According to statistics, every third man of working age suffers from prostatitis at different periods of life. Persistent pain, impotence, infertility - this is not a complete list of problems that threaten patients in the absence of treatment. Due to the urgency and high risk of the disease, its symptoms and initial manifestations should be known by everyone. In this article, you will learn about all the signs and diagnostic methods that allow you to recognize prostatitis.
Clinical overview in the early stages of development
Prostatitis is an inflammatory lesion of the male prostate gland. The following forms of the disease are distinguished: acute and chronic bacterial prostatitis, chronic pelvic pain syndrome, asymptomatic prostatitis. Each form appears in different ways, has characteristic signs and features of the course.
It is difficult to say how the disease will continue in any particular person. The presence of certain signs depends on a number of external and internal factors. For ease of characterizing the pathology, it is customary to divide all the symptoms of prostatitis into 3 large groups: those associated with urinary disorders, sexual dysfunction, mental problems. The first and most significant symptoms of prostatitis (other than the asymptomatic form) may be the following signs in a man:
- Pain in the pelvis, back, groin area.
- Pain and burning during the act of urination.
- Difficulty passing urine.
- Feeling of incomplete emptying of the bladder and a wrong desire to urinate.
Pain in the pelvis, back, groin area, a feeling of incomplete emptying of the bladder and a false desire to urinate are signs of prostatitis.
The symptoms listed occur due to impaired urinary function, which is due to the anatomical features of the structure and location of the bladder and prostate gland. The signs of prostatitis associated with sexual dysfunction are also important and pronounced. Men most often make the following complaints:
- Poor erection.
- Rapid onset of ejaculation during sexual intercourse.
- Lack of orgasm or decreased sensitivity.
- Pain in the urethra and rectum in ejaculation.
Problems with urination and difficulties in intimate life due to inflammation of the prostate gland bother the man a lot. Patients with prostate are forced to change their lifestyle, deny themselves habits, family relationships become more complicated. Obsession with your problem provokes increased nervousness, anxiety, decreased libido, which can be called indirect signs of prostatitis, which belong to the third group of the above symptoms (mental disorders).
Prostatitis in men can often be confused with prostate adenoma or cancer, a bladder pathology. All these diseases appear similarly, especially in the initial stages. It is very difficult to distinguish them for an unprepared person, so the differential diagnosis is made by analyzing all the existing objective symptoms, laboratory and instrumental research data. Since each form of prostatitis has specific signs and characteristics, it is prudent to consider them separately.
Characteristics of certain forms of the disease
Acute prostatitis is an inflammation of the male prostate gland caused by the penetration of an infectious agent into the body through the blood, lymph or urethra. The disease begins suddenly and is characterized by the severity of all clinical signs. The main symptoms of acute prostatitis:
- Increase in body temperature to 39-40 degrees.
- Symptoms of general intoxication (headache, weakness, fatigue, decreased performance, etc. ).
- Severe pain in the perineum, sacrum, above a man's pubic joint.
- Frequent, painful urination.
- Sometimes men have urinary retention.
Temperature 39-40 is a clear sign of inflammation of the prostate gland.
Acute inflammation of the prostate gland ends, as a rule, with the recovery or chronicity of the process (symptoms can be disturbing for several months). But more often this form of prostatitis is primary and is a consequence of the presence of bad habits (alcohol abuse, smoking, and so on), a sedentary lifestyle, a lack of vitamins and minerals, prolonged sexual abstinence, or arises from a non-aggressive sexually transmitted infection or ingestion of normal microflora agents. The clinical picture of chronic prostatitis appears weaker in relation to the acute form, the symptoms of the disease are unstable, which greatly complicates the diagnosis. For the chronic form of prostatitis, the following symptoms are more typical:
- Increased desire to urinate, including at night.
- Pain when passing urine, and also when shedding.
- Dull aching pain in the lower back, pelvis, over the breast, etc.
Chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CPPS) in a man combines recurrent soreness in the prostate area, temporary urinary and reproductive system disorders. CPPS in medicine is a broader concept, as pathogenetically, the pathology can be based on a tumor or ischemic process, disorders of the nervous system and not just inflammation. The mismatch of the presence of signs of prostatitis in chronic pelvic pain syndrome significantly complicates the diagnosis, but is much more difficult to make in the asymptomatic form. In these cases, the main and decisive role is played by the data of laboratory and instrumental research methods.
Diagnostic techniques
Based on the symptoms of prostatitis alone, a definitive diagnosis cannot be made. In addition, physicians should collect anamnesis: information about the time of onset of symptoms, their connection to major and important events in life, physical and mental shocks, all possible predisposing factors are clarified, etc. A physiological examination is always performed - a digital examination of the colon in the elbow position of a sick person, lying on the arm with the legs bent or standing with the body bent forward. During this study, you can find characteristic signs of prostatitis (the presence of all is not necessary):
- Enlargement of the male sex gland in size.
- The shape of the organ is accurate or flattened with a depression.
- Durability worn or kneaded.
- Gentle borders of the prostate gland.
- Increased grief with pressure.
Further examination of a patient with symptoms of prostatitis is supplemented by laboratory methods. General and biochemical blood tests are prescribed - there are no specific changes in the indicators, only indirect signs that make it possible to judge the presence of an inflammatory process in a man's body (an increase in the number of leukocytes, acute phase proteins, accelerated ESR). The results of urine tests will be valid, which will make it possible to judge the presence of an infectious process in the genital tract, will help determine the pathogen for the initiation of etiological treatment. Furthermore, urologists may prescribe an analysis of the secretion of the prostate, the spermogram.
Among the instrumental methods for diagnosing prostate diseases, the most informative is TRUS - transrectal ultrasound. In this case, a special sensor is used, which the doctor inserts into the rectum. This causes concern for a sick person, but is offset by the information content of this method. With the help of TRUS it is possible to assess the structure of the organ, to judge the presence of tissue inflammation, the degree of narrowing of the urinary tract and to exclude the presence of stones. The main signs of prostate echo: enlargement of the organ in size, edema, fibrosis, changes in sclerotic tissue, granular and heterogeneous structure.
In addition, patients with symptoms of prostatitis undergo uroflowmetry - a special diagnostic manipulation in which a man's rate of urination is measured. Based on the data of this study, conclusions can be drawn about the degree of narrowing of the urethra, the activity of the detrusor. Uroflowmetry should not replace TRUS, but rather confirm the findings and signs of existing prostatitis.
The plan for a diagnostic examination for prostatitis can be expanded if shown to a man. To clarify the individual points regarding the diagnosis, cystoscopy, CT scan of the pelvis can be performed. In unclear cases, a biopsy is performed to differentiate with tumor processes.
What to do when the first symptoms appear
The biggest and most common mistake many men make when they have signs and symptoms of prostatitis is to wait. Each patient hopes that the unpleasant symptoms will be temporary and will soon disappear. Untreated prostatitis is dangerous to health, leads to irreversible changes in the body, which are fraught with impaired erection mechanism, infertility, or even worse - malignancy of the process (transition to cancer).
In order to prevent serious complications, any man at the first signs of prostatitis should consult a urologist who will prescribe treatment. First of all, men are given etiotropic therapy - anti-inflammatory drugs, antibiotics are used, measures are taken to strengthen the immune system. There is no need for an operation in the absence of complications. Men who have had prostate in the past are at risk, and have a high probability of recurrence, therefore, after recovery, a major role is given to prevention.