Prostatitis
Prostatitis literally refers to an inflammation within the prostate. Prostatitis is a very common condition for young men to suffer from, with almost 25% of all visits to Urologists being prostatitis related. It commonly affects men between 20-40 years old but is also found in young boys and teenagers as well as those in their advanced years.
Symptoms include pain in the following:
- Urethra (internal tube running along the inside of the penis)
- Tip of Penis
- Base of Penis
- Shaft of Penis (external to the penis)
- Rectum
- Inner thighs
- Testicles
- Perineum (surface discomfort)
- Prostate (felt as pain higher than the perineum [deeper, internal pain])
- Above the Pubic Bone (between the pubic bone and belly button)
- Lower Back
- Pubic Bone
And/Or…
- Increased urinary frequency
- Increased nocturnal urinary frequency
- Pain upon ejaculation
There are 4 classifications of prostatitis:
- Acute Bacterial Prostatitis – is caused by a bacterial infection within the urinary tract and more often within the prostate itself. Often treated with a dose of antibiotics, chronic bacterial prostatitis accounts for approximately 5-8% of all cases of prostatitis.
- Chronic Bacterial Prostatitis – is a chronic or recurrent infection of the prostate and urinary tract infection. Chronic Bacterial Prostatitis may also present with chills and fever and accounts for between 5-8% of all prostatitis cases
- Chronic Non Bacterial Prostatitis – is the most common form of prostatitis accounting for approximately 80-85% of all cases. It is as the name suggests, a non-bacterial form of prostatitis, so treatment with antibiotics will have no positive affect on the condition, unless there is a bladder or kidney infection involved. Chronic Non-Bacterial prostatitis is also known as Chronic pelvic pain syndrome CPPS. Overly tight pelvic floor muscles, congestion in the pelvic bowl and stagnation of blood and lymphatic fluid may all lead to or cause inflammation in the above mentioned areas causing, in many cases, continuous pain and discomfort.
- Asymptomatic Prostatitis – Is often found as a result of other pelvic, or urogenital examinations. It only accounts for 3-8% of all cases and is not properly understood. The patient presents with no symptoms but a slightly inflamed, although not painful, prostate.
