What is chronic prostatitis? First of all you need to understand what the prostate is, it is also the prostate. This is an organ that only men have in their bodies, it develops during fetal development and persists throughout life. The prostate is an external secretory gland, i. H. develops his secret and brings it to light.
Due to its location, it is not visible from the outside since. located in males in the pelvis. It is a formation of a rounded shape, located under the bladder and at the same time located in close proximity to the muscles of the pelvic floor, rectum, ureters, urethra, 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, she produces a secret that is one of the most important components of sperm in men. This secret contains a lot of protein, amino acids, etc.
Unfortunately, little attention is paid to the prostate, both by men themselves and by doctors.
So what is chronic prostatitis in particular?
This is an inflammatory disease of the prostate. 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 onset of the disease, but it persists for a long time and remains incurable, and then leads to serious morphological and functional disorders.
Chronic prostatitis usually develops at least three months after acute inflammation of the prostate.
As a result of this inflammation, the morphology of the cell structure is disturbed and the functions in the prostate also suffer as a result.epidemiology
This disease is one of the most common inflammatory diseases in men. The disease is quite young, that is, it affects men of different ages. If prostate adenoma occurs more frequently with age, chronic prostatitis can occur in men and by the age of 20. The average age at which 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, with chronic prostatitis, the symptoms may not manifest themselves immediately, and a man can turn to other problems, which, in his opinion, are more serious. And only before treating another disease, the original cause is revealed. If the wrong treatment has been carried out for an acute inflammation, chronic prostatitis is inevitable.
Causes of chronic prostatitis
When determining the cause of the development of inflammation in the prostate, it is first 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. More commonly, the cause is a microbial etiology. A microbial infection can either be non-specific or carry a specific pathogen. Specific agents include sexually transmitted infections. And since many of these infections in men can be completely asymptomatic, they can persist in the body for a long time. Even the seemingly insignificant chronic infection can lead to prostatitis.
The appearance of nonspecific pathogens in the causative factors can be due to non-compliance with the rules of personal hygiene, infrequent washing of the glans penis both after urination and for a short time after sexual intercourse.
In some cases, a vaginal dysbiosis in a partner or some of the woman's opportunistic pathogens play a large role in the development of prostate inflammation in a man.
The most common inflammatory pathogens include: chlamydia, trichomonads, gonococci, gardnerella, E. coli, staphylococci and enterococci.
Do not forget about the probability of the involvement of viruses and fungi
In this case, the pathogen ascends into the body, i. H. through the urethra.
In addition, there is another important way for the penetration of an infectious agent - hematogenous. Many men have an 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 response. In this case, prolonged sexual abstinence negatively affects the state of the gland, it contributes to the stagnation of blood in the pelvic organs, blood supply is disrupted, and blood flow to the organ also slows down.
Interrupted sexual intercourse, incomplete ejection of sperm leads to stagnation of secretions in the organ, as well as an overcrowded, enlarged organ interferes with 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 also not excluded. Chronic somatic infection should also be ruled out.
Chronic prostatitis symptoms and treatment
Symptoms of chronic prostatitis may not be present at all in many men. Some cannot even pinpoint one or the other predisposing factor. However, there are many symptoms of this disease. The most popular of these is pain. Pain syndrome can last quite a long time, sometimes it is months.
Pain is often not localized to a specific location. It is usually diffuse in character with a tendency to radiate to the lower back, perineum, scrotum, and groin regions. But by no means are they spot on. 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 is violations in the sexual sphere. Men can often complain of erectile dysfunction, which is barely noticeable at first and occurs much later in later stages, even when exposed to all the predisposing factors.
But with chronic prostatitis, complete impotence never occurs. Likewise the ejaculation. Initially, it can come much faster than planned, later, on the contrary, it slows down to almost a complete standstill. The orgasm is expressed less vividly and emotionally. Sometimes problems related to the sexual sphere can affect the partner. A very common cause, according to which men are diagnosed with chronic prostatitis, is infertility.
Men often have problems urinating too. It becomes rapid and sometimes resembles signs of cystitis. The compulsive urge to urinate can disturb a man at night. Sometimes they are accompanied by pain, cramps, etc. A man can recognize the symptoms of chronic prostatitis himself.
How to timely diagnose chronic prostatitis and start immediate and effective treatment?
Usually it does not cause difficulties for specialists of this profile. If a man encounters any symptoms, the doctor can make this diagnosis without additional examination.
The minimum examination is usually limited to taking anamnesis, laboratory tests and digital rectal examination. The digital rectal examination does not require any additional preparation for men. The doctor can determine the size of the prostate, its consistency, and pain in a specific area.
Laboratory indicators are not limited to a general blood test. Urinalysis is also required, in this case it has certain characteristics. A man has to pass the last portion of urine, called the terminal, where the laboratory technician has to determine the number of leukocytes and the presence of bacterial cells. In some cases, the causative agent is not found and you need to be tested for sexually transmitted infections.
They also take a swab from the urethra. Another very important part of the diagnostic plan is the ultrasound. It is performed 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 necessary.
To rule out cancer, a man may be sent for a blood test to determine a tumor marker for prostate cancer. It's called PPE. However, you must take it no earlier than 10 days after the digital rectal exam.
Treatment of chronic prostatitis
The earlier the treatment of chronic prostatitis is started, the more likely it is that the disease will be brought 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, you should start with a lifestyle change. It is necessary to exclude accidental sexual relations, diseases of the partner.
You must follow the rules of personal hygiene. Rinse the glans thoroughly to prevent bacteria from building up under the foreskin. Sex life should be regular, with full ejaculation. Coitus interruptus should be avoided.
In addition, physical activity should be increased. Exercise more often to avoid congestion in the pelvis and prostate.
Diet should also be adjusted. Try to avoid using fast food, spicy, smoked and salty. Sweets should also be limited. Alcohol and drugs should generally be avoided. Men should stop smoking too.
Treatment of prostatitis is also divided into medical and surgical. Of course, with chronic prostatitis, first of all they begin to treat the cause. And since it's mostly contagious, antibiotics are the main drug. Its choice depends primarily on the pathogen that was detected during diagnosis. It is best if they immediately make the determination of the sensitivity of the microorganism to antibacterial agents.
Then the treatment is more effective and shorter. Antibiotics can be prescribed using different routes of administration. With an asymptomatic course of the process, tablet forms are usually prescribed. When there is an exacerbation of the chronic process, they resort to injection drugs. Treatment of chronic prostatitis can involve several remedies at once.
An important component in the complex treatment are anti-inflammatory drugs. This is usually a class of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Vasodilators are also usually very necessary, they are used to improve blood supply to the pelvic organs and restore microcirculation. They prevent traffic jams.
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 this is the only way out. Among these methods, resection of the prostate gland is used. In some cases, it is necessary to surgically treat the complications that have arisen. This can be excision of a cyst or opening of an abscess.
The treatment of chronic prostatitis also includes various physical therapies. In order for a disease like chronic prostatitis to have a favorable prognosis, the detected disease should be treated immediately. The effectiveness of treatment should be monitored by a specialist after some time.