The most common urological disease in men is prostatitis, inflammation of the prostate gland. The gland is located next to the urinary tract, and the disease often occurs due to infection - bacteria, viruses or protozoa. Prostatitis is usually bacterial, and, like any inflammation, is accompanied by acute pain. This is the first and main symptom of the disease. Treatment prescribed by a doctor will help relieve pain due to prostatitis, but while waiting for the doctor, you can use methods that do not require medical intervention.
Appearance and localization of pain
Pain sensations vary depending on how active the inflammatory process is.
- In acute prostatitis or exacerbation of a chronic disease, pain usually appears within a few hours. Most often it is localized in the perineum, and can radiate to the head of the penis, suprapubic region, anus or lower back. An acute process is the cause of severe pain, which becomes more intense after urination or ejaculation. Urination can also be painful.
- With chronic prostatitis, aching pain often occurs, intensifying especially in the morning or due to being in a sitting position for a long time.
- The patient experiences the most intense sensations with a prostate abscess or with advanced acute prostatitis. The pain is very severe, throbbing or shooting, sometimes accompanied by fever and fever. This condition requires an immediate visit to the doctor.
What to do if there is pain
You shouldn’t sit back and wait on your own for the sensations to subside. Acute prostatitis requires qualified treatment from a doctor: the disease will not go away on its own, and in the absence of therapy it can become chronic. Chronic prostatitis is more difficult to treat and sometimes recurs. Its exacerbations resemble acute prostatitis in symptoms and are relieved with 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 will not get rid of the cause of the disease - it will only improve the condition.
How to relieve pain with prostatitis
If the pain is caused by an acute process, it will not be possible to quickly and permanently get rid of it until 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.
Walk if your condition allows. Chronic prostatitis, including chronic pelvic pain syndrome, according to some data, develops against the background of stagnation. If a man sits for a long time, the pressure on the prostate gland increases, and congestion forms in the pelvic area - this contributes to pain and worsening of the condition. The pain after sitting for a long time goes away if a person walks, so patients without exacerbations are advised to maintain moderate physical activity and avoid stagnation. That’s why patients are advised to undergo physiotherapy and prostate massage – they improve microcirculation and prevent stagnation. If we are talking about an acute process, physical activity is contraindicated, especially with temperature and fever. In such cases, it is recommended, on the contrary, to remain in bed, and if there are signs of sepsis such as high fever and body pain, seek emergency help.
Drink more water. Prostatitis is often accompanied by damage to the urinary tract: pathogens accumulate in the urethra and urethra. Urethritis develops, which only intensifies the symptoms: it is painful for a man to go to the toilet, he feels pain and burning, frequent urges, sometimes false or too intense. This condition also requires medication, but it can be alleviated by drinking plenty of fluids and going to the toilet frequently. During illness, the body needs more water, and frequent urination helps flush bacteria from the urethra and reduce inflammation. During prostatitis, defecation can also be painful: drinking plenty of water will help soften the stool and ease 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 used before taking tests or visiting a doctor: they can blur the clinical picture. But the doctor may prescribe pain relievers to make the patient feel better. Try not to use medications without serious reasons. In the treatment of chronic pelvic pain syndrome, urologists sometimes prescribe anxiolytics - drugs that help relieve anxiety and depression that occur during a 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, urine and seminal fluid examinations are needed, not only microscopic, but also bacteriological. It is better to perform a bacteriological study to determine the sensitivity of the pathogen to an expanded range of drugs - this will help the doctor prescribe more accurate treatment. Give the results to your urologist at your appointment. He will decipher them and prescribe drug therapy in accordance with the results of the analysis.
What not to do during an acute process
Severe pain is usually associated with acute prostatitis or exacerbation of chronic prostatitis. In this condition, the prostate is especially vulnerable: even doctors are advised to manipulate patients with caution. The patient himself must observe certain restrictions. We’ll tell you what you should never do, so as not to inadvertently worsen your condition.
Self-administer antibiotics. 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, it consists of 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 needed to kill bacteria. It is difficult to determine such details on your own, without a medical education. Therefore, self-medication often leads to the fact that bacteria do not disappear from the prostate, but become resistant to antibiotics. These forms of prostatitis are more difficult to treat, and they usually cause more concern.
Warm or cool the prostate. It may seem that heat and cold can soothe pain, but in conditions of bacterial inflammation, they are, on the contrary, harmful. Heating an inflamed prostate increases blood circulation and helps bacteria multiply, therefore only worsening the condition. Cooling weakens local immunity, and it fights the pathogen worse. In the treatment of chronic prostatitis, it is recommended to avoid hypothermia and overheating above body temperature. This applies even to periods between exacerbations, and during an acute process it is especially important to follow the 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, but using them during an exacerbation is harmful and even dangerous. Acute pain is a contraindication to any interventions: they can only intensify it and worsen the patient’s condition. And if an abscess is suspected, physical therapy can lead to its breakthrough, seriously aggravating the problems. It is better to turn to massage and other therapeutic methods under the supervision of a doctor after the condition has stabilized.
Drinking alcohol. A man may think that alcohol will help him relieve pain at home. But alcohol in acute inflammation is strictly contraindicated. Patients, on the contrary, are recommended to exclude from the diet all foods that irritate the urinary tract: spicy, fatty, salty. Following a diet is much more effective in relieving pain, but alcohol will only do more harm.
Prevention of pain with prostatitis
Even if you have chronic prostatitis, you can reduce the number of exacerbations to a minimum. In remission, the disease hardly bothers the patient; pain is usually associated with an exacerbation or 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 in the cold for a long time and not sitting in the cold. Hypothermia entails a decrease in local immunity, which can provoke an exacerbation.
Be physically active. A risk factor for the occurrence and exacerbation of prostatitis is congestion. People who lead an active lifestyle are less susceptible to stagnation. Chronic prostatitis is characterized by a weakening of muscle tone - physical activity will 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. Massage, like physical activity, is needed to prevent stagnation. As a rule, a classic digital rectal massage is prescribed, but if the patient cannot constantly go to the doctor, he is able to use self-massage devices.
Stick to a diet. Drinking plenty of fluids and avoiding spicy and salty foods in the diet is a doctor’s recommendation to alleviate the condition. It is recommended to get rid of bad habits.
Maintain sexual hygiene. Intimate hygiene, especially after sexual intercourse, prevents bacteria from entering the urethra and rising up to the prostate. To prevent infections, do 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 ways to reduce it at home will not remove the cause of the disease: be sure to consult a doctor, get tested and start a course of therapy. Only qualified treatment will help you cope with the problem and return to a full life.