Symptoms of prostatitis in men are not characteristic and specific, as it may seem at first glance. That is why in modern urology and andrology, infertility is increasingly diagnosed among men of the most active reproductive layer - from 25 to 40 years old. The prostate gland in men is an organ that performs several functions: barrier, regulation of blood clotting, endocrine, reproductive, copulator (sexual), role of the bladder sphincter. The signs of prostatitis in men and its symptoms are manifold, especially in the chronic form: they cover all organ functions 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, needs to know the signs of inflammation of the lower genital tract and the possible clinic of an incipient prostatic disease. Many young people put off a visit to a urologist with the thought that this disease belongs to a more advanced age group.
Important.
Inflammation of the prostate is based on a complex of factors that begin to act exactly at the age of 20-30.
- Sexual infections are the first thing that triggers an active or slow process of inflammation. Chlamydia, mycoplasma infection, gonorrhea, trichomoniasis, gardnerellosis begin urethritis, against which the development of inflammation of the gland is possible. Herpes simplex viruses, human papilloma, CMV, if they do not cause inflammation of the gland, significantly aggravate the course of sexually transmitted diseases and "prepare the way" for bacteria in the tissue of the organ. Against the background of genital infections, opportunistic flora (staphylococci, Escherichia coli) often leads to prostate disease. When diagnosed, mixed flora is often found.
- Work accompanied by prolonged sitting is one of the factors that cause the disease. Such occupational hazards or habits adversely affect prostate health.
- Arrhythmic sex life - its rarity or randomness, psychological problems causing delay or absence of ejaculation, erectile dysfunction, frequent masturbation - significantly disrupts 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 recreational activities, occupational hazards associated with hypothermia, trigger irreversible changes in the tissues of the gland.
Sexual infections, chronic hypothermia, stagnation of venous blood and prostatic secretions set the stage for the formation of chronic prostatitis. . . Symptoms of inflammation of prostatitis of various forms are combined into three syndromes: painful, sexual and dysuric (urination disorder). The predominance of one of them is the reason for a visit to a doctor: urologist, sexologist, therapist or surgeon. The vigilance 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.
- Cutting at the beginning or end of urination.
- Frequent and false desire to use the bathroom.
- Pain around the anus, especially when sitting.
- Pain during the act of defecation, a feeling of fullness in the rectum.
- Mucopurulent discharge from the urethra.
- Abdominal pain that radiates to the thigh, scrotum, back.
- Fever.
- Sexual dysfunctions.
Each patient has a different degree of symptom severity. Furthermore, only a certain symptom can predominate. But often the acute process proceeds with scant symptoms, which guarantees 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 erased.
Symptoms of prostatitis in men, initiated by gonococci, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, as well as with nosocomial infection (after manipulations on the urinary tract) are characterized by the following:
- The patient suddenly gets a shiver, 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. Conversely, 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 does prostatitis manifest itself in men, initiated by the hematogenous or lymphogenic entry of flora into the prostate tissue? This type of disease accompanying general somatic infectious diseases (sinusitis, sore throat, pneumonia, abscesses, pustular skin diseases) may not be noticed by the patient. Against the background of the underlying disease, the temperature rises again and the symptoms of intoxication rise, mild dysuric phenomena and abdominal pain may develop.
Symptoms of chronic prostatitis in men
Chronic bacterial or viral prostatitis, congestive or infectious, the symptoms of which vary, are united by the fact that inflammatory processes, albeit caused by various triggering factors, lead to three fundamental manifestations:
- Pain syndrome.
- Disorder of urination.
- Sexual dysfunction.
Pain symptoms with prostatitis are also divided into three types:
- Extragenital - pain in the rectum, lower back, abdomen is characteristic.
- Pelvic - pain symptoms do not appear as such, but there is pronounced itching of 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, low back pain in the testicles, groin and perineum.
- Mixed.
Pain symptoms in prostatitis form a concept such 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 decreased libido. Against this background, a neurosis-like syndrome is formed, which proceeds according to the sympathetic or parasympathetic type. The first is characterized by heartbeat attacks, fever, evening subfebrile condition, mood swings, inattention. For the second: sleepiness during the day, fatigue, sleeplessness at night, hypochondria, sweating, weight gain, lump in the throat, excessive salivation.
Among the dysuric phenomena there is an increase in urination, difficulty in emptying the bladder, dripping 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 the age of 45 often occurs simultaneously with prostatic hyperplasia.
In the chronic form, spermatorhea and prostatorrhea are observed - the secretion of prostatic secretion from the urethra in combination with seminal fluid due to organ atony.
Asymptomatic prostatitis
Inflammation of the prostate is not always symptomatic. Often, a man becomes aware of a disease, for example, when he performs ultrasound diagnostics while planning a baby. They find calcifications in the tissues of the prostate, obliterated ducts, enlargement or reduction of the gland, sclerosis, impaired blood flow according to Doppler ultrasound, varicose veins of the prostate plexus and small pelvis.
Symptomatic prostatitis develops in young men after undergoing genital infections, in particular, urogenital chlamydia and mycoplasmosis.Especially often asymptomatic prostatitis is registered after inadequate and incomplete treatment of these diseases. Often, when examining sperm, a decrease in the number of germ cells, a decrease in actively motile cells, agglutination and a decrease in lecithin grains are found. Periodic sexual failures are possible, to which the man does not attach 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 rise in temperature, general malaise, fatigue, weakness, chills come to the fore. Pain in the anus, a feeling of fullness in the rectum, low back pain in the groin, perineum are growing. Sexual dysfunction and nervousness are also aggravated. When going to the toilet, patients notice difficulty and increased urination, weakening of the flow, pain.
Features of the course of some types of prostatitis
How does prostatitis manifest itself in men in its various varieties? Conventionally, several types of disease are distinguished, depending on the prevailing 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 the sexually transmitted and opportunistic pathogenic flora. Conditionally pathogenic microorganisms that normally inhabit the male genitourinary tract cause diseases only with unfavorable factors. Most often, during the seeding of sperm and urine, Escherichia coli, staphylococcus, enterococcus are found. This is bacterial prostatitis.
Infectious prostatitis is overwhelmingly registered among young people.This type of inflammation of the prostate gland most often causes chronicity and leads to infertility.
The clinical picture is characterized by maximum brightness with gonorrhea, and with chlamydia, mycoplasmosis and opportunistic pathogens, the symptoms are scarce, so it often leads to chronic prostatitis.
Purulent prostatitis
The pyogenic flora is represented by gonococci, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, strain of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus. These microorganisms secrete a number of destructive enzymes, are characterized by aggression towards the tissues of the prostate and thus initiate purulent fusion.Often purulent prostatitis ends with an abscess, phlegmon, paraprostatitis, paraproctitis.
The purulent process is often initiated 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, so it leads precisely to purulent prostatitis.
Purulent prostatitis, the symptoms of which are the most striking, often causes complications: urinary and vesico-intestinal fistulas. And these bacteria also easily penetrate the ascending path to the kidneys, pelvis and calyxes, 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 attacked and this type acquires an infectious form of the course. Most often, urologists make such a diagnosis if no bacteria have been isolated in the biomaterial inoculation. As a rule, an analysis carried out after 2-3 weeks will already give a positive result for the bacterial flora.
Stagnation of venous blood is often observed with varicose veins, rectal pathology, pelvic tumors, hypodynamia. Violation of the outflow of prostatic 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 each other.Symptoms will be complemented by varicose veins and rectal lesions.
Obviously, in the chronic form of prostatitis the manifestations can be non-specific in nature, which requires a complete and thorough diagnosis.
Important.
Any signs 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.