Author: Laurel

The word “prostatitis” simply means swelling of the prostate which is a small gland that is situated between the penis and bladder. Its function is to produce a thick liquid that is mixed with sperm in order to create semen. Unfortunately, such condition as prostatitis can develop in men of various ages.

How to recognize prostatitis: signs and symptoms

The most frequently experienced symptoms are the following:

• Pain during the urination;
• Painful feelings in the pelvis, buttocks and genitals;
• A constant need to pee;
• Pains during the ejaculation, which can be the sign of erectile dysfunction or libido loss;
• Blood in the urine, weak stream of urine (references are introduced by nhs.com)

In some cases there can appear fever, flushed face, high temperature and aches in muscles.

What exactly causes the condition?

Speaking about the causes, it’s necessary to take into consideration the following ones:

• Infections that are transmissed through unprotected sexual intercourse (for instance gonorrhea and chlamydia);
• Having some sex practices such as anal sex without a condom;
• Having multiple amount of sexual partners;
• Blocks that spoil the regular flow of urine from the bladder;
• Phimosis, which means impossibility of the penis’ foreskin to be pulled back;
• Injury/trauma of the spot between the anus and scrotum.

The men over 50 with the enlarged prostate are also at a risk of developing the prostatitis.

Is there a special classification of prostatitis?

The National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney diseases has made a classification of this condition in 1999. It includes four main kinds:

1. Bacterial prostatitis (acute). The main cause is certainly the bacteria and the condition starts with symptoms similar to flu. But in men it appears quite rarely.
2. Asymptomatic inflammatory prostatitis. It is revealed when being checked on male infertility or prostate cancer. The patients with such type of prostatitis won’t experience any symptoms or feel discomfort but there will exist some infection-fighting cells in their semen.
3. Bacterial prostatitis (at a chronic stage). Recurrent bacterial infections exist in this case but the patient doesn’t feel any major changes in his condition or feels minor symptoms. Anyway, the condition is hard to treat.
4. Chronic prostatitis, which is also referred to as chronic pelvis pain syndrome. Most of men having prostatitis experience this one. However, it hasn’t been carefully studied yet. The symptoms can come or remain chronically. The condition may be noninflammatory or inflammatory (medicinenet.com).

The ways to treat prostatitis

The most widely used medicine to treat prostatitis are antibiotics. If the case is acute prostatitis, the antibiotics have to be taken from 2 to 6 weeks. If the case is chronic prostatitis, the time of such therapy will increase up to 12 weeks. In some cases the symptoms may appear again after you stop taking the medicine.

The recommendations to stick to at home to cure the condition include taking warm baths to achieve relaxation and relieve pain, use stool softeners to ease bowel movements. It is also useful to avoid consumption of alcohol, caffeine, citruses, spicy foods. One more advice given here is to drink enough fluids a day to assist  flushing the bacteria out of the bladder.

In general, it’s necessary to say that this condition can be treated nowadays and it doesn’t that threaten to man’s life. The best thing is to consult your doctor the sooner the better when you notice the first symptoms. He will prescribe the right treatment and definitely help you.