Johns Hopkins Health Alert
Complaining About Prostatitis
Prostatitis is a condition found in adult men, with no respect to age, race, or nationality. It's estimated that as many as 14% of adult American men will at some point go to their doctor complaining of one or more of the symptoms that doctors now believe constitute a diagnosis of prostatitis. How do you know if you have prostatitis? Dr. Richard B. Alexander explains what prostatitis feels like.
Q. What are the main complaints of men with chronic prostatitis?
A. Pain in the pelvic region that lasts more than three months is the primary symptom. Men may say they feel like they are sitting on something like a peach pit. Many patients also experience pain during or after ejaculation. Symptoms such as urinary frequency or discomfort during urination may also be present.
For some men, the pain of chronic prostatitis is so debilitating that they are simply unable to function normally. More than two thirds of men with chronic prostatitis have reported episodes of major or minor depression because of the disease.
Q. Is the pain associated with chronic prostatitis relatively constant, or is it provoked or intensified by certain activities?
A. The pain of chronic prostatitis is highly variable, depending on the patient and his specific circumstances. It may range in intensity from just mild discomfort (a 1 on the NIH-CSPI scale) to the worst pain you can imagine (a 10 on the pain scale). The most common sites of pain are the perineum (the region between the genital area and the anus), the testicles, the whole penis, the shaft or tip of the penis, the suprapubic area (the mid-lower abdomen), and the lower back. The pain can occur at several of these sites or at one predominant site.
To fulfill the diagnosis of chronic prostatitis, the pelvic pain has to last more than three months. Although this may seem like an arbitrary time frame, that's how we currently define it. The pain of chronic prostatitis tends to wax and wane -- some days it is worse than others. There's not really a good explanation as to why that is. Pain after ejaculation is common and is the most specific symptom that distinguishes men with chronic prostatitis or chronic pelvic pain syndrome from men with other prostatic conditions.
Posted in Enlarged Prostate on February 23, 2010
Reviewed September 2011
Medical Disclaimer: This information is not intended to substitute for the advice of a physician. Click here for additional information: Johns Hopkins Health Alerts Disclaimer
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I have always associated my cchronic prostatitis with a kidney stone which was removed in April, 1962 by cystoscopy, when I was barely 22 years of age. In a little over a month a shall be 70 years old, having endured this painful and debilitating condition most of my adult life. I've lost count of the number of urologists, neurologists, and other physicians I have seen, ever in the hope or attaining improvement, if not a cure. I have been told that nothing can be done that has not been tried, that the diagnosis cannot be specific, and that I must "learn to life with it." Two clinical depressions and endless suffering later I still have been unable to accomplish this. The description posted here is exactly correct, but for many years my condition was treated as simple enlargement of the prostate. Evidently none of the spectacular advances made in imaging, antibiotics will salvage my miserable life. I ask, given that so many people suffer from this wretched condition, is any meaningful research being done? All you doctors, please extend a healing hand. Help us!
Posted by: Ed Greding | February 28, 2010 1:01 AM