The prevalence of prostatitis in men is quite high, which is associated with a sedentary lifestyle, unhealthy diet, a large number of dangers present in the life of a modern person. According to doctors, treatment of the disease should be started as soon as possible. To do this, each representative of the stronger sex should know what the first signs of prostatitis in men are. The article will discuss the symptoms that accompany the different forms of the disease, what an exacerbation looks like, an acute and chronic process and a little about the treatment.
general informations
The signs and symptoms of prostatitis, as well as its treatment, are quite diverse, which is associated with the presence of several types of the disease. First of all, prostatitis in men is:
- Spicy. Often has a purulent character. Signs of inflammation in humans, both general and specific, are maximally expressed, and the causative agent is pathogenic (pathogenic) flora. Therefore, the treatment for men in most situations is to prescribe antibiotics.
- Chronic. It can be the result of an acute process if a man's treatment was carried out incorrectly or out of time. The bright symptoms accompanying the purulent process disappear, the symptoms are much less pronounced. In remission, the characteristic signs of the process may completely disappear. With an exacerbation of chronic prostatitis, the symptoms increase, but more often with less intensity than with acute inflammation.
Chronic prostatitis in men can initially form without previous signs of acute inflammation. In this case, prostatitis often has a stagnant character, that is, resulting from a sedentary lifestyle of a man, the presence of chronic diseases that affect the rate of blood circulation in the pelvic organs.
It is very important to know and be able to understand the first signs and symptoms of prostatitis, as this will affect the treatment of the disease that will be necessary in the future. If in the case of bacterial prostatitis, which will be more indicated by general toxic symptoms, treatment must necessarily include antibiotic therapy (it does not matter whether it is tablets or injections of antibacterial drugs), then in thecase of a stagnant process, the treatment of stagnant phenomena comes first, that is, the modification of lifestyle and the treatment of comorbidities.
Enlarged photo with prostate prostatitis:
- Violation of the function of the urinary tract. In another way, this group of symptoms is called "dysuric disorders". It should also include symptoms indicating the development of an inflammatory process in the prostate.
- Sexual disorders specific to prostatitis.
- Changes in the nervous system due to the main process. characteristic of the disease.
More details about each group of prostatitis signs will be discussed below.
specific phrase
The main and often the first sign of prostate inflammation is pain. The pain can be of a different nature. The nature of the pain can vary greatly. There are shooting, aching, cutting pains of characteristic localization. If this is an acute process, they can significantly affect the life of men, lead to disruption of sleep and performance. In chronic prostatitis during the period of remission, the symptoms are mild or even completely absent.
A typical localization of pain in prostatitis is the pelvic region. A man may feel pain in the perineum, lower abdomen, lower back. Often they give to the penis, scrotum, testicles. The pain may accompany urination and defecation, and also increase during erection and ejaculation. A first characteristic sign of calculous prostatitis can be pain, the intensity and timing of which depends on movement. They appear or intensify if a man walks quickly, jumps, bends over. A similar symptom is due to mechanical irritation of the walls of the ducts with stones.
No less common signs of prostatitis are various violations of the process of urination. Dysuria is manifested by the need to urinate frequently, a feeling of incomplete emptying of the bladder, a false desire to urinate. The very nature of urination can also change: a man complains of a slow or intermittent stream of urine, the need to strain to urinate normally. A terrible, but not the first, sign of prostatitis is acute urinary retention. The symptom develops with acute inflammation, accompanied by severe swelling of the prostate.
Urinary retention occurs when prostatitis is associated with an adenoma. In the case of an exacerbation of chronic prostatitis in a man, an acute condition may also occur, but urinary retention is less intense and the condition is less frequent. Most often, a man simply cannot hold a large amount of urine, and frequent visits to the toilet are necessary.
Dysuria and pain are the most common early signs of any form of prostatitis. They are most often the first and predominate clinically for acute or exacerbated chronic prostatitis.
Unpleasant for most men, although rarely the first sign of prostatitis is sexual dysfunction. Disorders of the intimate sphere are more often a manifestation of a chronic inflammatory process and are different in nature, therefore, the approach to treatment is also different. First of all, there are erection problems. She may become lethargic, or the man may not be able to completely complete intercourse. Ejaculation is disturbed: premature is more frequent. Over time, the usual sharpness of sensations fades. The problem of purely physiological becomes psychological. Disorders of sexual desire (libido disorders) develop, problems with orgasm occur. These signs negatively affect the general state of the nervous system, causing a decrease in mood, depression and sleep disturbances. A man ceases to feel his own usefulness.
Being constantly stressed and overwhelmed by one's own condition can cause aggressive behavior, irritability and a tendency to conflict in a number of men. In such a clinical situation, sometimes the treatment of prostatitis alone does not lead to the normalization of the mental sphere. A representative of the stronger sex may need an experienced psychologist and even pills from the group of antidepressants, which must be taken even after the end of treatment for the underlying disease.
