What is chronic prostatitis? First of all, you need to understand what the prostate is, it is also the prostate. It is an organ that only males have in their body, it develops during fetal development and persists throughout life. The prostate is a gland with external secretion, that is, develops its secret and reveals it.
Due to its location, it is not visible from the outside, because. located in the pelvis in humans. It is a formation of a rounded shape, located under the bladder and at the same time close to the muscles of the pelvic floor, rectum, ureters, urethra and vascular and nervous plexuses of the small pelvis. Since this organ is an exocrine gland, it is necessary to understand what functions it performs. First, it produces a secret, which is one of the important components of sperm in men. This secret contains a lot of proteins, amino acids, etc.
Unfortunately, little attention is paid to the prostate by men themselves and doctors.
So what is prostatitis chronic prostatitis in particular
It is an inflammatory disease of the prostate. This inflammation can be acute or chronic.
No chronic disease begins spontaneously, it is always preceded by some degree of acute inflammation.
In some cases, a man may not notice the onset of the disease, but it will exist for a long time and remain uncured, and then lead to serious morphological and functional disorders.
Chronic prostatitis usually develops at least three months after an acute inflammation of the prostate.
As a result of this inflammation, the morphology of the cell composition is disturbed and the functions of the prostate also suffer.Epidemiology
This disease is one of the most common inflammatory diseases in men. The disease is quite young, that is, men of different age categories are prone to it. If prostate adenoma occurs more often in old age, then chronic prostatitis can appear in men and at the age of 20. The average age at which the symptoms of this disease are detected is 40-50 years.
In old age, almost all men suffered from this disease, but many of them could not even treat it and did not go to the doctor to complain about the appearance of certain symptoms.
At the same time, in chronic prostatitis, symptoms may not reveal themselves immediately, and a man may turn to other more serious problems in his opinion. And only before the treatment of another disease, the original cause is revealed. If in case of acute inflammation the wrong treatment was carried out, then chronic prostatitis is inevitable.
Causes of chronic prostatitis
First of all, when identifying the cause of the development of inflammation of the prostate, it is necessary to determine the predisposing factors. There are many of them and they are very common in the modern world.
They are mainly infectious agents. Most often the cause is microbial etiology. The microbial infection can be non-specific or carry a specific pathogen. Specific agents include sexually transmitted infections. And since in men many of these infections can be completely asymptomatic, then they can persist in the body for a long time. Even the most seemingly unexpressed chronic infection can lead to prostatitis.
The appearance of nonspecific pathogens in the causative factors may be due to non-compliance with the rules of personal hygiene, rare washing of the glans penis both after urination and shortly after intercourse.
In some cases, vaginal dysbiosis in a partner, or some of the female opportunistic pathogens, play a huge role in the development of prostate inflammation in men.
Some of the most common causative agents of inflammation include: chlamydia, trichomonas, gonococci, gardnerella, E. coli, staphylococcus and enterococcus.
Do not forget about the probability of participation of viruses and fungi
In this case, the pathogen enters the body upwards, that is, through the urethra.
In addition, there is another important way of penetration of an infectious agent - hematogenous. Many men have some kind of inflammatory disease, sometimes the flu or SARS can also cause an inflammatory process.
Hypothermia, reduced immunity and even overheating against the background of an infection that is already present in the body can also provoke the development of inflammation.
Sexual behavior also plays an important role in the development of the inflammatory reaction. In this case, prolonged sexual abstinence has a negative effect on the state of the gland, it contributes to blood stagnation in the pelvic organs, the blood supply is disturbed, and the blood perfusion of the organ also slows down.
Interrupted sexual intercourse, incomplete expulsion of sperm leads to stagnation of secretions in the organ, as well as an overcrowded and enlarged organ affects blood supply processes and can even cause slight swelling of surrounding tissues. In rare cases, the disease is immunological in nature. The autoimmune factor is also not excluded. A chronic somatic infection must also be excluded.
Symptoms and treatment of chronic prostatitis
Symptoms of chronic prostatitis in many men may not be present at all. Some cannot even name exactly one or another predisposing factor. However, there are many symptoms of this disease. The most popular of them is pain. The pain syndrome can be quite long, sometimes months.
The pain is often not localized to a specific location. It usually has a diffuse character, with a tendency to radiate to the lower back, perineum, scrotum, inguinal regions. But they are by no means up to par. Most often, they tug and hurt, the pain is not permanent. They tend to increase or decrease depending on the state of the organism and the influence of environmental factors.
