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, to infertility. That is why every man should know how prostatitis manifests itself. The health of men and the ability to procreate largely depend on this.
Knowing the signs of prostatitis and periodic check-ups with a doctor are a guarantee of timely detection and successful treatment of the disease.
Etiology of the disease
Prostatitis is a urological disease with an 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 frequent the process is and what is the nature of the lesion.
The following classification criteria are distinguished:
- The appearance factor is congestive and infectious. In the first case, the problem develops not due to infection, but due to stagnation of venous blood or secretion in the pelvic organs. The second involves the introduction of pathogenic microorganisms into the prostate gland. There is also prostatitis of mixed origin.
- Damage zone. In prostatitis, the gland can become inflamed in different ways. This 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 present as an abscess. This category also includes atypical chronic prostatitis with symptoms that do not correspond to the classic picture of the disease.
The 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 chronic infection.
Non-infectious prostatitis can be caused by a weakened immune system, hypothermia, sedentary life, abstinence from intercourse or, conversely, excessive sexual activity. Each case requires different treatment.
Prolonged absence of sexual intercourse causes stagnation of prostatic secretion and development of congestive prostatitis.
Depending on which form is diagnosed, the signs and symptoms of prostatitis may differ from each other. Self-medication is strictly prohibited, 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, 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;
- constant pain in the scrotum and perineum, especially during urination and erection;
- during an erection, the genital organ cannot reach the size it had previously reached;
- intercourse becomes shorter.
Symptoms can occur together or separately. If we talk about pain, then its intensity largely depends on the form and degree of the disease. Unfortunately, many patients in the initial stages do not pay attention to such manifestations, which is why the disease progresses and can develop into chronic prostatitis, which is dangerous for the appearance of infertility.
If a person begins 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 a reason to visit a 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 in a timely manner.
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;
- a feeling of chills, which is accompanied by muscle tremors;
- pain in the prostate;
- pollakiuria and stranguria;
- spreading pain in the lumbar region and the entire perineum;
- problems urinating.
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 prostate secretion;
- cloudy whitish urine with a pH above 7. 0.
In the analysis of urine with prostatitis there will be characteristic changes.
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 should also be known to every man.
Symptoms of chronic bacterial prostatitis
Chronic prostatitis occurs as a result of neglecting 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, he was supposedly treated and recovered, but after some time the symptoms of the disease (albeit in a muted version) resumed. In this case, it is worth thinking about the chronic course of the disease.
The lack of pronounced symptoms is dangerous from the late accidental detection of chronic prostatitis in an already advanced form.
Chronic prostatitis does not have clear manifestations, which often leads to serious complications.
In such a situation, however, there is something to pay attention to:
- burning and cutting (sometimes bordering on unbearable pain) during going to the toilet and sexual arousal;
- constant desire to urinate, at least once an hour, at the end of the process there is no feeling of complete emptying;
- there is a burning sensation in the urinary tract during and after going to the toilet;
- the jet has a lower pressure than before - there may even be a break in the flow;
- at night you constantly want to go to the toilet;
- after the end of the sexual act, an unpleasant burning sensation remains in the genitals;
- ejaculation occurs quickly enough;
- insomnia and causeless anxiety may 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 power, which only leads to a complication of the situation.
The insidiousness of chronic bacterial prostatitis is that it requires constant monitoring, otherwise it can lead to infertility, the diagnosis of which can only be made after a comprehensive diagnosis of the patient.
A complete examination to detect prostatitis necessarily includes an ultrasound examination.
Symptoms of the disease can manifest in different ways, and this applies not only to chronic, but also to acute bacterial prostatitis.
It all depends on the number of bacteria in the body and in the individual body of each patient. As soon as the pathogenic organisms begin to activate and multiply, the man will begin an exacerbation. If the patient, in addition to this, leads an unhealthy lifestyle (smokes, moves little, consumes alcohol and harmful products), then you should not be surprised that the disease will progress all the time.
Nonbacterial prostatitis and forms of its manifestation
Abacterial prostatitis is also quite common. It would be helpful to know what the symptoms might be in this case. A feature of the pathology is the regular occurrence of pain, not only during intercourse or going to the toilet.
Abacterial prostatitis is characterized by frequent nocturnal urges to go to the toilet and a predominance of urine excreted at night over the daily 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 urination process;
- 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 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 person 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 can be similar to a number of other diseases, and asymptomatic prostate disease may not have any pronounced manifestations. That is why it is so important to go to a qualified doctor who will prescribe a number of diagnostic measures and tests - urine, blood, semen tests, ultrasound, if necessary, biopsy, etc. Only after that the doctor makes the correct diagnosis and prescribes adequate treatment.
A biopsy is most often performed to rule out a malignant process.
Knowing the symptoms of prostatitis is important for every representative of the strong half of humanity to guess what disease is bothering him, because the functionality of the entire genitourinary system depends on it. And the sooner a person asks for help, the sooner relief will come to him.