In the modern world, prostatitis occurs in almost 50% of the male population. The disease not only brings pain and discomfort, but also can lead to very unpleasant consequences, up to infertility. Therefore, every man should know how prostatitis manifests itself. Men's health and ability to keep a child depends on it.
Knowing the symptoms 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 causes the disease of the prostate gland, how often the process occurs and what the nature of the lesion is.
The following classification criteria are distinguished:
- The appearance factor is congestive and contagious. In the first case, the problem develops not due to infection, but due to stagnation of venous blood or secretions in the pelvic organs. The second involves the entry of pathogenic microorganisms into the prostate gland. There is also prostatitis of mixed origin.
- Area of damage. With prostatitis, the gland can be 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 present as an abscess. This category also includes atypical chronic prostatitis with symptoms that do not correspond to the classic picture of the disease.
Symptoms of the disease also depend on the cause. The infectious form occurs due to the entry of pathogenic microorganisms into the prostate through the genital tract or develops against the background of chronic infection.
Non-infectious prostatitis can occur as a result of weakening of the immune system, hypothermia, sedentary life, abstinence from sexual intercourse or, conversely, excessive sexual activity. Each condition requires a different treatment.
Absence of sexual intercourse for a long time leads to stagnation of prostate secretion and the development of congestive prostatitis.
Signs and symptoms of prostatitis may vary depending on the type of diagnosis. Self-medication is strictly prohibited, because an ignorant person can confuse the manifestation of one disease with another, for example, spermatitis, vesiculitis, urethritis or inflammation of the prostate with benign hyperplasia. Incorrect treatment can lead to extremely sad consequences.
General symptoms
How does prostatitis manifest itself? If you do not consider a certain type, the disease can manifest itself with the following characteristic symptoms:
- severe pain, which is first localized in the genitourinary system, 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 erection, the sexual organ cannot reach its previous size;
- sexual intercourse is shortened.
Symptoms can appear all together or separately. If we talk about pain, its intensity mainly depends on the form and degree of the disease. Unfortunately, at the initial stage, many patients do not pay attention to such manifestations, so the disease progresses and can turn into chronic prostatitis, which is dangerous for the appearance of infertility.
If a man begins to observe such symptoms, the risk of prostatitis is high and he should immediately seek professional help.
Even small manifestations of prostatitis should be a reason to visit 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 urgent help.
Often, acute bacterial prostatitis is a secondary manifestation that accompanies any disease of the pelvic organs and has similar symptoms.
Acute bacterial prostatitis can manifest itself with the following symptoms:
- increase in body temperature;
- a feeling of trembling accompanied by tremors in the muscles;
- pain in the prostate region;
- pollakiuria and stranguria;
- the spread of pain to the lumbar region and the entire perineum;
- urinary problems.
If the patient passes the tests, the disease can be suspected in the following cases:
- increase in the number of leukocytes in the blood;
- there are bacterial cells in the secretion of the prostate;
- Cloudy whitish urine with a pH above 7. 0.
There will be characteristic changes in the urine analysis with prostatitis.
These are the main symptoms of acute bacterial prostatitis. If you do not pay attention to them and do not start treatment, the acute form will soon turn into a chronic form, the symptoms of which should 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 can be a discovery that he once had acute prostatitis, was allegedly treated and recovered, but after a while the symptoms of the disease (albeit in a muted version) began again. In this case, it is worth thinking about the chronic course of the disease.
The lack of clear symptoms is dangerous with late accidental detection of chronic prostatitis in an already developed form.
There are no clear manifestations of chronic prostatitis, which often leads to serious complications.
However, there is something to be aware of in such a situation:
- burning and cutting during a trip to the toilet and sexual arousal (sometimes bordering on unbearable pain);
- constant urge to urinate, at least once an hour, at the end of the process, the feeling of complete emptying does not occur;
- there is a burning sensation in the urethra during and after going to the toilet;
- the jet has a weaker pressure than before - there may even be a break in the flow;
- you constantly want to go to the toilet at night;
- after sexual intercourse, an unpleasant burning sensation remains in the genitals;
- discharge 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 treat themselves, which will be aimed at restoring sexual power, which only causes the situation to worsen.
The insidiousness of chronic bacterial prostatitis is that it requires constant monitoring, otherwise infertility may occur, its diagnosis can be made only after the patient undergoes a comprehensive diagnosis.
A complete examination for the detection of 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 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 intensify. If, in addition, the patient has an unhealthy lifestyle (smoking, exercising less, taking alcohol and harmful products), then it should not be surprising that the disease will always progress.
Non-bacterial prostatitis and its manifestations
Bacterial prostatitis is also quite common. It would be useful to know what symptoms can be present in this situation. A feature of the pathology is the regular occurrence of pain, not only during sexual intercourse or going to the toilet.
Abacterial prostatitis is often characterized by a desire to go to the toilet at night and a preference for the urine output 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 in starting the urination process;
- pain from the inguinal and perineal region gradually moves to the lumbar region;
- pain in groin, coccyx and pubis;
- discomfort after defecation.
During the illness, psychological discomfort is added to the physical suffering.
Symptoms of the disease may be accompanied by psychological disorders. The patient becomes irritable because he is constantly suffering from pain and discomfort.
If measures are not taken in time, 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 is similar to a number of other diseases in its clinical appearance, and asymptomatic prostate disease may generally not have any obvious manifestations. Therefore, it is very important to consult a qualified doctor who will prescribe a number of diagnostic measures and examinations - urine, blood, seminal fluid tests, ultrasound, if necessary, biopsy, etc. Only then the doctor makes the correct diagnosis. and prescribes adequate treatment.
A biopsy is often performed to rule out a malignant process.
Knowing the symptoms of prostatitis is important for each representative of the strong half of humanity to tell what disease is bothering him, because the functionality of the entire genitourinary system depends on it. The sooner a man seeks help, the sooner relief will come to him.