum and anus.

Causes of prostatitis in men

There are several groups of causes of prostatitis, including:

• Complication of previous diseases of a man (PPP infection, catarrhal inflammation of the pelvic organs, complicated by staphylococcal, other bacterial infection, viral, fungal agents, especially against the background of reduced immunity and general body resistance), chronic gynecological infections in a woman – a sexual partner.

• Urethral reflux. Violation of the ability of the prostate to prevent the reverse flow of urine, getting it into the genital ducts is called urethral reflux. As a result, bacterial contamination of the prostate occurs. Urethral reflux is a consequence of improper catheterization, as well as previous inflammation of the urethra. In this case, urethrorrhagia occurs – a pathological increase in the lumen of the urethra. Urethral-vesiculoseminal reflux, bacterial contamination is combined with the formation of calculi (stones) in the prostate and ejaculatory canals.

• Violation of the rhythm of sexual life, including the absence or excess of sex, regular delay in ejaculation.

• Stagnation of venous blood in the urogenital organs of the small pelvis of men is a consequence of a sedentary lifestyle (hemorrhoids, sexual dysfunction, other causes);

• Hormonal imbalance associated with insufficient production of male hormones by the gonads, resulting in a general weakening of the tone of skeletal and smooth muscles, erectile dysfunction, and other disorders.

Classification of prostatitis

There are bacterial and non-bacterial prostatitis:

1. Bacterial prostatitis is caused by pathogenic microorganisms that enter the prostate from outside. These include streptococci, staphylococci, E. coli, Proteus and others. Many bacteria are the normal flora of our body, but under certain conditions they enter the prostate and cause an inflammatory process. Prostatitis can also develop as a result of sexually transmitted diseases such as chlamydia, ureaplasmosis, gardnerellosis, trichomoniasis, gonorrhea, mycoplasmosis.

2. Not bacterial. The group of non-infectious prostatitis includes:

   • Congestive prostatitis. It is caused by congestion in the pelvis. Incomplete ejaculation, sexual excesses, prolonged abstinence, interrupted sexual intercourse – all this contributes to venous congestion in the pelvic organs.

   • Calculous prostatitis. The result of the development of calculous prostatitis is the presence of phosphate and oxalate stones in the gland. Reaching large sizes, they cause a sharp pain in the urethra. The method of treatment is to dissolve the formed stones.

   • Sclerotic prostatitis. It is characterized by a decrease in the size and functions of the prostate gland, thickening of its tissues as a result of the death of prostate cells with their replacement by sclerotic tissue. One of the reasons for the development of this form of the disease are frequent constipation, taking certain medications, multiple infections. Such prostatitis, unfortunately, is not treatable.

   • Prostatopic prostatitis. This disease causes chronic pelvic pain, but its etiology is not fully understood. It is believed that it can be provoked by backflow of secretions, damage to the muscles of the perineum, pathology of the bladder neck and psychological factors.

   • Atypical forms. With an atypical form, the patient may complain of pain in the legs, lower back and sacrum, which is unusual for the characteristic symptoms of prostatitis. The outcome of treatment depends on the duration of the disease, the activity of inflammatory processes, the presence of associated complications.

If you do not treat prostatitis, then in its advanced form it leads to a decrease in potency, infertility, depression, exhausting pain in the perineum and other complications.

Why is prostatitis dangerous? Consequences of prostatitis

The consequences depend on age, the state of the immune system, the presence of bad habits. So in people of the older age group, with weakened immunity, with a history of alcoholism, drug addiction, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, the consequences of the disease are more severe.

The effect of prostatitis on potency. Damaged gland, with decompensation of functional activity, reduces the production of substances involved in the formation of an erection of the male penis. The consequence of prostatitis is a sluggish release of seminal fluid during intercourse, a decrease in the fullness of sensations during intercourse, in advanced forms, erectile dysfunction.

