One of the most common diseases of the male urogenital area is chronic prostatitis. As medical practice shows, every twelfth man of puberty suffers from this disease, while in about 40% of cases it is diagnosed in patients 20-40 years old. Bringing physical suffering to its owner, chronic prostatitis often causes a deterioration in the general condition of the patient, preventing his normal sexual and social activity. What is the nature of this disease, how to avoid an unpleasant diagnosis - and how favorable are the prognosis of treatment if you are among the sick?
Causes of chronic prostatitis
Chronic prostatitis is a protracted inflammatory process in the prostate gland, accompanied by pain and discomfort in the pelvic area, urination disorders and pathologies of male sexual function.
Prerequisites for the occurrence of chronic prostatitis can be infections, congestion in the prostate, benign hyperplasia, or a combination of these factors. There are several likely ways for infection to enter the prostate gland:
- with blood flow from foci of infection present in the body (pneumonia, caries, pustular skin lesions, sinusitis, etc. );
- with the influx of lymph from other organs (with dysbacteriosis, hemorrhoids, inflammatory bowel diseases, etc. );
- through the urethra, sexually (one of the consequences of infectious urethritis).
Non-infectious, or abacterial, prostatitis is diagnosed 8 times more often than bacterial; its occurrence is based on stagnant processes and circulatory disorders in the prostate and adjacent organs.
Among the main causes of stagnation of the secret in the prostate gland, urologists distinguish the following:
- irregular sex life, prolonged abstinence;
- defective ejaculation, the practice of coitus interruptus;
- often unrealized sexual arousal.
The risk of chronic prostatitis increases in men with reduced physical activity, severe or slight, but regular, hypothermia, prolonged exposure to stress, as well as those who suffer from alcoholism.
The main signs of the disease
Chronic prostatitis occurs as a result of the lack of timely treatment, or ineffective treatment of acute prostatitis, and is a slow inflammatory process in the prostate gland.
In most cases, asymptomatic, the disease is usually detected in patients only during a medical examination, which is why every man is recommended to regularly visit a specialist for urological diseases. However, the so-called "hidden" stage of chronic prostatitis can change to an acute phase after a man has suffered stress, an inflammatory disease, as a result of hypothermia, a violation of the order of intimate life, etc. In this case, such symptoms should serve as a signal for the need for an urgent visit to the doctor:
- increased sweating, especially manifesting itself in the perineal area;
- itching or discomfort in the groin area;
- frequent urge to urinate, painful urination, urinary retention;
- secretion of prostate secretion through the external opening of the urethra after urination or defecation;
- a slight increase (up to 37. 5) in body temperature; weakness, sleep disturbances and working capacity;
- sexual dysfunction (unstable or weak erection, decreased libido, rapid ejaculation, orgasm disorders, pain in the pelvic area during ejaculation, etc. );
- pain of varying severity and intensity in the perineum, lumbosacral region, external genitalia
Taken together, these symptoms of chronic prostatitis can lead to disorders of the nervous system, characterized by neurotic conditions with the patient's attention focused on his well-being.
Possible consequences of chronic prostatitis in the absence of its treatment
Unlike acute, chronic prostatitis is characterized by a change of undulating, periodic exacerbations with relatively long remissions, during which a man can feel completely healthy. It is not the patient's appeal to a specialist that causes the further development of the inflammatory process.
In the case of the spread of inflammation in the genitourinary system, complications are likely in the form of cystitis or pyelonephritis, with a possible transformation into urolithiasis. But most often the result of advanced chronic prostatitis is vesiculitis (inflammatory disease of the seminal vesicles) or epididymo-orchitis (inflammation of the testicles). Both of these diseases can lead to difficult-to-treat infertility, and sometimes irreversible damage to male reproductive function.
One of the most severe outcomes of chronic prostatitis is scarring of prostate tissue with wrinkling of the organ. This process often extends to the back of the urethra and bladder, which leads to a persistent violation of the outflow of urine.
The situation is significantly aggravated by the combination of the disease with prostate adenoma, which is most common in men who have crossed the 50-year mark. Violating the outflow from the prostate gland, adenoma provokes the progression of chronic prostatitis, so if the patient is shown surgical removal of a benign tumor, he must be preceded by prostatitis treatment.
Diagnosis, methods and prospects for the treatment of the disease
The initial appointment with the doctor consists in collecting information about the main symptoms of the disease, followed by a general examination, a digital rectal examination, and taking a secret from the patient's prostate gland. Another diagnostic measure for making an accurate diagnosis is a transrectal ultrasound examination.
Before starting a course of therapy for a patient with chronic prostatitis, it is necessary to do a urinalysis for culture and conduct a study of prostate secretion on the sensitivity of the flora to antibacterial drugs in order to optimize the treatment method.
Modern medicine practices the following, traditionally used in combination, methods of treating chronic prostatitis:
- Antibiotic therapy. The use of antibacterial drugs is necessary to eliminate the pathogenic bacterial flora that causes foci of inflammation. The effectiveness of treatment directly depends on the correct selection of medicines, since if not all microorganisms are destroyed during therapy, the disease will sooner or later make itself felt again. For this reason, the course of antibiotics should be completed by the patient completely, without interruptions in admission or other violations of medical recommendations.
- Physiotherapy. Prostate massage is one of the most effective components of treatment in the complex of such procedures. The essence of prostate massage is as follows: the effect on the gland contributes to the extrusion of the inflammatory secret accumulated in it into the ducts and further into the urethra. This improves the quality of blood flow in the prostate, which enhances the effect of antibacterial drugs taken by the patient. In addition to prostate massage, a patient diagnosed with "chronic prostatitis" may be prescribed treatment with a laser, ultrasonic waves, or through electromagnetic effects on the inflamed area.
- Immunocorrection. A long-term inflammatory process, such as chronic prostatitis, as well as independent or incorrectly prescribed antibiotics in the past, can contribute to a significant decrease in the patient's immunity. The purpose of immunocorrection is to restore the protective functions of the body as much as possible. This is facilitated by the normalization of lifestyle and a visit to an immunologist.
Although not every case of chronic prostatitis, due to various forms of its complexity, can end in a complete recovery of the patient, the patient's strict adherence to medical recommendations guarantees him a long-term, and possibly lifelong, remission of the disease.
How to avoid an unpleasant diagnosis?
Prevention of chronic prostatitis is to follow a few basic rules:
- Change your lifestyle to a more active one. If there is no opportunity to play sports, do a daily warm-up or gymnastic exercises.
- Avoid hypothermia. Do not sit on stone slabs, metal curbs, etc.
- For constipation, use laxatives, and if constipation becomes chronic, see a doctor.
- Try to normalize your sex life. Excessive sexual activity, as well as long abstinence, negatively affects the condition and functions of the prostate gland.
- Do not practice casual sex, otherwise, give preference to protected sex.
- At the first suspicion of an STD, immediately consult a specialist, do not self-medicate.
- At least once a year, visit a urologist to rule out the possibility of a developing disease.
Be attentive to your male health, and the diagnosis of "chronic prostatitis" will never get in your way!