What is chronic prostatitis? First of all, you need to understand what the prostate is, it is also the prostate gland. This is an organ that only males have in their bodies, it develops during fetal development and persists throughout life. The prostate is an exocrine gland, i. e. develops its secret and brings it out.
Due to its location, it is not visible externally, because. located in the pelvis in men. It is a formation of a rounded shape, which is located under the bladder and at the same time is located in close proximity 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 necessary to understand what functions it performs. First of all, she produces a secret, which is one of the important components of sperm in men. This secret contains a lot of protein, amino acids, etc.
Unfortunately, little attention is paid to the prostate by both the men themselves and doctors.
So what is prostatitis chronic prostatitis in particular
This is an inflammatory disease of the prostate gland. This inflammation can be either 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 appearance 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 acute inflammation of the prostate gland.
As a result of this inflammation, the morphology of the cellular composition is disturbed, and the functions in the prostate also suffer.Epidemiology
This disease is one of the most common inflammatory diseases among men. The disease is quite young, that is, males of various age categories are subject to it. If prostate adenoma occurs more often in old age, then chronic prostatitis can appear in men and at the age of 20 years. The average age at which symptoms of this disease are detected is 40-50 years.
By old age, almost every man suffered this disease, but many of them could not even treat it and not go to the doctor with complaints about the appearance of certain symptoms.
At the same time, in chronic prostatitis, the symptoms may not immediately reveal themselves, and a man may turn to other problems that are more serious in his opinion. And only before the treatment of another disease, the initial cause is revealed. If in case of acute inflammation the wrong treatment was carried out, chronic prostatitis is inevitable.
Causes of chronic prostatitis
First of all, when identifying the cause of the development of inflammation in the prostate, it is necessary to determine the predisposing factors. There are a lot of them and they are very common in the modern world.
These are primarily infectious agents. More often the cause is microbial etiology. Microbial infection can be either non-specific or carry a specific pathogen. Specific agents include sexually transmitted infections. And given that 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 non-specific 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 a short time after intercourse.
In some cases, vaginal dysbiosis in a partner, or some of the woman's opportunistic pathogens, play a huge role in the development of inflammation of the prostate for a man.
Among the most common causative agents of inflammation are the following: chlamydia, trichomonads, gonococci, gardnerella, E. coli, staphylococcus and enterococcus.
Do not forget about the likelihood of the participation of viruses and fungi
In this case, the pathogen enters the body in an ascending way, i. e. 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 provoke an inflammatory process.
Hypothermia, reduced immunity, and even overheating against the background of an infection 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 stagnation of blood in the pelvic organs, blood supply is disturbed and 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 a crowded, enlarged organ affects the processes of blood supply and can even cause a slight swelling of the surrounding tissues. In rare cases, the disease is immunological in nature. The autoimmune factor is not excluded also. Chronic somatic infection should also be excluded.
Chronic prostatitis symptoms and treatment
Symptoms of chronic prostatitis in many men may not be present at all. Some even cannot exactly name one or another predisposing factor. However, there are many symptoms of this disease. The most popular of these is pain. The pain syndrome can be quite long sometimes it is months.
Pain is often not localized in a specific place. It usually has a diffuse character, with a tendency to irradiate to the lower back, perineum, scrotum, inguinal regions. But by no means are they spot-on. Most often they are pulling and aching, the pains are not permanent. They tend to increase or decrease depending on the state of the body 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 comes much later, even when exposed to all predisposing factors.
But never with chronic prostatitis is there complete impotence. So does ejaculation. At first, it can occur much faster than planned, and at a later stage, on the contrary, it slows down, almost to the point of complete cessation. 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 experience problems with urination. It becomes rapid, sometimes reminiscent of signs of cystitis. Imperative urge to urinate can disturb a man at night. Sometimes they are accompanied by pain, cramps, etc. A man can detect symptoms of chronic prostatitis on his own.
How to diagnose chronic prostatitis in time and start immediate and effective treatment?
Usually it does not cause difficulties among specialists of this profile. When a man contacts with any symptoms, the doctor can make this diagnosis without additional examination.
Usually, the minimum examination is limited to history taking, laboratory tests and digital rectal examination. Digital rectal examination does not require 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. Urine analysis is also necessary, in this case it has certain features. A man needs to pass the last portion of urine, the so-called terminal. In it, 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 have 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 severe and asymptomatic cases, an invasive biopsy procedure may be required.
In order to exclude cancer, a man can be sent for the determination of a tumor marker of prostate cancer in the blood. It's called PSA. But you need to take it no earlier than 10 days after the digital rectal examination.
Treatment of chronic prostatitis
The sooner treatment for chronic prostatitis is started, the more likely it will be to bring the disease out of its chronic form. You should never resort to self-treatment, because prostatitis should be treated by a qualified specialist.
Treatment of this pathology is carried out by a urologist. Usually, treatment does not require hospitalization. Treatment of all existing chronic diseases is required.
First of all, you should start with a change in lifestyle. It is necessary to exclude casual sexual relations, diseases of the partner.
You must follow the rules of personal hygiene. Thoroughly rinse the glans penis to prevent 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 prevent stagnation of blood 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 avoided altogether. Men should also stop smoking.
Treatment of prostatitis is also divided into medical and surgical. First of all, with chronic prostatitis, they begin to treat, of course, the cause. And since it is most often infectious, antibiotics are the main drug. Its choice depends primarily on the pathogen that was detected during the diagnosis. It is best if they immediately take the determination of the sensitivity of the microorganism to antibacterial agents.
Then the treatment will be more effective and shorter. Antibiotics can be prescribed with various 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 may include several means 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 also very necessary, they are used to improve blood supply in the pelvic organs, restore microcirculation. They prevent congestion.
Another class of agents used are immunomodulators. Vitamin therapy should also be included in the complex treatment.
Surgical methods are rarely resorted to, but sometimes there is only this way out. Among these methods, resection of the prostate gland is used. In some cases, it is necessary to treat the complications that have appeared surgically. This may 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 should be treated immediately. The effectiveness of the treatment should be monitored by a specialist after some time.