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 men have in their body, it develops during fetal development and continues throughout life. The prostate is an external secretory gland, d. m. th. develops her secret and reveals it.
Due to its location, it is not visible from the outside because. located in the pelvis in males. It is a rounded formation, which is located under the bladder and at the same time is located near the muscles of the pelvic floor, rectum, ureters, urethra and small pelvic vascular and nerve plexuses. Since this organ is an exocrine gland, it is necessary to understand what functions it performs. First of all, it produces a secretion, which is one of the important components of sperm in men. This secret contains many proteins, amino acids, etc.
Unfortunately, little attention is paid to the prostate by both men and doctors.
So what is prostatitis chronic prostatitis in particular
It is an inflammatory disease of the prostate gland. This inflammation can be acute or chronic.
No chronic disease starts spontaneously; it is always preceded by a certain degree of acute inflammation.
In some cases, a male may not notice the onset of the disease, but it will exist for a long time and remain unhealed, and then lead to severe 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 composition is disrupted and the functions in the prostate also suffer.Epidemiology
This disease is one of the most common inflammatory diseases in men. The disease is quite young, that is, men of different age categories are subject to it. If prostate adenoma occurs more often in old age, then chronic prostatitis can appear in men and in the age of 20 years. The average age at which the symptoms of this disease are detected is 40-50 years old.
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, in chronic prostatitis, the symptoms may not be detected immediately 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 discovered. If in the case of acute inflammation the wrong treatment is performed, 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 many of them and they are very common in the modern world.
These are mostly infectious agents. Most often the cause is microbial etiology. The microbial infection may or may not be specific or a carrier of a specific pathogen. Specific agents include sexually transmitted infections. And since 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 unexplained chronic infection can lead to prostate.
The appearance of nonspecific pathogens in the causative factors may be due to non-compliance with the rules of personal hygiene, infrequent washing of the penis both after urination and shortly after sexual intercourse.
In some cases, vaginal dysbiosis in a partner, or some of a woman opportunistic pathogens, play a major role in the development of prostate inflammation in a man.
Among the most common causes of inflammation are: chlamydia, trichomonas, gonococci, gardnerella, E. coli, staphylococci and enterococci.
Do not forget about the possibility of the participation of viruses and fungi
In this case, the pathogen enters the body contagiously, d. m. th. 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 in 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 condition of the gland, contributes to the stagnation of blood in the pelvic organs, the blood supply is disturbed and the blood perfusion of the organ is also slowed down.
Interrupted sexual intercourse, incomplete expulsion of sperm leads to stagnation of secretions in the organ, as well as a crowded and enlarged organ affects the processes of blood supply and can even cause a slight swelling of the surrounding tissues. In rare cases, the disease has an immunological nature. Autoimmune factor is not excluded. Chronic somatic infection should also be ruled out.
Symptoms and treatment of chronic prostatitis
Symptoms of chronic prostatitis in many men may not be present at all. Some may not even name exactly 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 lasting for months.
The pain is often not localized to a specific site. It usually has a diffuse character, with a tendency to radiate to the lower back, perineum, scrotum, inguinal regions. But by no means are they in place. Most often they pull and hurt, 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 sign are violations in the sexual sphere. Men can often complain of erectile dysfunction, at first it may be almost invisible, 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 is ejaculation. At first, it can happen 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 lively 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 prostate is infertility.
Also quite often men can have problems with urination. It becomes rapid, sometimes reminiscent of the signs of cystitis. The necessary desire to urinate can bother a man at night. Sometimes they are accompanied by pain, cramps, etc. A man can detect the symptoms of chronic prostatitis on his own.
How to diagnose chronic prostatitis in time and start immediate and effective treatment?
It usually does not cause difficulties for specialists of this profile. When a man comes in contact 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 male. The doctor can determine the size of the prostate, its consistency, the pain in a certain area.
Laboratory indicators are not limited to a general blood test. Urine analysis is also necessary, in which case it has certain characteristics. A man must pass the last part of the urine, the so-called terminal, in which the laboratory must determine the number of leukocytes and the presence of bacterial cells. In some cases, the pathogen is not found and you should be tested for sexually transmitted infections.
They also get a stain from the urethra. Another very important diagnostic plan is ultrasound. It is performed through the rectum using a special sensor. The size of the gland, the presence of wounds, tumors, edemas, etc. are determined. It is also important to control the blood supply to the organ.
In some more severe and asymptomatic cases, an invasive biopsy procedure may be required.
To rule out cancer, a man may be sent for the determination of a prostate cancer tumor marker in the blood. It is called PSA. But you should get it no earlier than 10 days after the digital rectal examination.
Treatment of chronic prostatitis
The sooner treatment is started for chronic prostatitis, the more likely the disease is to emerge from its chronic form. You should never turn to self-medication because prostatitis should be treated by a qualified specialist.
Treatment of this pathology is performed by a urologist. Usually, treatment does not require hospitalization. Treatment of all existing chronic diseases is required.
First of all, you need to start with a lifestyle change. It is necessary to exclude casual sexual intercourse, diseases of the partner.
You must follow the rules of personal hygiene. Rinse the glaze penis well to prevent the accumulation of bacteria under the foreskin. Sex life should be regular, with full ejaculation. Interruption of coitus should be avoided.
In addition, physical activity should be increased. Move more often to prevent blood stagnation in the pelvis and prostate.
Nutrition also needs to be adjusted. Try to avoid the use of fast, spicy, smoked and salty foods. Sweets should also be limited. Alcohol and drugs should be avoided altogether. Men should also quit 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 medicine. Its choice depends mainly on the pathogen that was detected during diagnosis. It is better if they immediately take the determination of the susceptibility of the microorganism to antibacterial agents.
Then the treatment will be more effective and shorter. Antibiotics can be prescribed in different ways. With an asymptomatic course of the process, tablet forms are usually prescribed. If there is a worsening of the chronic process, then they use injectable medication. Treatment of chronic prostatitis may involve several remedies 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 the blood supply to the pelvic organs, to restore microcirculation. They prevent blockage.
Another class of agents used are immunomodulators. Vitamin therapy should also be included in the complex treatment.
Surgical methods are rarely used, but nevertheless sometimes this is the only way out. Among these methods, resection of the prostate gland is used. In some cases it is necessary to treat complications that have appeared surgically. This could be the removal of a cyst or the opening of an abscess.
Treatment of chronic prostatitis also includes various physiotherapy. In order for a disease like 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 some time.