Fever is one of the most reliable signs of infection, but you don’t necessarily need to have a high body temperature to be diagnosed with a bacterial problem. Urinary infections are very common, but not in men. Prostate problems are more common in older adults, but prostatitis is different in that regard. There’s always an exception in health sciences, and prostatitis is a suitable example.
It is an infectious disease that rarely causes fever unless very severe and complicated. It is a disease that triggers urinary infection symptoms in males, but it is not considered a urinary infection. And it is the most common prostate ailment in young patients. It is actually far more common in youngsters than seniors.
Sure, prostatitis can be difficult to understand at first, but once you have the basics clear, it won’t be a problem. It is usually cured without much more than antibiotics, and most patients have a good prognosis. But there’s an exception there, too. Some patients develop a type of prostatitis with long-term symptoms that are difficult to treat and make their lives very difficult.
After reading this article, you will understand what prostatitis is, what causes prostatitis, and more.
What is prostatitis?
Prostatitis refers to the inflammation of the prostate gland. The prostate gland, located in the male reproductive system, is a walnut-sized gland in the base of the bladder. It secretes a fluid that helps to liquefy and expel sperm from the urethra during ejaculation.
Prostatitis is an umbrella term that includes different subtypes. They are:
- Acute bacterial prostatitis: As the name implies, this type of prostatitis is more likely to trigger acute symptoms, which means they appear all of a sudden. The inflammation is triggered by bacteria.
- Chronic bacterial prostatitis: In this case, acute bacterial prostatitis does not go away entirely. It keeps affecting the prostate for an extended period. Patients have recurrent symptoms, as we will describe later in this article.
- Chronic pelvic pain syndrome: It is a very complicated type of chronic prostatitis that is not always triggered by bacterial infections. It is often difficult to treat, and every patient should be managed individually over a long period to find ways to relieve their symptoms.
- Asymptomatic inflammatory prostatitis: This prostate inflammation gives you no symptoms at all. It could be one of the most common types of prostatitis, but it is rarely diagnosed.
The most common form is a chronic pelvic pain syndrome, which makes up 90% of cases in the United States. After that, acute bacterial prostatitis and chronic bacterial prostatitis have an incidence of nearly 5% each. Symptoms of acute prostatitis include painful urination, burning sensation on urination, fever, chills, back pain, nausea, and vomiting. Men with chronic prostatitis experience the same symptoms over a long period, as we will detail later on.