The most common urological disease in men is prostatitis, an inflammation of the prostate. The gland is located next to the urinary tract and the disease often arises due to an infection – bacteria, viruses or protozoa. Prostatitis is usually bacterial and, like any inflammation, is accompanied by severe pain. This is the first and most important symptom of the disease. Treatment prescribed by a doctor will relieve the pain caused by prostatitis. However, while you are waiting for the doctor, you can use methods that do not require medical intervention.
Appearance and location of the pain
Pain sensations vary depending on how active the inflammatory process is.
- In cases of acute prostatitis or an exacerbation of a chronic disease, pain usually occurs within a few hours. Most often it is localized in the perineum and can radiate to the glans, suprapubic region, anus or lower back. An acute process is the cause of severe pain that increases after urination or ejaculation. Urinating can also be painful.
- Chronic prostatitis often results in aching pain that gets worse, especially in the morning or when you sit for long periods of time.
- The patient feels the most intense sensations with a prostate abscess or with advanced acute prostatitis. The pain is very severe, throbbing or stabbing, sometimes accompanied by fever and fever. This condition requires immediate medical attention.
What to do if you have pain?
You shouldn't sit back and wait for the sensations to subside. Acute prostatitis requires qualified treatment by a doctor: the disease does not go away on its own and can become chronic without therapy. Chronic prostatitis is more difficult to treat and sometimes recurs. Its exacerbations are similar in symptoms to acute prostatitis and are relieved by medications prescribed by a urologist. You should not delay your visit to the doctor: the sooner treatment is started, the faster you can get rid of the disease. But while you wait to see a urologist, you can relieve some of the unpleasant symptoms at home. This does not eliminate the cause of the disease, but only improves the condition.
How to relieve pain from prostatitis
If the pain is caused by an acute process, it can be quickly and permanently eliminated only when the cause of the disease is eliminated. But you can weaken it. Recommendations are given by the doctor, but in general they boil down to a healthy lifestyle, the absence of hypothermia and bad habits.
Go if your condition allows it. According to some data, chronic prostatitis, including chronic pelvic pain syndrome, develops against the background of stagnation. When a man sits for a long time, the pressure on the prostate increases and congestion occurs in the pelvic area - this contributes to pain and worsening of the condition. Pain after sitting for a long time disappears when a person walks. Therefore, patients without exacerbations are recommended to maintain moderate physical activity and avoid stagnation. That is why physiotherapy and prostate massage are recommended to patients - they improve microcirculation and prevent stagnation. If it is an acute process, physical activity, especially with temperature and fever, is contraindicated. In such cases, it is rather recommended to stay in bed and seek emergency help if there are signs of sepsis such as high fever and body aches.
Drink more water. Prostatitis is often accompanied by damage to the urinary tract: pathogens accumulate in the urethra and urethra. Urethritis develops, which only increases the symptoms: going to the toilet is painful for a man, he feels pain and burning, frequent urges, sometimes incorrect or too intense. This condition also requires medication but can be relieved by drinking plenty of fluids and going to the toilet frequently. During illness, the body requires more water and frequent urination helps flush bacteria from the urethra and reduce inflammation. Even with prostatitis, bowel movements can be painful: drinking plenty of water helps to soften the stool and relieve the pain. For the same reason, doctors sometimes include laxatives in the treatment regimen, but they should not be used without the advice of a specialist.
Take painkillers. Analgesics should not be taken before examinations or visits to the doctor: they can mask the clinical picture. However, the doctor may prescribe painkillers to make the patient feel better. Try not to take medications without serious reasons. When treating chronic pelvic pain syndrome, urologists sometimes prescribe anxiolytics - medications that help relieve anxiety and depression that occur during long-term illness. You should not take such medications without a doctor's prescription.
Get tested. The urologist makes a diagnosis based on examinations, and if you have the opportunity and do not want to wait, get tested yourself. To diagnose prostatitis, not only microscopic but also bacteriological examinations of urine and semen are required. It is better to conduct a bacteriological examination to determine the sensitivity of the pathogen to an expanded spectrum of drugs - this will help the doctor prescribe more accurate treatment. Share the results with your urologist at your appointment. He will decipher them and, according to the results of the analysis, prescribe drug therapy.