Influence of prostatitis on conception. A damaged prostate sharply reduces the activity of producing a high-quality secret, which is necessary to maintain the activity of sperm in the birth canal of a woman. The secret of the inflamed prostate gland, getting into the birth canal of a woman through sexual contact, reacts with immune rejection of the female body, the development of gynecological diseases and the impossibility of conception.

Prostatitis provokes damage inside the gland and the body. Inflammation complicated by microflora increases the risk of prostate abscess. Abscessing is a purulent fusion of part of the parenchyma of the gland with the formation of a capsule around the focus. A disease with the formation of mineralized calculi in the cavity is a consequence of the damaged prostate complicated by reflux. The consequences of prostatitis are also: acute ischuria, urolithiasis, kidney failure, inflammation of the urinary organs and other diseases.

Is it possible to have sex with prostatitis?

It has been proven that dysrhythmia of intimate life is one of the causes of inflammation of the gland. Regular ejaculation with moderate frequency has a positive effect on the pathogenesis of prostatitis in subclinical and moderate clinical manifestations of prostatitis. Some medical manipulations and stages of the disease suggest a temporary ban on sexual activity. Detailed recommendations should be obtained from your doctor. Have sex with prostatitis, observe moderation and safety of intimate life.

Is prostatitis sexually transmitted? Prostatitis is a purely male disease that does not have a specific viral, bacterial, fungal origin. Meanwhile, inflammation of the prostate is a danger to gynecological health. Seminal fluid containing inflammation products, getting into the female genital organs, against the background of a decrease in the protective barriers of the birth canal, is a real threat to conception and gestation. A healthy lifestyle, reliable male contraception is an easy way to protect sexual partners from mutual problems.

How is it treated?

Treatment methods with a description of the use of drugs, we described in detail in other articles on the site:

• Treatment of acute bacterial form

• Treatment of chronic form

• Operative and other clinical methods

Is it possible to cure prostatitis once and for all?

Most of those men who have already been treated for prostatitis more than once are interested in one question – is it possible to get rid of this unpleasant disease forever. According to experts, the effectiveness of treatment largely depends on the presence and severity of irreversible consequences that have occurred in the prostate. It can be scars, stones, calcifications.

Only a timely visit to a doctor can stop the further development of the inflammatory process in the early stages. In this case, no irreversible complications in the prostate develop and there is the possibility of a complete cure. When areas of sclerotic tissue have already formed – scars, there are calcifications and small pebbles that cannot be gotten rid of, then, most likely, re-inflammation may occur. This is chronic prostatitis.

In addition to treatment, an important factor in overcoming this ailment is also the extent to which the patient is ready to change his previous lifestyle – irregular sex life and constant sitting on a chair. If he does not want such changes, then with a high degree of confidence we can say that the inflammatory process will return again soon. It is with the unwillingness of the patient to exclude these negative factors from his life that the idea that prostatitis is incurable is connected.

Duration, treatment regimen is determined by the doctor, based on the results of physical, laboratory and instrumental studies.

preventive measures

Prevention is based on simple rules, it is easy to follow them.

• Walk regularly with a wide step (this style of walking is the most physiological);

• Eat right, lead a healthy lifestyle;

• Use male contraception.

For more information, read the article “Prevention of prostatitis”

To avoid the development of prostatitis and its complications, you should immediately contact a urologist for any ailments of the genital organs. It is also not necessary to wait until any symptoms appear, but at least once a year see a doctor yourself. In a medical institution, you will undergo an examination and you will know for sure that everything is in order with your health in the sexual sphere.

Do not delay visiting a urologist and those who suffer from constipation, abuse alcohol, spicy and smoked foods, those who are not actively involved in sports and who have had a history of sexually transmitted diseases. Due to the high risk of the disease, such people should undergo a mandatory examination, even if there is no indication for this.

As you know, men do not like to go to the doctors, and when it is already unbearable, it turns out that the disease has taken on a chronic course. But the course of treatment could have been completed much earlier. Now, chronic prostatitis will have to be treated for at least 1-2 months.