The symptoms of prostatitis in men are not characteristic or specific, as it might seem at first glance. That is why in modern urology and andrology, infertility is increasingly diagnosed among men of the most active reproductive layer, aged 25 to 40 years. The prostate gland in men is an organ that performs several functions: barrier, regulator of blood coagulation, endocrine, reproductive, copulatory (sexual), function of the bladder sphincter. The signs of prostatitis in men and its symptoms are multifaceted, especially in the chronic form: they cover all the functions of the organ and often make diagnosis difficult.
Symptoms of acute prostatitis in men.
What symptoms of prostatitis in men should make you pay attention to them and go to the doctor? Every man, especially at a young and sexually active age, should be aware of the signs of inflammation of the lower genital tract and the possible symptoms of incipient prostate disease. Many young people postpone the visit to the urologist with the idea that this disease belongs to an older group.
Important.
Inflammation of the prostate is based on a complex of factors that begin to act exactly at the age of 20-30 years.
- Sexual infections are the first thing that triggers an active or slow inflammation process. Chlamydia, mycoplasma infection, gonorrhea, trichomoniasis, gardnerellosis initiate urethritis, against which the development of inflammation of the gland is possible. Herpes simplex viruses, human papilloma, CMV, if they did not cause inflammation of the gland, significantly aggravate the course of STIs and "pave the way" for bacteria in the organ tissue. Against the background of genital infections, opportunistic flora (staphylococci, Escherichia coli) often leads to prostate disease. When diagnosed, a mixed flora is often found.
- Work accompanied by a prolonged session is one of the factors that cause the disease. These occupational hazards or habits negatively affect the health of the prostate.
- Arrhythmic sex life, its rarity or randomness, psychological problems that cause delay or absence of ejaculation, erectile dysfunction, frequent masturbation, significantly disrupt the balance of arterial and venous blood flow in the gland.
- The impact of cold on the lumbar region, abdomen and extremities: winter sports and recreation, occupational hazards associated with hypothermia, trigger irreversible changes in the tissues of the gland.
Sexual infections, chronic hypothermia, stagnation of venous blood, and prostate secretions lay the foundation for the formation of chronic prostatitis.. . . The symptoms of inflammation of prostatitis in various forms are combined into three syndromes: painful, sexual, and dysuric (urination disorder). The predominance of one of them is reason to visit the doctor - urologist, sexologist, therapist or surgeon. The alertness and qualification of the doctor will determine the speed of the healing process.
Acute prostatitis, the symptoms of which are observed after or simultaneously with an active genital infection, are characterized by the following:
- Discomfort and pain when urinating.
- Cut at the beginning or end of urination.
- Frequent and false need to use the bathroom.
- Pain around the anus, especially when sitting.
- Pain during the act of defecation, feeling of fullness in the rectum.
- Mucopurulent discharge from the urethra.
- Abdominal pain radiating to the thigh, scrotum, back.
- Fever.
- Sexual dysfunctions.
Each patient has a different degree of severity of symptoms. In addition, only a certain symptom can predominate. But often the acute process progresses with few symptoms, which ensures frequent chronicity and an increase in the number of identified cases of chronic prostatitis.
The first signs of prostatitis.
Symptoms of the onset of prostatitis occur in young men in the guise of acute respiratory infections or in the form of a classic genital infection. Depending on the type of pathogen, the signs of an acute process can be bright or blurred.
Symptoms of prostatitis in men, initiated by gonococci, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, as well as with nosocomial infection (after manipulations in the urinary tract) are characterized by the following:
- The patient suddenly suffers a chill, which lasts from half an hour to two hours and ends with sweating.
- The temperature rises to 38-40 ° C.
- Characterized by weakness, severe weakness.
The first symptoms of prostatitis in men may not be accompanied by the characteristic pain in the pelvic area, rectum and groin.. . . Also, sexual weakness is not characteristic. On the contrary, the first catarrhal stage of the disease is manifested by excessive excitability and premature ejaculation.
Important.
Urogenital chlamydia, which often causes chronic prostatitis, initially has only mild dysuric symptoms.
How is prostatitis manifested in men, initiated by the hematogenous or lymphatic entry of flora into the prostate tissue? This type of disease that accompanies general somatic infectious diseases (sinusitis, sore throat, pneumonia, abscesses, pustular skin diseases) can go unnoticed by the patient. Against the background of the underlying disease, the temperature rises again and the symptoms of intoxication increase, mild dysuric phenomena and abdominal pain may develop.
Symptoms of chronic prostatitis in men.
Bacterial or viral, congestive or infectious chronic prostatitis, the symptoms of which vary, are united by the fact that inflammatory processes, although caused by different triggers, lead to three basic manifestations:
- Pain syndrome
- Urination disorder.
- Sexual dysfunction
Pain symptoms with prostatitis are also divided into three types:
- Extragenital: pain in the rectum, lower back and abdomen is characteristic.
- Pelvic - pain symptoms do not appear as such, but there is a pronounced itching in the anus, tingling, paresthesia, neurosis, excessive sweating, this is due to the involvement of the pelvic nerve plexuses in the process.
- Genital: pain in the scrotum, lumbago in the testicles, groin and perineum.
- Mixed.
