In the modern world, prostatitis occurs in almost 50% of the male population. The disease not only brings pain and discomfort, but can also lead to very unpleasant consequences, up to infertility. Therefore, every man should know how prostatitis manifests itself. Men's health and the ability to procreate largely depend on this.
Knowledge of the signs of prostatitis and periodic 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 gland, how common the process is, and what character the lesion has.
The following classification criteria are distinguished:
- The appearance factor is congestive and infectious. In the first case, the problem develops not because of an infection, but because venous blood or secretion has stagnated in the pelvic organs. The second involves the introduction of pathogenic microorganisms into the prostate gland. There is also prostatitis of a mixed type of 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 may be sclerotic in nature or manifest as an abscess. This category also includes atypical chronic prostatitis, with symptoms that do not correspond to the classical picture of the disease.
Symptoms of the disease also depend on the cause that caused it. The infectious form occurs due to the penetration of pathogenic microorganisms into the prostate through the genital tract or develops against the background of a chronic infection.
Non-infectious prostatitis can be triggered by a weakened immune system, hypothermia, a sedentary life, abstinence from sexual intercourse, or, conversely, excessive sexual activity. Each case requires a different treatment.
Prolonged absence of sexual intercourse causes stagnation of the prostate secretion and the development of congestive prostatitis.
Depending on which form is diagnosed, the signs and symptoms of prostatitis may vary from each other. Self-treatment is strictly prohibited, since an unknowing person can confuse the manifestation of one disease with another, for example, inflammation of the prostate with spermacistitis, 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, then the disease can manifest itself with the following characteristic symptoms:
- severe pain, which is localized first in the genitourinary tract, and then spreads to the entire inguinal and abdominal region;
- pain is constantly present in the scrotum and perineum, especially during urination and erection;
- during an erection, the sexual organ cannot reach the size that it had previously reached;
- sexual intercourse becomes shorter.
Symptoms may appear all together or separately. If we talk about pain, then its intensity largely depends on the form and degree of the disease. Unfortunately, many patients at the initial stages do not pay attention to such manifestations, because of which the disease progresses and can develop into chronic prostatitis, which is dangerous for the appearance of infertility.
If a man began to observe 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 the reason for a visit to the doctor.
Symptoms of acute bacterial prostatitis
Bacterial prostatitis is a form of the disease that is caused by an infection. It easily turns into chronic prostatitis, so you need to seek help promptly.
Often, acute bacterial prostatitis is a secondary manifestation that accompanies any disease of the pelvic organs and has symptoms similar to it.
Acute bacterial prostatitis can present with the following symptoms:
- increase in body temperature;
- feeling of chills, which is accompanied by tremors in the muscles;
- pain in the prostate area;
- pollakiuria and stranguria;
- spread of pain to the lumbar region and the entire perineum;
- problems with urination.
If the patient passes the tests, then 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.
In the analysis of urine with prostatitis, characteristic changes will be present.
These are the main signs of acute bacterial prostatitis. If you do not pay attention to them and do not start treatment, then the acute form will soon turn into a chronic one, the signs of which also need to be known to every man.
Symptoms of chronic bacterial prostatitis
Chronic prostatitis occurs as a result of neglect of the treatment of the acute form of the disease and is characterized by periods of exacerbation and remission.
For a man, it may be a discovery that he once had acute prostatitis, supposedly was treated and recovered, but after a while the symptoms of the disease (albeit in a muffled version) resumed. In this case, it is worth thinking about the chronic course of the disease.
The absence of pronounced symptoms is dangerous by the late accidental detection of chronic prostatitis in an already advanced form.
Chronic prostatitis has no clear manifestations, which often leads to serious complications.
However, in such a situation, there is something to pay attention to:
- burning and cutting (which sometimes border on unbearable pain) during a trip to the toilet and sexual arousal;
- a constant desire to urinate, at least once an hour, at the end of the process, a feeling of complete emptying does not occur;
- in the urinary canal there is a burning sensation 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 causeless 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 to self-medicate, which will be aimed at restoring sexual strength, which only leads to a complication of the situation.
The insidiousness of chronic bacterial prostatitis is that it requires constant monitoring, otherwise infertility may result, the diagnosis of which can only be made after the patient has undergone a comprehensive diagnosis.
A complete examination to detect prostatitis necessarily includes an ultrasound examination.
The symptoms of the disease can manifest themselves in different ways, and this applies not only to chronic, but also to acute bacterial prostatitis.
It's all 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 man will begin to exacerbate. If the patient, in addition to this, leads an unhealthy lifestyle (smokes, moves little, consumes alcohol and harmful products), then one should not be surprised that the disease will progress all the time.
Non-bacterial prostatitis and forms of its manifestation
Abacterial prostatitis is also quite common. It would be useful to know what symptoms may be in this case. A feature of the pathology is the regular occurrence of pain, and not only during intercourse or going to the toilet.
Abacterial prostatitis is characterized by frequent nocturnal urge to go to the toilet and the predominance of urine excreted at night over the daytime volume.
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 the process of urination;
- pain from the inguinal and perineal region gradually moves to the lumbar region;
- pain in the groin, coccyx and pubis;
- discomfort after defecation.
Psychological discomfort joins the physical suffering during illness.
Signs of the disease may be accompanied by psychological disorders. The patient becomes irritable, as he is constantly tormented by pain and discomfort.
If measures are not taken in time, then a man may 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 may be similar to a number of other diseases, and asymptomatic prostate disease may not have any 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, seminal fluid tests, ultrasound, if necessary, a biopsy, etc. Only after that the doctor makes the correct diagnosis and prescribes adequate treatment.
Most often, a biopsy is performed to exclude a malignant process.
Knowing the symptoms of prostatitis is important for every representative of the strong half of humanity in order to suggest what kind of ailment bothers him, because the functionality of the entire genitourinary system depends on it. And the sooner a man asks for help, the sooner relief will come for him.