What is chronic prostatitis? First of all, you need to understand what the prostate is, and it is the prostate gland. It is an organ found only in the male body, develops during fetal development and lasts a lifetime. The prostate is an external secretory gland, ie. develops and reveals the secret.
Because it is not visible from the outside due to its location. located in the pelvis in men. This is the formation of a round shape located under the bladder and at the same time close to the muscles of the pelvic floor, rectum, ureters, urethra and vascular and nerve plexuses of the small pelvis. Since this organ is an exocrine gland, it is important to understand what functions it performs. First of all, it produces a secretion that is one of the most important components of sperm in men. This secret contains a lot of protein, amino acids and so on.
Unfortunately, both men themselves and doctors pay little attention to the prostate.
So what is prostatitis, especially chronic prostatitis
This is an inflammatory disease of the prostate gland. This inflammation can be both acute and chronic.
No chronic disease begins spontaneously, always preceded by a certain degree of acute inflammation.
In some cases, a man may not notice the appearance of the disease, but it will remain for a long time and remain untreated, and then lead to serious morphological and functional disorders.
Chronic prostatitis usually develops at least three months after acute inflammation of the prostate gland.
As a result of this inflammation, the morphology of the cell structure is disrupted, and the functions of the prostate gland are disrupted.Epidemiology
This disease is one of the most common inflammatory diseases among men. The disease is very young, that is, men of different ages are exposed to it. If prostate adenoma is more common in old age, then chronic prostatitis can appear in men and in their 20s. The average age at which the symptoms of this disease are detected is 40-50 years.
In old age, almost every man suffered from this disease, but many of them could not even treat it and did not go to the doctor with complaints about the appearance of certain symptoms.
At the same time, the symptoms of chronic prostatitis may not appear immediately, and the man may resort to other problems that he thinks are more serious. And only before the treatment of another disease is the primary cause revealed. Chronic prostatitis is inevitable if treated incorrectly during acute inflammation.
Causes of chronic prostatitis
First of all, when determining the cause of inflammation in the prostate gland, it is necessary to determine the predisposing factors. There are many of them and they are very common in the modern world.
These are primarily infectious agents. The most common cause is microbial etiology. Microbial infection may be nonspecific or may carry a specific pathogen. Specific agents include sexually transmitted infections. And given that many of these infections in men can be completely asymptomatic, then they can persist in the body for a long time. Even the most unexpressed chronic infection can cause prostatitis.
The appearance of non-specific pathogens in the causal factors may be a violation of the rules of personal hygiene, infrequent washing of the head of the penis, both after urination and shortly after sexual intercourse.
In some cases, vaginal dysbiosis in one partner or some opportunistic pathogens in a woman play a major role in the development of prostatitis for a man.
Among the most common causes of inflammation are: chlamydia, trichomonads, gonococci, gardnerella, E. coli, staphylococcus and enterococcus.
Remember the possibility of viruses and fungi
In this case, the pathogen enters the body in an ascending manner, ie. through the urethra.
In addition, there is another important way of penetration of an infectious agent - hematogen. Many men have some kind of inflammatory disease, and sometimes the flu or SARS can also cause an inflammatory process.
Hypothermia, decreased immunity, and even overheating against the background of an infection already present in the body can lead to the development of inflammation.
Sexual behavior also plays an important role in the development of inflammatory reactions. In this case, prolonged sexual abstinence has a negative effect on the condition of the gland, contributes to blood stasis in the pelvic organs, impairs blood supply and slows blood flow to the body.
Interruption of sexual intercourse, incomplete ejaculation of semen leads to stagnation of secretion in the body, as well as dense, enlarged organs affect the blood supply processes and may even cause some swelling of the surrounding tissues. In rare cases, the disease is immunological. Autoimmune factor is not excluded. Chronic somatic infection should also be ruled out.
Symptoms and treatment of chronic prostatitis
Many men may not have symptoms of chronic prostatitis at all. Some people can't even name this or that predisposing factor. However, there are many symptoms of this disease. The most popular of these is pain. The pain syndrome can be very long, sometimes lasting months.
