Cystitis in men is a disease of an infectious or non-infectious nature, characterized by an inflammatory process in the bladder mucosa. According to statistics, women are more likely to experience cystitis, but, nevertheless, sometimes men also have to experience all the "charms" of this pathology.
Representatives of the stronger sex rarely suffer from this disease due to the peculiarities of the structure of their urinary tract, which is much larger than the female, and therefore it is very difficult to infect the bladder with bacteria. And even if the bacteria penetrate the urethra, they cannot move further along the urethra and are often completely washed out of the urethra with a stream of urine.
Therefore, representatives of the stronger sex may face this pathology only in a few cases:
- if their immunity is significantly reduced;
- if the infection has penetrated the urinary tract in large quantities.
The reasons
Doctors talk about two main forms of this disease in men - acute and chronic. The acute form is characterized by the severity of clinical symptoms, and chronic cystitis in men can develop for years with subtle symptoms, with periodic exacerbation.
Several factors can cause the disease:
- kidney and ureter infections.
- chronic foci of infection in the body.
- genital infections;
- radiation exposure;
- the presence of prostatitis or urethritis.
- sepsis;
- cyst entry of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
- allergic reactions.
The main predisposing factor for the development of cystitis is hypothermia, during which this disease can occur in people with reduced immunity. In addition, cystitis is often treated by men suffering from pathologies such as prostate adenoma or cancer of this organ.
As for the pathogen that causes acute cystitis, it is mainly Proteus, but pathology can also occur due to exposure to coca, E. coli and other bacterial infections.
varieties
As mentioned above, cystitis in men is classified into acute and chronic. But these two main types of pathology also have their own varieties. Thus, acute cystitis can be:
- single;
- rare;
- hang out.
When they say the disease occurs rarely, they mean the frequency of occurrence 1 time a year or less, and when they say often, it is supposed to be 2 times a year or more often.
As for chronic cystitis, it also comes in several varieties:
- latent, i. e. progressing without severe symptoms or no symptoms at all, but nevertheless with periods of exacerbation occurring from one to several times a year.
- persistent, in which signs of the disease appear 2-3 times a year.
- intermediate, characterized by regular exacerbations (more often than 3 times a year) and the presence of pain and general symptoms (weakness, fever, etc. ).
Interstitial cystitis is the most serious form of this pathology and is much more difficult to treat than other forms of the disease.
It must be said that when the pathology is divided into acute and chronic cystitis, then the main criterion is not the number of exacerbations per year, but the changes that occur with the mucous membrane of the affected organ. Specifically, in chronic pathology, the mucous membrane undergoes changes, its structure and color change.
In addition to the varieties described above, this disease in men is divided into two types, depending on the nature of the incident. It can be either primary or secondary cystitis.
They talk about the primary when the disease appeared for the first time and its appearance is not associated with pathological processes inside the body. Secondary cystitis develops as a consequence of other diseases of the internal organs and bladder. In particular, injuries of the bladder, presence of stones, tumors in the organ, entry of foreign bodies, etc. (causes of cystic origin) or prostatitis, diseases of the spine and other diseases (causes of non-vesicular origin . ) can lead to its appearance.
And the last classification of this pathology in men is the distinction of three forms of pathology, depending on the affected area of the bladder. Thus, if the neck of the organ is affected, they talk about cervical cystitis, if the triangle of the bladder is affected - about scenitis, and when the walls of the organ are involved in the process - about diffuse cystitis.
Types of inflammatory processes
Such a pathology as cystitis in men can develop in different scenarios. The most favorable course is catarrhal, in which there are no changes in the mucous membrane of the bladder and it is merely hyperemic. With an inflammatory course, the disease is accompanied by the release of a large amount of pus in the urine and with hemorrhagic blood impurities (due to injury to the bladder mucosa).
Also, there are such forms of the disease as:
- cystic;
- gangrenous;
- ulcerative.
There are also rare types of this pathology in medical practice, for example, cystitis that develops with purpura and others.
Main symptoms
Cystitis has a specific symptomatology, which is difficult to confuse with the symptoms of other diseases. In particular, patients complain of painful and frequent urination, after which the desire to urinate again does not stop. There is also a burning sensation in the urethra, impurities in the urine of pus or blood, a change in the color and smell of the urine.
In most cases, common symptoms of cystitis in men also appear, such as hyperthermia, weakness, fatigue, muscle and joint pain, pain in the groin, scrotum and penis, as well as in the suprapubic area.
For the diagnosis of pathology, it is not enough that there are only signs of the disease - usually, patients are also shown studies such as a general blood and urine test, a urine culture for microflora and a PCR test.
Renal ultrasound, cystoscopy and cystography are also shown.
Treatment
If we talk about the treatment of cystitis in men, then it depends on the form of the disease. Only a urologist should treat this pathology - self-medication can lead to the development of complications. Acute cystitis is treated according to one regimen, and chronic cystitis according to another. In acute cases, the patient is prescribed bed rest, plenty of warm drink, as well as certain medications. In particular, painkillers and antispasmodics are indicated to relieve the symptom of pain and antibacterial drugs to destroy the infection.
Diet is important - it is necessary to exclude spices and seasonings from the diet, refuse to drink alcohol, smoked meats and pickles. A good result is the use of alternative medicine methods - the use of herbal decoctions with antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties.
Usually, the treatment of cystitis in men does not cause difficulties, and if the pathology appears for the first time, then recovery occurs in 100% of cases, provided that the person follows all the recommendations of the doctor.
Medicines for chronic cystitis in men prescribed to him will be similar, but supplemented with physiotherapy and certain medical procedures. In particular, antibacterial drugs, drugs that relieve spasms and inflammation in the organ, as well as drugs that treat the underlying cause of the disease are used.
Physiotherapy methods for the treatment of this pathology include:
- mud applications;
- UHF?
- iontophoresis.
In addition, washing the cyst in a medical institution with solutions of furacilin and silver nitrate is shown.
If a patient has a gangrenous form of cystitis, surgical removal of the affected areas of the mucous membrane is required, after which antibacterial drugs and anti-inflammatory drugs are prescribed.
If the disease is not treated, serious complications can develop. For example, the development of a gangrenous form, acute retention of urine, the formation of fistulas, etc. If you treat acute cystitis correctly, you can get rid of the disease completely. Chronic, with appropriate treatment, becomes inactive, without long periods without symptoms.