Pain symptoms in prostatitis form a concept as "chronic pelvic pain syndrome in men. "
Symptoms of inflammation of the chronic form of the prostate gland are accompanied by a violation and suppression of erection, ejaculation and a decrease in libido. In this context, a neurosis-like syndrome is formed, proceeding according to the sympathetic or parasympathetic type. The first is characterized by attacks of heartbeat, fever, subfebrile evening, sudden mood swings, inattention. For the second: drowsiness during the day, fatigue, insomnia at night, hypochondria, sweating, weight gain, a lump in the throat, excessive salivation.
Among the dysuric phenomena, there is increased urination, difficulty in emptying the bladder, dribbling and lethargy of the stream. Such signs have a pronounced similarity to an adenoma, which sometimes complicates the diagnosis.
Important.
Chronic prostatitis in men after age 45 often occurs simultaneously with prostatic hyperplasia.
In the chronic form, spermatorrhea and prostatorrhea are observed - the discharge of the prostate from the urethra in combination with seminal fluid due to atony of the organ.
Asymptomatic prostatitis
Inflammation of the prostate is not always symptomatic. Often a man learns of a disease, for example, when he performs ultrasound diagnostics when planning a child. They find calcifications in the tissues of the prostate, obliterated ducts, enlargement or reduction of the gland, sclerosis, alteration of blood flow according to Doppler ultrasound, varicose veins of the prostate plexus and small pelvis.
Symptomatic prostatitis develops in young men after suffering from genital infections, particularly urogenital chlamydia and mycoplasmosis.Especially often, asymptomatic prostatitis is registered after improper and incomplete treatment of these diseases. Often when examining sperm, a decrease in the number of germ cells, a decrease in actively mobile cells, agglutination, and a decrease in lecithin grains are found. Periodic sexual failures are possible, to which the man does not give importance.
Symptoms of an exacerbation of prostatitis.
Exacerbation of chronic prostatitis develops when exposed to adverse provoking factors: general somatic diseases, hypothermia, irregular sexual activity, alcohol abuse, exacerbation of infectious diseases of the genitourinary organs, rectum.
Symptoms of exacerbation of prostatitis in men are similar to the onset of the disease. The increase in temperature, general malaise, fatigue, weakness, chills come to the fore. Pain in the anus increases, feeling of fullness in the rectum, lumbago in the groin, perineum. Sexual dysfunction and nervousness are also aggravated. When going to the bathroom, patients note difficulty and increased urination, weakening of the stream, pain.
Features of the course of some types of prostatitis
How is prostatitis manifested in men in its various varieties? Conventionally, several types of the disease are distinguished, depending on the predominant process: infectious, bacterial, stagnant, purulent.
Infectious and bacterial prostatitis
The concept includes several nosological forms of the disease, or rather it differs according to the types of pathogenic pathogens. Infectious prostatitis, the symptoms of which can only be caused by pathogenic bacteria and viruses, can be initiated by opportunistic and sexually transmitted pathogenic flora. Conditionally pathogenic microorganisms that normally inhabit the male genitourinary tract cause disease only with unfavorable factors. Very often, when semen and urine are sown, Escherichia coli, staphylococci, and enterococci are found. This is bacterial prostatitis.
Infectious prostatitis is overwhelmingly registered among young people.This type of inflammation of the prostate gland often causes chronicity and leads to infertility.
The clinical picture is characterized by the greatest brightness with gonorrhea, and with chlamydia, mycoplasmosis and opportunistic pathogens, the symptoms are scarce, which is why it often leads to chronic prostatitis.
Purulent prostatitis
The pyogenic flora is represented by gonococci, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, a methicillin-resistant strain of Staphylococcus. These microorganisms secrete a series of destructive enzymes, are characterized by their aggressiveness towards the tissues of the prostate and, therefore, initiate a purulent fusion.Often purulent prostatitis ends with an abscess, phlegmon, paraprostatitis, paraproctitis.
The purulent process is often started by bacteria that have entered the prostate gland in the following ways:
- From purulent foci in other organs.
- For medical interventions on the genitourinary organs. The hospital flora is characterized by multiple resistance to antibiotics, which is why it leads precisely to purulent prostatitis.
Purulent prostatitis, the symptoms of which are the most striking, often cause complications: urinary and bladder-intestinal fistulas. And also these bacteria easily penetrate the ascending path to the kidneys, pelvis and calyces, causing their chronic inflammation.
Congestive prostatitis
The isolated course of this type of disease is practically excluded, since against the background of stagnant processes, the microbial flora is attached, and this type acquires an infectious form of the course. Most often, urologists make this diagnosis if no bacteria were isolated in the inoculation of the biomaterial. As a general rule, an analysis carried out after 2-3 weeks will already give a positive result for the bacterial flora.
Venous blood stagnation is often observed with varicose veins, rectal pathology, pelvic tumors, hypodynamics. Violation of the outflow of prostate secretion, which is most often observed in sexual dysfunctions and irregular sexual activity, leads to stagnation and prerequisites for inflammation.Congestive prostatitis, the symptoms of which coincide with infectious inflammation, are inextricably linked and follow one another.The symptoms will be complemented by varicose veins and rectal lesions.
Obviously, in the chronic form of prostatitis the manifestations can be nonspecific in nature, requiring a thorough and comprehensive diagnosis.
Important.
Any sign of genital infection in a man should be a reason to contact a urologist or venereologist for treatment.
Self-medication or neglect of the situation can serve as an impetus for the formation of a chronic form.