Prostatitis

Acute Bacterial Prostatitis

This usually starts suddenly from a bacterial infection. It can cause fever, chills, or pain. It might hurt when you urinate, or you may see blood in your urine. Acute bacterial prostatitis is caused by a bacterial infection and occurs most often in young and middle-aged men.

Chronic Bacterial Prostatitis

This is an infection that comes back again and again. Young and middle-aged men are also the most common age group to suffer from chronic bacterial prostatitis. Though this is a rare problem, it can be challenging to treat. Patients suffering from chronic bacterial prostatitis may require antibiotic medication for 6-12 weeks. Surgery on the urethra or prostate is rarely performed to treat chronic bacterial prostatitis.

Chronic Prostatitis

This condition is also called Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome (CPPS) and is a common prostate problem. Prostatitis can turn into a chronic (ongoing) problem. In this case, there is often no infection. Instead, the prostate stays swollen and inflamed. Possible causes include repeated infections or not ejaculating often enough. Stress can be a cause. Often the cause is not known. It can cause pain in the lower back, in the groin area, or at the tip of the penis.

Men with this problem often have painful ejaculation. They may feel the need to urinate frequently but pass only a small amount of urine. Treating this condition may require a combination of medicines, surgery, and lifestyle changes.

Recent availability of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Next Gen Sequencing (NGS) have shown that many of these patients actually do have bacterial infections but have negative cultures. This gives new hope to patients who have been told there is no infection. Tests such as MicrogenDx and Pathnostics are available here to help you make a more accurate diagnosis.