Urethritis is considered one of the most common pathologies of the male genitourinary sphere. Acute urethritis is an inflammation of the urethra. Pathology can be specific or nonspecific, depending on the type of inflammation that caused the inflammation. Urethritis of a specific nature always occurs against the background of an infection characterized by the sexual mode of transmission. Nonspecific urethritis is provoked by conditionally pathogenic organisms that permanently reside in the body of healthy people, but under certain circumstances may become the culprits of inflammatory pathologies.
Clinical picture of urethritis
The first sign that causes a man to suspect the development of urethritis is a feeling of discomfort in the process of urination. Over time, when the disease gradually progresses, the symptoms are supplemented by soreness in the urethra and burning sensation. Sometimes acute urethritis is accompanied by unpleasant pulling sensations in the area of the perineum, groin or above the pubis, which occur only during the emptying of the bladder.
Then, men notice the appearance of specific secretions from the urethra that have a whitish or greenish hue, depending on the particular pathogen that provoked the development of urethritis. If the pathology was triggered by a nonspecific bacterial infection, the patient's discharge is abundant, purulent-mucous with a greenish tinge. With gonorrheal form of the disease, the discharge will be a greyish-yellow hue, with a trichomonadal - light whitish.
Sometimes patients note that the external sponges on the head of the penis on waking stick together and blush, which is associated with secretions. For a man, the appearance of such a symptom should be a signal for an immediate visit to a urologist or a venereologist.
The following symptoms of acute urethritis can be distinguished:
- Itching sensation in the genitals;
- Burning and soreness in the urethra in the process of emptying the bladder and after it;
- Increased urge to urinate;
- Bloody substances in semen and urine;
- The onset of soreness during sexual contact associated with hypersensitivity and swelling of the penis;
- Hyperemia around the opening of the urethra;
- Appearance of secretions( especially after awakening), consisting of mucus or pus and having an unpleasant specific odor;
- Sponge adhesion on the head of the penis.
Regarding the general state of health, men do not notice any characteristic changes. Patients do not experience weakness, no fever, etc. Occasionally, urethritis can start and develop for some time secretly, asymptomatically. This circumstance becomes the cause of the onset of the disease and its transition into a chronic course.
If the nature of the pathology is infectious, then within 4-6 days( from the moment of infection) the patient can detect the first manifestations characterizing the development of the disease. There were cases when the disease made itself felt after a few hours after infection.
Causes of the disease
Urethritis infection usually occurs with sexual contact without adequate protection from a partner who has urethritis. Among the most common infections, most often the causes of urethritis are: adenovirus, ureaplasma, herpes, papilloma, trichomonads, gonococci, yeast fungi, E. coli, chlamydia, streptococci, trichomonads, etc. For a long time the disease can not detect itself or have mild symptoms. What is characteristic, infected, not knowing about its infectiousness, continues to infect all sex partners without exception.
If the urethritis of infectious etiology, then its incubation and further development are completely dependent on the infection that caused it. If the urethritis of gonorrheal etiology, then its incubation will take a week, a rare time it lasts up to several weeks.
Depending on the etiology, urethritis can be non-infectious or infectious. An infectious pathology can provoke a rather wide range of pathogens. This and gonococci, and viruses, trichomonads and mycoplasmas, ureaplasmas and chlamydia, gardnerelles, etc. Among nonspecific pathogens of the disease are more common staphylococci and streptococci, E. coli. Since they are men, the urethritis is mainly infectious, although a non-infectious disease is common, when it is caused by various kinds of stagnation in the pelvic blood system, allergic responses, pathological narrowing of the urethra, etc. It is not uncommon for cases of acute urethritisdevelops in the stronger sex against the background of various kinds of urethral injuries, the causes of which are caused by cystoscopy, catheterization or kamproposal.
Often the cause of the development of an infectious-inflammatory process is a disturbed material exchange. In the presence of oxalic, uric and phosphoric acid salts that accompany urolithiasis, the mucous urethra is irritating, resulting in an inflammatory process. In addition, particles of stones and sand passing through the genitourinary tracts injure the walls of the urethra, which causes the inflammation process.
The development of urethritis can be caused by promiscuous sexual intercourse, hypothermia, psycho-emotional shakes, etc.
The danger of pathology lies in its ability to spread to organs lying near the source of infection. In relation to men, it can be said that the various inflammatory processes developing in the urethra can occur only with a characteristic decrease in the immunity of the urethral wall. They are constantly experiencing attacks of infectious agents that penetrate homogenous and lymphogenous pathways, as well as from the surface of the skin or from the intestine. Even with banal sex, a lot of infectious pathogens are thrown into the urethra.
With normal immunity, the urethral walls easily defeat infectious attacks, so the man does not affect most infections. But if the immune defense under the influence of some factors gives the slack, then the urethra begins the inflammatory process. Such factors include alcohol abuse, overly active sex life, hobby for sharp dishes, which irritate the mucous lining of the urethral wall. And if you add inadequate drinking and irregular urination, then for genitourinary bacteria these conditions are almost ideal for reproduction and further development.
The cause of the development of pathology can not be one infection, but their totality. In addition, other pathological microorganisms, such as bacteria, viruses or fungi, can also exist.
How to treat
Treatment of urethritis involves several areas of therapy: instillation, immunostimulation, antibiotic therapy, etc.
The basis of therapy for urethritis is medication. The drugs of choice depend on the specific causative agent of pathology. Duration of treatment is highly individual and takes from several days to a certain number of weeks - depends on the severity of the course of the disease.
Antiseptic treatment is used for the therapy of urethritis. It can be flushing the head of the penis with a furatsilinovogo solution, half-hour baths with antiseptic solutions, etc. Often in the treatment of male urethritis applied instillation. The technique involves the introduction of liquid medications into the urethra and bladder cavity. The technique is characterized by increased efficiency due to the fact that the action of the tool is of a local nature. The undoubted advantage of the technique is the absence of adverse reactions to the use of the drug. An important factor is that the therapeutic effect of this technique is several times higher than other methods of therapy.
The most effective in the treatment of urethritis are antimicrobial agents from the group of fluoroquinols. Among the representatives of this group, the most effective drugs are Ciprofloxacin, Ofloxacin, Lemofloxacin. It is quite justified to use funds from a group of macrolides like Clarithromycin or Azithromycin. Sometimes the therapeutic effect is limited to the use of Doxycycline .In the case of trichomonas etiology of urethritis, the treatment is performed with metronidazole preparations. If urethritis develops against the background of gonococcal exposure, then the treatment is based on penicillin-type drugs.
In addition to antibiotic drugs, the therapy of urethritis is based on the use of immunostimulants, antiallergic agents( chloropyramine) and a complex of vitamins.
Warning! In the treatment of acute urethritis, categorically contraindicated physiotherapeutic procedures. It is not recommended to carry out infusion of drugs into the urethral cavity.
What happens if you do not treat
If the flow of urethritis is neglected, then from the urethra the infection will move to the tissues and organs near the inflammation: the prostate, bladder, scrotum, etc. As a result, prostatitis, epididymitis, orchitis and others can developpathology. As a serious complication is often stricture - a pathological narrowing of the urethra. A man will notice such changes when he has a drop in urinary output. Solve the problem can only surgery, meaning the restoration of normal urethral patency.
Another very dangerous complication of urethritis is colliculitis, an inflammation of the seminal tubercle, which is manifested by a searing or piercing soreness that radiates to the scrotum, lower abdomen, perineum or thigh.
