What are the symptoms of prostatitis?

Prostatitis is a relatively common urinary and reproductive system disease. Prostatitis is generally divided into chronic prostatitis and acute prostatitis. If acute prostatitis is not treated in time, it will develop into chronic prostatitis. In recent years, the incidence of prostatitis has been getting higher and higher, and it is also getting younger and younger. There are many causes of prostatitis. If prostatitis is not treated in time, it will not only affect men's health, but also affect fertility.

What are the main symptoms of prostatitis?

1. Acute bacterial prostatitis occurs suddenly, with chills and high fever, frequent urination, urgency, and pain when urinating. Dysuria or acute urinary retention may occur. Clinically, it is often accompanied by acute cystitis. The prostate is swollen, tender, and has a local increase in temperature. The surface is smooth, and if an abscess is formed, there is a feeling of fullness or fluctuation.

2. Chronic bacterial prostatitis is characterized by frequent urination, urgency, pain, and urethral discomfort or burning during urination. White discharge often flows out of the urethra after urination and defecation. Sometimes there may be hematospermia, perineal pain, sexual dysfunction, and neuropsychiatric symptoms. The prostate gland is full, enlarged, soft and slightly tender. In patients with a long course of disease, the prostate gland shrinks, becomes hard, has an incomplete surface, and has small nodules.

3. The clinical manifestations of chronic non-bacterial prostatitis and prostatitis are similar to those of chronic bacterial prostatitis, but there is no history of recurrent urinary tract infections. The main symptoms are urinary tract irritation and dysuria, especially the manifestations of chronic pelvic pain syndrome. Mycoplasma and Chlamydia can be cultured in the prostatic fluid of some patients.

If prostatitis is not treated properly, it may be accompanied by some complications.

1. The main complications that acute prostatitis may cause are

(1) Acute urinary retention: Acute prostatitis causes local congestion, swelling, and compression of the urethra, resulting in difficulty in urination or acute urinary retention.

(2) Acute seminal vesiculitis or epididymitis and vas deferens: Acute inflammation of the prostate can easily spread to the seminal vesicles, causing acute seminal vesiculitis. At the same time, bacteria can retrograde through the lymphatic vessels into the wall layer and outer sheath of the vas deferens, causing epididymitis.

(3) Spermatic lymph node enlargement or tenderness: The prostate gland and spermatic lymph nodes have communicating branches in the pelvis. When the prostate gland is acutely inflamed, the spermatic cord will be affected, causing the spermatic lymph nodes to swell and become tender.

(4) Sexual dysfunction: During the acute inflammatory phase, the prostate becomes congested, edematous, or small abscesses are formed. Symptoms may include painful ejaculation, painful erections, decreased libido, dyspareunia, impotence, and hematospermia.

(5) Others: Severe cases of acute prostatitis may be accompanied by renal colic.

The above symptoms are not present in all cases. In the early stages, some cases only have fever and urethral burning sensation, which are mistaken for colds. Acute bacterial prostatitis may also be complicated by orchitis, seminal vesiculitis and vas deferensitis.

2. Complications of chronic prostatitis include

Impact on sexual function and fertility: The main manifestation is sexual dysfunction, such as short intercourse time or premature ejaculation, which may be related to inflammatory stimulation of the prostate. The relationship between impotence and prostatitis is still uncertain. Chronic prostatitis does not directly damage the neurovascular function of penile erection. Long-term discomfort creates psychological pressure on patients, causing them to feel inhibited and worried. Especially for patients who do not understand the disease, they often think that there is something wrong with their sexual function. Over time, it may cause psychological impotence. Hematospermia may occur when prostatitis is complicated by seminal vesiculitis.

The main component of semen is prostatic fluid, and sperm discharged from the testicles and epididymis must be nourished and transported by seminal plasma including prostatic fluid before they have the ability to combine with the egg. The semen routine examination of patients with chronic prostatitis often shows low sperm motility and high mortality rate. The incidence of infertility in patients with prostatitis is significantly higher than that in the normal population.