The prevalence of prostatitis among men is quite high, which is associated with a sedentary lifestyle, unhealthy diet, and a large number of dangers that exist in the life of a modern person. According to doctors, treatment of the disease should be started as soon as possible. For this, every representative of the stronger sex should know what are the first signs of prostatitis in men. What symptoms accompany the different forms of the disease, what the exacerbation looks like, an acute and chronic process and a little treatment will be discussed in the article.
General Information
Signs and symptoms of prostatitis, as well as treatment, are quite diverse, which is associated with the presence of several types of the disease. Primary prostatitis in men:
- spicy. It often has a purulent character. In men, both general and specific signs of inflammation are maximally expressed, and the causative agent is pathogenic (pathogenic) flora. Therefore, in most cases, the treatment of men is the appointment of antibiotics.
- Chronic. A person's treatment can be the result of an acute process if it is not carried out in time or incorrectly. The bright symptoms accompanying the purulent process disappear, the symptoms are less pronounced. In remission, the characteristic signs of the process may disappear completely. With exacerbation of chronic prostatitis, symptoms increase, but more often with less intensity than with acute inflammation.
In men, chronic prostatitis may first appear without previous signs of acute inflammation. In this case, prostatitis often has a stagnant character, that is, it results from a man's sedentary lifestyle, the presence of chronic diseases that affect the speed of blood circulation in the pelvic organs.
It is very important to know and understand the first signs and symptoms of prostatitis, because this will affect what treatment the disease will require in the future. In the case of bacterial prostatitis, which will be more pronounced with general toxic symptoms, the treatment must necessarily include antibiotic therapy (it does not matter if it is a tablet or an injection of antibacterial drugs), then in the case of a stagnant process, the treatment of stagnant phenomena comes first, that is, changing the lifestyle and accompanying diseasestreatment.
Enlarged photo of the prostate with prostatitis:
- Urinary dysfunction. In another way, this group of symptoms is called "dysuric disorders". It should also include symptoms that indicate the development of an inflammatory process in the prostate gland.
- Sexual disorders characteristic of prostatitis.
- Changes in the nervous system due to the main process. characteristic of the disease.
More detailed information about each group of prostatitis symptoms will be discussed below.
concrete statement
The leading and often the first symptom of inflammation of the prostate is pain. Pain can have a different nature. The nature of the pain can vary significantly. Characteristic localization has stabbing, pain, cutting pains. If this is an acute process, then it can significantly affect men's lives, causing sleep and performance disturbances. In chronic prostatitis, during the period of remission, the symptoms are mild, if not completely absent.
The typical localization of pain in prostatitis is the pelvic region. A man may feel pain in the perineum, lower abdomen, lower back. They are often given to the penis, scrotum, and testicles. Pain may accompany urination and defecation, and may increase during erection and ejaculation. The characteristic first sign of calculous prostatitis may be pain, the intensity and time of occurrence of which depends on movement. If a man walks quickly, jumps, bends, it is visible or strong. A similar symptom is associated with mechanical irritation of the canal walls with stones.
Less frequent symptoms of prostatitis are various disorders of the urination process. Dysuria is often manifested by the need to urinate, the feeling of incomplete emptying of the bladder, false urge to urinate. The nature of urination can also change: a man complains of a slow or intermittent flow of urine, it is necessary to make an effort to urinate normally. A terrible, if not the first, symptom of prostatitis is acute urinary retention. The symptom develops with acute inflammation accompanied by severe swelling of the prostate gland.
Urinary retention occurs when prostatitis is combined with 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 common. More 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 first symptoms of any prostatitis. They are most often the first and prevail in the clinic for acute or exacerbation of chronic prostatitis.
It is unpleasant for most men, although rarely the first symptom of prostatitis is sexual dysfunction. Disorders of the intimate sphere are more a manifestation of the chronic inflammatory process and have a different nature, so the approach to treatment is also different. First of all, there are problems with erection. It may become sluggish or the man may not be able to fully complete intercourse. Ejaculation is disturbed: premature birth is more common. Over time, the usual sharpness of feelings is erased. A purely physiological problem becomes a psychological one. Sexual desire disorders (libido disorders) develop, problems with orgasm arise. These symptoms have a negative effect on the general condition of the nervous system, causing a decrease in mood, depression and sleep disorders. Man ceases to feel his usefulness.
Constantly being under stress and being stuck with one's situation 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 should be taken even after the treatment of the main disease is over.
