Prostatitis

Prostatitis is a prostate infection that tends to occur in young and middle-age guys. But older men can get it, too.

Here’s a little male plumbing information: The prostate is part of the male reproductive system that’s located between the bladder and the base of the penis. The urethra, which carries urine from your bladder and semen from your sex glands out through the penis, runs through the center of the prostate. That’s why a prostate infection can cause urinary problems.

According to the Urology Care Foundation, there are three different types of prostatitis:

• Bacterial prostatitis is a severe urinary tract infection. The symptoms include painful urination, inability to empty the bladder, pain in the lower back, abdomen or pelvic area, and fever and chills.
• Chronic prostatitis is the most common types of prostatitis. The disease could stem from persistent infection, inflammation and/or pelvic muscle spasms. Patients experiencing symptoms may feel pain in the genitals and pelvic area, have difficulty or pain urinating, and sometimes pain during ejaculation.
• Asymptomatic inflammatory prostatitis is prostatitis without symptoms, despite an inflammation of the prostate.

Causes

Bacterial infections get into the prostate from the urethra through the backward flow of infected urine into the prostate ducts. Chronic bacterial prostatitis can be caused by chlamydia (an STD), mycoplasma or ureaplasma (bacteria transmitted through sexual relations) or by a chemical or an immunologic reaction to an initial injury or previous infection. Bacterial prostatitis isn’t contagious and isn’t a sexually transmitted disease. A sexual partner can’t contract the infection.

Treatment Options

See your Bellin Health primary care physician if you’re experiencing any symptoms. Your doctor will perform a physical exam, collect a urine sample, and examine your prostate gland and collect a blood sample for a PSA test.

If you’re diagnosed with bacterial prostatitis, your doctor may recommend the following options:

• Antibiotics for two to 12 weeks. This does the trick in three quarters of the cases.
• You may be asked to cut back on spicy foods, coffee, caffeinated soft drinks or high acidic drinks
• Intravenous antibiotics in more serious cases.
• In rare cases, your doctor may recommend surgery on either the urethra or prostate.

Call a Bellin Health Primary Care Physician

If you’re experiencing symptoms of prostatitis, get the guidance you need from a Bellin primary care physician.

Call Bellin Health On-Call 24/7 at (920) 445-7373 for more information and to make an appointment.