The pain is often not localized. It is usually diffuse, with a tendency to radiate to the lower back, perineum, scrotum, inguinal regions. But in no case are they in place. Often they suffer and ache, the pain is not permanent. They tend to increase or decrease depending on the condition of the body and the influence of environmental factors.
Another important symptom is sexual dysfunction. Men can often complain of erectile dysfunction, which at first may be almost invisible, and in the later stages, even when exposed to all predisposing factors, it comes too late.
But with chronic prostatitis, there is never complete impotence. The same is true of ejaculation. It can happen much faster than planned at first, but in the next stage, on the contrary, it slows down, almost completely stops. Orgasm is expressed less vividly and emotionally. Sometimes sexual problems can affect a partner. Infertility is a very common cause of men diagnosed with chronic prostatitis.
Also, men can often have problems with urination. It happens quickly, sometimes reminiscent of the symptoms of cystitis. A forced urge to urinate can bother a man at night. Sometimes they cause pain, cramps and so on. accompanied by. Men can detect the symptoms of chronic prostatitis independently.
How to diagnose chronic prostatitis in time and start immediate and effective treatment?
This is usually not a problem for professionals. If a man comes in contact with any symptoms, the doctor can make this diagnosis without additional examination.
The minimum examination is usually limited to anamnesis, laboratory tests, and digital rectal examination. Digital rectal examination does not require additional training for men. The doctor can determine the size of the prostate, its consistency, and the pain in a particular area.
Laboratory tests are not limited to a complete blood count. Urine analysis is also needed, in this case it has certain characteristics. The man must pass the last part of the urine, the so-called terminal. Then the laboratory assistant must determine the number of leukocytes and the presence of bacterial cells. In some cases, the pathogen is not detected and should be tested for sexually transmitted infections.
They also take a swab from the urethra. Another very important point in the diagnostic plan is ultrasound. It is performed through the rectum using a special sensor. The size of the gland, scars, tumors, edema, etc. It is also important to check the blood supply to the body.
In some more severe and asymptomatic cases, an invasive biopsy procedure may be required.
To rule out cancer, a man can be sent to the bloodstream to determine a tumor marker of prostate cancer. This is called PSA. However, you should take it no later than 10 days after the digital rectal examination.
Treatment of chronic prostatitis
The sooner treatment for chronic prostatitis begins, the more likely it is that the disease will develop into a chronic form. You should never seek self-medication, as prostatitis should be treated by a qualified professional.
Treatment of this pathology is carried out by a urologist. As a rule, treatment does not require hospitalization. Treatment of all existing chronic diseases is required.
First and foremost, you need to start with a lifestyle change. Casual sex should exclude the partner's illness.
You must follow the rules of personal hygiene. Rinse the head of the penis thoroughly to prevent the accumulation of bacteria under the foreskin. Sex life should be regular, with complete ejaculation. It is necessary to prevent the termination of sexual intercourse.
In addition, physical activity should be increased. Exercise more often to prevent blood stasis in the pelvis and prostate.
Nutrition should also be regulated. Try to avoid fast food, spicy, smoked and salty foods. Sweets should also be limited. Alcohol and drugs should be completely avoided. Men should also stop smoking.
Treatment of prostatitis is also divided into medical and surgical. First of all, with chronic prostatitis, of course, begin to treat the cause. And because it is the most contagious, antibiotics are the main medicine. Its choice depends primarily on the pathogen detected at the time of diagnosis. It is better to immediately determine the sensitivity of the microorganism to antibacterial agents.
Then the treatment will be more effective and shorter. Antibiotics can be prescribed by different methods of administration. Asymptomatic course of the process is usually prescribed in tablet form. If there is an exacerbation of the chronic process, they resort to injectable drugs. Treatment of chronic prostatitis can involve several drugs at once.
An important component in complex treatment are anti-inflammatory drugs. This is usually a class of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Vasodilators are usually very necessary, are used to improve blood supply to the pelvic organs, to restore microcirculation. They prevent traffic jams.
Another class of agents used is immunomodulators. Vitamin therapy should also be included in the complex treatment.
Surgery is rarely used, but sometimes it is the only way out. Among these methods is prostate resection. In some cases, surgical complications need to be treated. This could be a cyst rupture or an abscess opening.
Treatment of chronic prostatitis 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 treatment should be monitored by a specialist after a while.