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 reproductive ability largely depend on it.
Knowing the signs of prostatitis and periodic check-ups with 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 caused the prostate disease, how frequent the process is, and what the character of the lesion is.
The following classification criteria differ:
- The look factor is congestive and contagious. In the first case, the problem does not develop due to infection, but because venous blood or secretions have stagnated in the pelvic organs. The second involves the introduction of pathogenic microorganisms into the prostate. There is also prostatitis of mixed origin.
- Area of damage. In 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 manifest 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 a chronic infection.
Non-infectious prostatitis can be caused by a weakened immune system, hypothermia, sedentary life, abstinence from sexual relations or, conversely, excessive sexual activity. Each case requires a different treatment.
Long-term absence of sexual intercourse causes stagnation of prostate secretions and the 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, because an ignorant person can confuse the manifestation of one disease with another, for example, prostate inflammation 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 certain type, then the disease can manifest itself with the following characteristic symptoms:
- severe pain, which is first localized 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 erection, the sexual organ cannot reach the size it 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 occurrence of infertility.
If a man began to notice 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 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 be manifested by the following symptoms:
- increase in body temperature;
- a 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 prostate secretions;
- cloudy whitish urine with a pH above 7. 0.
Characteristic changes will be present in the urine analysis with prostatitis.
These are the main signs 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 one, the signs of which every man should also know.
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 could be a revelation that he once had acute prostatitis, was supposedly treated and recovered, but after some time the symptoms of the disease (albeit in a subdued version) reappeared. In this case, it is worth thinking about the chronic course of the disease.
The absence of pronounced symptoms is dangerous as a late accidental discovery 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, attention should be paid to:
- burning and cutting (sometimes bordering on unbearable pain) during going to the toilet and sexual excitement;
- 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 urethra during and after going to the toilet;
- the jet has a weaker pressure than before - the flow may even be interrupted;
- you constantly want to go to the toilet at night;
- after 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 complications of the situation.
The insidiousness of chronic bacterial prostatitis is that it requires constant monitoring, because otherwise infertility can occur, the diagnosis of which can be established only after the patient undergoes a comprehensive diagnosis.
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 comes down to the number of bacteria in the body and the individual body of each patient. As soon as the pathogenic organisms start to activate and reproduce, the person will start to deteriorate. If the patient, in addition, leads an unhealthy lifestyle (smokes, moves little, consumes alcohol and harmful products), then it should not be surprising that the disease will constantly progress.
Nonbacterial prostatitis and forms of its manifestation
Abacterial prostatitis is also quite common. It would be useful to know what the symptoms may be in this case. A characteristic of the pathology is the regular occurrence of pain, not only during sexual intercourse or going to the toilet.
Abacterial prostatitis is characterized by a frequent desire to go to the toilet at night and a predominance of excreted night urine 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 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.
Psychological discomfort joins physical suffering during the illness.
Signs of the disease may be accompanied by psychological disorders. The patient becomes irritable, because 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 cannot have any pronounced manifestations. That is why it is very important to go to a qualified doctor who will prescribe a series of diagnostic measures and examinations - urine, blood, semen tests, ultrasound, if necessary, a biopsy, etc. Only after that the doctor makes an accurate diagnosis. and prescribes adequate 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 in order to suggest what kind of 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.