Along with disorders of the sexual sphere, there is a change in sperm. For example, purulent prostatitis will be accompanied by a change in color, smell of seminal fluid. Depending on the pathogen causing the process, the biological fluid can be yellow, green, yellow-green. Sometimes there is ejaculation outside the opening of the urethra and intercourse. They also differ in color, odor, and other characteristics, although the mucous, clear secretions that appear in the morning are more common. A man can detect pathological impurities in urine after urinating. We are talking about the appearance of mucous threads more often in the morning urine. In some cases, various pathological impurities remain the first and only manifestation of the inflammatory process.
Infertility may be the only symptom of chronic slow prostatitis. Often, during the examination of a person's inability to have children, a representative of the stronger sex reveals an old inflammatory process that causes a disturbance in the normal sperm formation process. During the examination, a decrease in full-fledged spermatozoa, as well as a decrease in the mobility of male sex cells, is detected in men.
Impurities in semen can be bloody, which is a sign of calculous prostatitis. The condition is called erythrospermia. Due to traumatization of the walls with stones, there is a symptom and it is transient. The first sign of prostatitis is rare, therefore, when a mixture of blood appears in the semen, all other diseases that cause a similar symptom should always be excluded.
General manifestations
Common symptoms of prostatitis often mean general inflammatory reactions that indicate the development of an acute inflammatory process in the body. Of course, these manifestations are not expressed in chronic prostatitis, unless we are talking about an acute exacerbation. Signs of an active inflammatory process:
- Increase in body temperature. The rate of increase is related to the activity of inflammation. Especially in acute bacterial prostatitis accompanied by the formation of an abscess, the temperature can reach 39-40 degrees. This condition is accompanied by other obvious symptoms of the disease. Temperature can also be the first sign of viral prostatitis.
- General weakness, headache.
- Don't get cold. Shaky chills are characteristic of bacterial prostatitis.
- Muscle pain.
General signs of inflammation are rarely the only signs of prostatitis, but there are exceptions. The chronic slow form of the disease with the low severity of specific symptoms sometimes leads to a long search for the cause of the subfebrile state (the temperature rises to 37. 2-37. 3 degrees), which is actually prostatitis. In such a case, the diagnosis of the disease is determined after examination and additional studies, including the culture of prostate secretion for the presence of pathogenic microorganisms.
Dependence of the clinic on the stage and type of the disease
It has already been said above about the dependence of the clinical picture on the type of prostatitis and the stage of the disease. Let's touch on 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 genital area. The main symptoms of the disease will be pain, intoxication, dysuric disorders (mainly cramps, pain during urination). Some representatives of the stronger sex see changes in sperm and urine, as well as discharge from the penis. If a man does not receive adequate treatment at this stage, the symptoms disappear and prostatitis moves to the next stage.
Without appropriate treatment, the inflammatory process rarely ends with the complete recovery of the body. Basically, the result of the disease will be the formation of fibrous or connective tissue that replaces the normal tissues of the prostate gland. For a noticeable improvement in the general condition, a man cannot feel the aggravation of dysuric disorders. A person needs to go to the toilet "in a small way" more often, sexual changes are increasing, but the symptoms are not pronounced.
If the manifestations and signs of the still existing inflammatory process are not paid due attention, prostatitis goes to the next stage. In fact, this is a chronic process, the clinic is characterized by alternating remission and exacerbation processes. The first signs of chronicity may not be present, because the disease does not always continue actively. However, progression leads to the formation of rough fibrous scars in the tissues of the prostate, which will lead to the main symptoms of the condition.
Among the symptoms, there are dysuric symptoms, which are manifested in the form of sluggish flow of urine, frequent need to urinate, and a feeling of complete emptying of the bladder. Violation of the sexual sphere is combined: erection problems, premature ejaculation, impossibility of full-fledged sexual intercourse.
Certain forms of prostatitis also have their own characteristics of the course. It has already been said about the acute and chronic stages of the bacterial process. What are the symptoms of congestive prostatitis, listed below:
- Long-term pain syndrome of low intensity (up to 3-6 months). Pain is limited.
- There are no inflammatory changes in the prostate and urine.
- When talking to a man, it may turn out that there are factors that predispose to the development of blood stagnation in the small pelvis.
- Disruption of the sexual sphere and dysuric phenomena are revealed as the first symptoms of the disease in the clinical picture.
Symptomatic prostatitis also has its characteristics. Of course, there is no clinical picture of the process. The disease is suspected after the detection of changes in the general analysis of urine. After the examination, it is possible to make an accurate diagnosis and prescribe treatment.
No matter what form of prostatitis is detected in a man, the process at any stage can lead to the development of serious complications. These 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 kidney failure. Therefore, timely treatment of prostatitis is necessary to prevent serious complications, and for timely treatment, of course, it is necessary to recognize the first signs of the disease and contact a specialist in time.