Urethritis refers to inflammation in the urethra of a chronic or acute course. Urethritis in men can develop as an infectious and as non-infectious pathology, and each form has its own etiology. For the disease is characterized by the sexual way of transmission. Diagnosis of the disease is more common in relatively young patients who live an active sex life. Inflammation of the urethra is not dangerous for the patient's life, but for the period of treatment the patient will have to lead an ascetic lifestyle, eliminating sexual contacts.
Symptomatic manifestations of
The incubation period largely depends on the inflammatory process of the pathogen provoked and can be 3-8 days after infection. The main symptom that characterizes urethritis in men is discharge with purulent impurities, emerging from the urethra. Such secretions may have a pale yellow or greenish-yellow hue. Acute urethritis begins with sudden burning, painful sensations and itching when the bladder is emptied. Usually, these symptoms begin at the beginning of the urine release process. On the edges of the opening of the urethra appear characteristic signs of inflammation, the patient notices that they often stick together. The inflammatory process is usually accompanied by purulent discharge, although it happens that all the listed signs disturb the patient without purulent discharge.
The incubation period in some cases can be reduced to several hours, and in some strains it stretches to several months.
Depending on the severity of symptomatic manifestations, urethritis is acute and chronic. The acute form of urethritis is characterized by a burning sensation and a painful syndrome that occurs when the bladder is emptied. As already indicated, the purulent contents begin to be released from the urethra. The edges of the urethral opening are swollen, hyperemia appears, inflammation develops in the walls of the urethra canal. Even with a slight pressure on the head of the penis, purulent contents are released.
On awakening a man can detect characteristic purulent spots on the underwear. With palpation, a certain density of the urethra can be palpated. When the patient's disease is neglected, the frequent urge to empty the bladder starts to disturb, the temperature may rise, and the tenderness is clearly felt in the urethra. Urination can end with the release of a small amount of bloody impurities.
Because of insufficient treatment, or its complete absence, the disease takes on a chronic form, in which the appearance of symptoms requires the influence of provoking factors. Typical insignificant discharges can appear against the background of abuse of alcoholic products, hypothermia, etc. Over time, the exacerbation may pass, but if new factors arise, it will appear again. If the chronic form has a prolonged course, the stricture of the urethra can begin, at which the urethral lumen narrows, there is difficulty urinating and soreness. There are many etiological factors explaining the occurrence of a male urethritis:
- The main cause of urethritis is the infection of a venereal disease with unprotected sex.
- Less infectious inflammation occurs against the background of neglect of personal intimate hygiene.
- Infectious agents can also penetrate the urethra of a male from the organs above( prostate, testicles, etc.), or infection occurs homogeneously or lymphogenically from more distant infectious foci in the body. As distant infectious foci may be inflamed tonsils or glands, dental inflammatory diseases, purulent sinusitis, sinusitis, etc.
- It happens that the disease develops against the background of metabolic disorders or diabetes.
- The occurrence of urethritis in urolithiasis is possible, which is associated with the movement of pebbles or sand along the urethra, which causes damage to the walls of the urethra.
- It happens that the occurrence of the disease contributes to an overactive sex life, or its inconsistency.
- Promotes the development of urethritis and the use of certain products, among which marinades, sour-salted and spicy dishes are leading.
Classification of urethritis
There are urethritis in men of primary and secondary form. Primary urethritis is characterized by an inflammatory beginning in the urethra itself, which usually occurs after sexual intercourse with an infected partner. With urethritis of the secondary form, infectious processes enter the urethra from another organ, where there is an inflammatory focus( prostate, bladder or testis).
Urethritis in men is divided into 2 large groups: specific and nonspecific urethritis. The emergence of a specific form of the disease is facilitated by infectious pathologies transmitted through sexual intercourse. Among such pathologies, the most common are viruses like ureaplasma, gonococcus, Trichomonas or herpes. Much less often, these infections can be caused by chlamydia, mycoplasma or gardnerella. The provoking factor of nonspecific urethritis is usually a conditionally pathogenic microflora such as streptococci, staphylococci, fungi and E. coli.
Also, urethritis can be infectious and non-infectious. From the name it is clear that the emergence of infectious urethritis contributes to all kinds of infections. Noninfectious form can develop with physical trauma to the urethra. Such phenomena can be observed during chemical or thermal exposure, impact, and also during diagnostic procedures. It happens that noninfectious form becomes allergic when it occurs as a result of reaction to medicinal or food allergens.
Therapeutic measures
The basis for the treatment of all forms of urethritis is antibiotic therapy with a preliminary antibioticogram designed to determine the sensitivity to various antibiotic preparations of the urethritis pathogen. For the time that an antibioticogram is made, antibiotics with a wide spectrum of action are prescribed to the patient. Usually, these are semi-synthetic penicillins, which have a strong effect on pathogens( Augmentin or Amoxiclav).
It is not recommended to start taking any medications before visiting the urologist, as taking these drugs can affect the picture of the disease, distorting it, which complicates the diagnosis.
If treatment with penicillin drugs is ineffective, then antibiotics are prescribed more potent. Usually, these are preparations of a number of fluoroquinolones( Ofloxacin) or cephalosporins( Ceftriaxone).Additional therapeutic procedures such as washing the urethra with antiseptic drugs( Furacilin, Dekasan) are also prescribed. According to the patients' feedback, this procedure is extremely unpleasant, so it is better to entrust it to professionals.
Part of the treatment is a special diet that requires the exclusion of products that increase the secretion of the mucus of the urethra. These products include a variety of seasonings and spices.