What you shouldn't do during an acute process
Severe pain is usually associated with acute prostatitis or an exacerbation of chronic prostatitis. In this condition, the prostate is particularly at risk: even doctors recommend that patients be manipulated with caution. The patient himself must observe certain restrictions. We'll tell you what you should definitely not do to avoid unintentionally worsening your condition.
Administer antibiotics yourself. Do not take serious medications without a prescription! For acute and chronic bacterial prostatitis, a treatment regimen is prescribed by a urologist. As a rule, these are antibiotics to which the pathogen is sensitive, most often fluoroquinolones - they penetrate the prostate tissue better than others. But prostatitis is a disease that requires a thoughtful medical approach. The doctor determines both the duration of treatment and the dosage required to kill bacteria. Without medical training, it is difficult to determine such details yourself. Therefore, self-medication often results in bacteria not disappearing from the prostate but developing resistance to antibiotics. These forms of prostatitis are more difficult to treat and usually cause more concern.
Warm or cool the prostate. It may seem that heat and cold can relieve pain, but with bacterial inflammation they are, on the contrary, harmful. Heating an inflamed prostate increases blood flow and encourages bacteria to multiply, only making the condition worse. Cooling weakens local immunity and makes it harder to fight the pathogen. When treating chronic prostatitis, it is recommended to avoid hypothermia and overheating above body temperature. This also applies to the periods between exacerbations and during an acute process it is especially important to adhere to this rule.
Use physical therapy. Physiotherapeutic methods such as finger massage are used in the treatment of chronic prostatitis and chronic pelvic pain syndrome to prevent stagnation. However, their use during an exacerbation is harmful and even dangerous. Acute pain is a contraindication to any procedures: they can only increase it and worsen the patient's condition. And if an abscess is suspected, physical therapy can lead to a breakthrough and significantly worsen the symptoms. It is better to resort to massage and other therapeutic methods under medical supervision after the condition has stabilized.
drink alcohol. A man might think that alcohol will help him ease the pain at home. However, alcohol is strictly contraindicated in acute inflammation. Patients, on the other hand, are recommended to exclude from the diet all foods that irritate the urinary tract: spicy, fatty, salty. Following a diet is much more effective at relieving pain, but alcohol only does more harm.
Prevention of pain in prostatitis
Even if you suffer from chronic prostatitis, you can reduce the number of exacerbations to a minimum. In remission, the disease hardly bothers the patient; pain is usually accompanied by an exacerbation or a subacute process. For long-term remission, a number of recommendations should be followed.
Don't get too cold. Doctors advise dressing warmly in cold weather, not staying out in the cold for too long, and not sitting in the cold. Hypothermia leads to a decrease in local immunity, which can lead to exacerbation.
Be physically active. A risk factor for the occurrence and worsening of prostatitis is congestion. People who lead an active lifestyle are less prone to stagnation. Chronic prostatitis is characterized by a weakening of muscle tone - physical activity can help prevent this outcome.
Get physical therapy and massage. Not all sources confirm the effectiveness of physiotherapy, but in some cases it can alleviate the condition of patients. To prevent stagnation, massage is necessary, as is physical activity. As a rule, a classic digital rectal massage is prescribed, but if the patient cannot constantly go to the doctor, self-massage devices are available to him.
Stick to a diet. To alleviate the symptoms, the doctor recommends drinking plenty of fluids and avoiding spicy and salty foods in your diet. It is recommended to get rid of bad habits.
Pay attention to sexual hygiene. Intimate hygiene, especially after sexual intercourse, prevents bacteria from entering the urethra and rising to the prostate. To prevent infections, you should not neglect it and use barrier protection during sexual intercourse.
Bottom line
Do not worry. Prostatitis pain is a very unpleasant phenomenon, but treatable. Remember that reduction at home does not eliminate the cause of the disease: be sure to consult a doctor, get tested and start therapy. Only qualified treatment will help you overcome the problem and return to a fulfilling life.