Male Urethritis - Causes and Symptoms

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Stoyanov
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Male Urethritis - Causes and Symptoms

#1 Post by Stoyanov » 01 May 2018, 15:42

Urethritis means inflammation of the urethra (in other words, a urinary tract, which is a thin tube to excrete urine out of the bladder). Male urethritis is quite common in urological practice: millions of episodes of this disease are recorded annually!

Types and Causes

Depending on the initiating agent, the disease can be both infectious and non-infectious. The treatment of urethritis varies respectively.
Infectious male urethritis can be caused by:
• Pathogenic microorganisms, which in almost 97% of cases are sexually transmitted, for example, chlamydia or gonorrhea urethritis (in which case the disease is classified as specific urethritis);
• Conditionally pathogenic microorganisms, normally “living” in the human body and causing the disease only under certain conditions, for example, staphylococcal or candidal urethritis (this pathology is called nonspecific).

Less frequently, infectious urethritis is caused by the spread of infection from other organs, e.g. the bladder (cystitis), the kidneys, the prostate (prostatitis). Such “non-sexual” male urethritis is more common in old age. These are tuberculosis, diphtheria urethritis.

Infectious urethritis can be triggered not only by bacteria, but also by viruses. An example of the latter is herpetic (or, herpes) urethritis. The cause of the disease is herpes simplex virus type II, and where the infection resulted from an oral-genital contact – is herpes simplex virus type I. Infection with the human papilloma virus can also cause urethritis, which is called in this case condylomatous urethritis.
The development of candidal urethritis caused by the activation of Candida fungi is facilitated by the prolonged or unreasonable intake of antibiotics, diabetes, inflammatory processes in the urethra of a different nature, and so on.

Noninfectious disease can develop as a result of:
• the impact of traumatic factors, including mechanical (e.g. urolithiasis, when the outgoing stone injures the walls of the urethra), thermal, and/or chemical ones;
• an allergic reaction, often combined with the appearance of urticaria, bronchial asthma;
• irritating action of detergents and/or hygienic agents;
• metabolic disorders: in diabetes mellitus, pellagra, the pathology develops due to a change in the composition of urine;
• venous congestion in seminal vesicles, prostate, for example, due to chronic constipation, interrupted intercourse, hemorrhoidal venous dilation (congestive urethritis);
• tumors (polyps, papillomas; less commonly, malignant neoplasms), usually in the anterior part of the urethra.

According to clinical signs, acute and chronic urethritis are differentiated. The former is characterized by the following aspects:
• sudden onset;
• severity of symptoms;
• fast development;
• duration up to 2 weeks.

The specialized Russian-language literature also uses the term “fresh urethritis”, which determines only the duration of the course of the disease up to 2 months.

In chronic conditions, symptoms are indistinct or absent at all. Duration of the course is more than 2 months (Russian medicine literature). In this case, the pathology can be accidentally detected during examination for any other case. This form of the disease is characterized by periods of exacerbation triggered by a decrease in the body defenses due to hypothermia, viral infection, etc.
Foreign literature differentiates chronic persistent urethritis, with the inflammation persisting for more than 30 days, and recurrent urethritis, with the symptoms relapsing after a recovery, at the 30th to 92nd day.

Some classifications include an intermediate variant, i.e. subacute urethritis. If the pathology originated directly in the urethra, a primary urethritis is meant. If the process develops against the background of inflammation in another organ (for example, in angina, cystitis, prostatitis), a secondary urethritis is meant.

Depending on the location in the urethra, the following forms of urethritis can be distinguished:
• total urethritis, with complete damage to the walls of the urethra;
• anterior urethritis, with a lesion of the front part;
• posterior urethritis, with a lesion of the back part

Risk Factors

An increased risk of development of the pathology was observed in young men (20-25 years old) prone to frequently changing se partners and/or practicing unprotected sex (without a condom).
Other risk factors:
• decreased immunity due to external factors or in the presence of a specific pathology (HIV, etc.);
• hypothermia;
• inflammatory processes in the adjacent organs;
• variable standards of personal hygiene;
• liquid deficiency in the organism, dehydration;
• alcohol abuse, excessively spicy/irritating food;
• excessive physical activity;
• medical procedures, such as catheter placement, diagnostic examinations (swab test, cystoscopy, i.e. examination of the bladder with a special optical device), etc.;
• change in urination frequency, etc.

Symptoms of Urethritis

When making diagnosis, a detailed description of the patient's symptoms is of importance. In some cases (chronic urethritis), asymptomatic course of pathology is possible, however, the following signs can be usually determined:
• burning sensation, pain of varying intensity during urination;
• painful manifestations in the area of the penis, groin;
• discomfort (itching, etc.);
• urethrorrhea (mucous, transparent, cloudy, purulent, bloody, odorless or unpleasantly smelling discharge);
• decreased/increased urination;
• frequent desire to urinate;
• sometimes, increased inguinal lymph nodes, body temperature rise.
In some cases, a specific type of the discharge in urethritis makes it possible for the doctor to suspect a certain cause of the pathology:
• whitish discharge of foamy consistency is characteristic for trichomonas pathology (sexually transmitted);
• white and flaky discharge is typical of candida (fungal infection), etc.
Herpetic urethritis is characterized by pronounced vesicle eruptions on the urethral mucosa, and ulcers.

Stoyanov
Администратор
Posts: 43
Joined: 24 Mar 2018, 16:21

Male Urethritis - Causes and Symptoms

#2 Post by Stoyanov » 09 Mar 2024, 15:57

You can get more information about the treatment of Urethritis in the Russian-language forum using Google Translator - https://hron-prostatit.ru/forum/viewforum.php?f=42 - there are more than 30,000 daily users on the forum, you will definitely find the information you need.

But if you want to discuss the treatment of colliculitis in English, please write your questions and thoughts here, I will certainly answer.

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