What is prostatitis?

Prostatitis is one of the most common prostate diseases, but you rarely hear about it, unless you are, of course, a doctor. It has been estimated that up to a quarter of men who seek medical attention with problems of the genital or urinary system are sick with prostatitis .This ailment is not just common - about 50% of men have had prostatitis at least once in their life. However, despite this prevalence, the disease can be difficult to identify and it may not respond well to treatment.

Prostatitis is a general term for inflammation of the prostate. Inflammation may be caused by infection or other factors that irritate the prostate. Although much remains to be learned about this disease, doctors are convinced that an accurate diagnosis is the decisive moment of recovery, since prostatitis has three varieties.

This is the rarest and most severe form of the disease. The cause of it is infection of the prostate gland, and it manifests itself often unexpectedly, very harsh, severe symptoms, such as:

Increase in temperature.

Chills.

General malaise( as with cold disease).

Pain in the lower back and in the genital area.

Delayed urination or weakening of urine stream.

Sensation of incomplete emptying of the bladder during urination.

Frequent and sometimes intolerable urge to urinate.

An admixture of blood in the urine.

Painful ejaculation.

With this form of prostatitis, the focus of infection is usually located in the urinary tract or in the large intestine. Acute bacterial prostatitis can lead to serious problems: the inability to urinate and infection in the blood( bacteremia), so it is very important to immediately consult a doctor. If the disease is severe, you may have to lie down for a few days in the hospital until relief comes.

This condition is also caused by a bacterial infection. However, unlike acute prostatitis, signs and symptoms usually develop more slowly and often not so pronounced. They can be:

Frequent urination.

Frequent, unexpected and sometimes intolerable urge to urinate.

Pain or burning sensation during urination. Frequent nocturnal urination( nocturia).

Pain in the lower back and in the genital area.

Difficulties with the onset and continuation of urination.

Weakening of the urine stream.

The appearance of blood in the semen( hematospermia).

Painful ejaculation.

A slight increase in temperature.

Recurring bladder infections.

It is not known exactly what causes chronic prostatitis. As with an acute infection, it can be microorganisms located in the urinary tract. Among other reasons - infection of the bladder or blood. Infection can occur after trauma to the urinary tract or can be entered into the urethra by a medical instrument, usually a catheter for catheterization. Therefore, doctors often prescribe a course of antibiotic to the patient after catheterization.

Sometimes stones formed in the prostate gland cause bacteria to multiply. In rare cases, the cause of infection is structural defects in the prostate, which also give bacteria a place to grow.

This form of prostatitis is usually chronic and long-lasting. Get rid of the infection in this case is quite difficult: antibiotics taken to kill bacteria, long and difficult to penetrate into the tissue of the prostate. And the small ferruginous "bubbles" represent a lot of nooks for the reproduction of bacteria.

This is the most common form of prostatitis. Unfortunately, it is at the same time worse than others, which can be diagnosed and treated. The main task here is not to cure the disease, but to alleviate its symptoms.

Signs and symptoms of chronic non-infectious prostatitis are very similar to manifestations of chronic infectious prostatitis. But there is one feature: in the event of non-infectious prostatitis in the analysis of urine and fluid sample of the prostate( prostate juice) are not detected bacteria. However, the presence of leukocytes in the urine irrefutably indicates the presence of the inflammatory process that is currently taking place.

The main reason for the difficulties in diagnosing and treating non-infectious prostatitis is that the causes causing the development of this disease are not completely clear. There are many theories explaining the causes of inflammation. However, none of them can be considered reliable, and many are very difficult to understand. Here are some of the most possible reasons.

Excessive sexual activity. In sexually active young people with urethral inflammation( urethritis) or sexually transmitted diseases, such as gonorrhea or chlamydia, chronic non-infectious prostatitis develops most often. In other men, a contributing factor may be a decrease in sexual activity - a decrease in the frequency of sexual contacts. At the same time, stagnant phenomena develop in the prostate gland that promote inflammation in the absence of an infectious agent.

Other infectious agents. Inflammation can be caused by some other infectious agents, which existing analyzes today can not identify. Despite the fact that the world around us seems to have long been studied and understood, nature has repeatedly puzzled the doctors: often remembered now the clamidiosis is open and determined in clinical practice not so long ago.

Anxiety and stress. Such conditions can cause contractions of the urethral sphincter muscle, which regulates the flow of urine from the bladder, and perineal muscles involved in the processes of urination and defecation( pelvic floor muscles).This can prevent proper relaxation of these muscles, which will irritate the prostate gland and cause fluid movement along the urethra back to the prostate. Once in the prostate, they will lead to irritation of her internal tissues.

Lifting weights. Lifting heavy objects with a full bladder can also cause urine to rise over the urethra and enter the prostate gland.

Certain professions. Men who, according to their activity, subject their prostate to constant vibrations, for example, truck drivers, more often than others suffer from chronic non-bacterial prostatitis.

Active rest. Frequent cycling or jogging can irritate the prostate gland.

Diagnosis of prostatitis involves two critical stages: the exclusion of other diseases that can cause the same symptoms, and determining which particular form of prostatitis you are sick.

For this, the doctor will ask questions about your symptoms:

What are these symptoms?

Symptoms appear, and then spontaneously disappear or are present constantly?

When did they first appear?

How has your daily life changed with their appearance?

The doctor may also ask what kind of medical procedures you have been under recently, what infections you used to be sick, your sexual habits, your profession, and whether your close relatives suffered from prostate diseases.

Then the doctor usually examines you. He can probe your stomach and pelvic area to detect tissue seals, if any, to perform a palpation rectal examination( PRI) of your prostate. Inflamed gland usually is enlarged and firm to the touch.

During the rectal examination, the doctor can take the liquid from your prostate( prostatic juice) for analysis. To do this, he massages the gland with a finger in the glove, so that the liquid enters the urethra from the prostate. From there, it exits through the penis. The liquid is collected and examined under a microscope for infection or inflammation. This procedure is often called a prostate massage.

You may have a urine test to check if there are bacteria or white blood cells in it. The presence of leukocytes signals the presence of inflammation, the bacteria indicate an infection. If you have both in your urine, you most likely have an infectious prostatitis. If the analysis found only white blood cells, you probably have a chronic, non-infectious form. If there are neither bacteria nor white blood cells in the urine, you may be ill with something else, for example, prostadinia.

And if it's not prostatitis?

Sometimes men come to the doctor with suspicions of prostatitis, but they are not sick with prostatitis, but with prostatodynia. They usually say that they have a "down there", referring to the genital area. These symptoms completely coincide with the manifestations of chronic prostatitis. As with chronic prostatitis, urine and glandular fluid tests show no signs of infection or manifest inflammation.

Prostadinia is more likely associated with pelvic floor muscle problems and stagnant blood in the pelvis than the prostate gland. Being in a state of stress, you can not completely relax the muscles that support the bladder and urethra, which causes difficulty in urinating. This theory explains why most men with prostatodynia are anxious, clamped, and subject to stress. Prostadiniya also often meets and marathon runners, bicyclists, athletes, athletes, weightlifters and truck drivers.

Treatment of prostatodynia largely coincides with the treatment of non-infectious chronic prostatitis. The first step is gymnastics to relax the lower pelvic muscles. The doctor can also advise you to attend trainings where you will learn to cope with stress.

It may be useful to use alpha blockers to relax the muscles of the prostate and the neck of the bladder. Some people have to take the medication all the time, because once they stop taking the medication, the symptoms return. You can try and sedentary baths, perhaps they will ease the manifestations of the disease.