Another important sign is violations in the sexual sphere. Men can often complain of erectile dysfunction, at first it can be almost imperceptible, and in later stages it occurs much later, even when exposed to all the predisposing factors.
But never with chronic prostatitis there is total impotence. Ejaculation too. At first it can happen much faster than expected, and at a later stage, on the contrary, it slows down, almost to a complete stop. The orgasm becomes less vivid and emotionally expressed. Sometimes problems related to the sexual sphere can affect the partner. A very common cause after which men are diagnosed with chronic prostatitis is infertility.
Also quite often men can have problems with urination. It becomes rapid, sometimes evoking signs of cystitis. The urge to urinate can bother a man at night. Sometimes they are accompanied by pain, cramps, etc. A man can detect the symptoms of chronic prostatitis on his own.
How to diagnose chronic prostatitis in time and start immediate and effective treatment?
Usually this does not cause difficulties in specialists of this profile. When a man comes into contact with symptoms, the doctor can make this diagnosis without further examination.
Usually, the minimum examination is limited to history, laboratory tests and digital rectal examination. The digital rectal examination does not require any additional preparation for a man. The doctor can determine the size of the prostate, its consistency, pain in a particular area.
Laboratory indicators are not limited to a general blood test. Urinalysis is also necessary, in this case it has certain features. A man must pass the last portion of urine, the so-called terminal, in which the laboratory assistant must determine the number of leukocytes and the presence of bacterial cells. In some cases, the pathogen is not found and you need to be tested for sexually transmitted infections.
They also take a smear from the urethra. Another very important in the diagnostic plan is ultrasound. It is carried out through the rectum using a special sensor. The size of the gland, the presence of scars, tumors, edema, etc. are determined. It is also important to check the blood supply to the organ.
In some more serious and asymptomatic cases, an invasive biopsy procedure may be necessary.
In order to exclude cancer, a man can be sent for the determination of a tumor marker for prostate cancer in the blood. It's called PSA. But you need to take it no earlier than 10 days after digital rectal examination.
Treatment of chronic prostatitis
The earlier treatment for chronic prostatitis is started, the more likely it is to bring the disease out of its chronic form. You should never resort to self-treatment, because prostatitis must be treated by a qualified specialist.
The treatment of this pathology is carried out by a urologist. Usually, treatment does not require hospitalization. Treatment of all existing chronic diseases is necessary.
First, you should start with a lifestyle change. It is necessary to exclude casual sexual relations, diseases of the partner.
You must observe the rules of personal hygiene. Rinse the glans of the penis thoroughly to avoid the accumulation of bacteria under the foreskin. Sex life should be regular, with full ejaculation. Coitus interruptus should be avoided.
In addition, physical activity should be increased. Move more often to avoid blood stagnation in the pelvis and prostate.
Nutrition should also be adjusted. Try to avoid the use of fast food, spicy, smoked and salty. Sweets should also be limited. Alcohol and drugs should be completely avoided. Men should also quit smoking.
The treatment of prostatitis is also divided into medical and surgical. First of all, with chronic prostatitis, of course, they begin to treat the cause. And since it is most often infectious, antibiotics are the main medication. Its choice mainly depends on the pathogen that was detected during the diagnosis. It is better that they immediately take the determination of the susceptibility of the microorganism to antibacterial agents.
The treatment will then be more effective and shorter. Antibiotics can be prescribed with different routes of administration. With an asymptomatic course of the process, tablet forms are usually prescribed. If there is an exacerbation of the chronic process, then they resort to injection drugs. Treatment of chronic prostatitis can include several means at once.
Anti-inflammatory drugs are an important part of the complex treatment. It is generally a class of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Vasodilators are usually also very necessary, they are used to improve blood supply to the pelvic organs, restore microcirculation. They avoid traffic jams.
Another class of agents used are immunomodulators. Vitamin therapy should also be included in the complex treatment.
Surgical methods are rarely used, but sometimes this is the only way out. Among these methods, prostate resection is used. In some cases, it is necessary to treat the complications that have arisen surgically. This can be the excision of a cyst or the opening of an abscess.
The treatment of chronic prostatitis also includes various physiotherapy. In order for a disease such as chronic prostatitis to have a favorable prognosis, the identified disease must be treated immediately. The effectiveness of the treatment should be checked by a specialist after some time.