Along with disorders in the sexual sphere, there is a change in sperm. For example, purulent prostatitis will be accompanied by a change in color, the smell of seminal fluid. Depending on the pathogen causing the process, the biological fluid can turn yellow, green, yellow-green. Sometimes there is discharge from the opening of the urethra and outside intercourse. They also differ in color, smell, and other characteristics, although mucous, clear discharge that appears in the morning is more common. A man himself can detect pathological impurities in the urine after urination. We are talking about the appearance of mucous threads, also more often in the morning portion of urine. Various pathological impurities in a number of situations remain the first and only manifestation of the inflammatory process.
The only sign of slow chronic prostatitis may be infertility. Often, already when examining a man about the inability to conceive a child, a representative of the stronger sex reveals an old inflammatory process that led to a disruption in the process of normal sperm formation. During the examination, a decrease in full-fledged sperm is noted in men, as well as a decrease in the motility of male germ cells.
Impurities in semen may be bloody in nature, which is a sign of calculous prostatitis. The condition is called erythrospermia. There is a symptom due to the traumatization of the walls by the stones and it is transitory. Since the first sign of prostatitis is rare, therefore, when an admixture of blood in the semen appears, all other diseases that cause a similar symptom should always be excluded.
General events
General signs of prostatitis often mean general inflammatory reactions, indicating the development of an acute inflammatory process in the body. Naturally, in chronic prostatitis these manifestations are not expressed, only if we are not talking about a pronounced exacerbation. Signs of an active inflammatory process are:
- Increase in body temperature. The degree of increase correlates with the activity of inflammation. In acute bacterial prostatitis, accompanied in particular by the formation of an abscess, the temperature can reach 39-40 degrees. This condition is accompanied by other pronounced symptoms of the disease. Temperature can also be the first sign of viral prostatitis.
- General weakness, headache.
- Chills. Chills are characteristic of bacterial prostatitis.
- Muscle pain.
General signs of inflammation are rarely the only sign of prostatitis, but there are exceptions. A sluggish chronic form of the disease with a low severity of specific symptoms sometimes leads to a long search for the cause of the subfebrile state (temperature rise to 37. 2-37. 3 degrees), which in fact is prostatitis. The diagnosis of the disease in such a situation is established after an examination and additional studies, including seeding the secretion of the prostate for the presence of pathogenic microorganisms in it.
The dependence of the clinic on the stage and type of disease
It has already been said above about the dependence of the clinical picture on the type of prostatitis and the stage of the course of the disease. Let's discuss each of them in more detail.
The first stage of the process is characterized by the predominance of general symptoms of inflammation over changes in the sexual sphere. The main signs of the disease will be pain, intoxication, dysuric disorders (mainly cramps, pain during urination). Some of the representatives of the stronger sex show changes in semen and urine, as well as discharge from the penis. If at this stage the man does not receive adequate treatment, the signs fade and the prostatitis goes to the next stage.
The inflammatory process without proper treatment rarely ends with a complete recovery of the organ. Basically, the result of the disease will be the formation of fibrous or connective tissue which replaces the normal tissues of the prostate. For a visible improvement in general condition, a man may not notice the worsening of dysuric disorders. A person needs to go to the toilet more often "in a small way", sexual changes gradually increase, but the symptoms are not pronounced.
In the absence of close attention to the manifestations and signs of the still present inflammatory process, prostatitis proceeds to the next stage. In fact, this is a chronic process, the clinic of which is characterized by alternating processes of remission and exacerbation. The first signs of chronicity may be absent, since the disease is not always actively progressing. However, the progression leads to the formation of coarse fibrous scars in the tissues of the prostate, which will cause the main signs of the disease.
In the first place among the symptoms are dysuric symptoms, which manifest themselves in the form of a slow flow of urine, frequent urination, a feeling of incomplete emptying of the bladder. The disorder of the sexual sphere associates: erection problems, premature ejaculation, impossibility of a sexual relationship in its own right.
Some forms of prostatitis also have their own evolutionary characteristics. About the acute and chronic stages of the bacterial process has already been said. What are the signs of congestive prostatitis, will be listed below:
- Prolonged pain syndrome (up to 3-6 months) of low intensity. The pain is limited.
- Inflammatory changes in prostate secretion and urine are absent.
- When interviewing a man, it may turn out that he has predisposing factors for the development of blood stasis in the small pelvis.
- In the clinical picture, as the first symptoms of the disease, violations of the sexual sphere and dysuric phenomena are revealed.
Asymptomatic prostatitis also has characteristics. Naturally, the process does not have a clinical picture. The disease is suspected after the detection of changes in the general analysis of urine. After the examination, it becomes possible to make an accurate diagnosis and prescribe treatment.
Whatever form of prostatitis in a man is revealed, the process at any stage can lead to the development of formidable complications. It can be inflammatory processes of any organ of the urinary system (kidneys, bladder), which in turn will lead to the appearance of urolithiasis or even the development of chronic renal failure. Therefore, in order to prevent formidable complications, it is necessary to treat prostatitis in a timely manner, and for timely treatment, of course, you need to be able to recognize the first signs of the disease and contact a specialist in time. .