Prostatitis treatment
Patients with prostatitis are offered specific treatment for their individual diagnosis; further treatment options are also available if the first method proves ineffective, but this is dictated by the patient’s response to treatment. Urologists are experts in the field of prostatitis and patients should ask their doctor for a referral (especially when symptoms are persistent).
Treatment methods
Treatment for prostatitis can achieve complete removal, although prostatitis can return (sometimes within weeks, sometimes years). The different methods used to treat prostatitis (and its symptoms) include counselling, medicine, pain management, regular exercise and as a last resort, surgery; treatments such as prostate massage have also proved beneficial for some patients.
Prostatitis medication
Research shows that the prostatitis medication can provide patients with symptomatic relief; a single treatment is usually used, but a specific combination could be used. Prostatitis treatment medicines include alpha blockers, antibiotics, DHT inhibitors, NSAIDs (Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs) and painkillers; anti-depressants may also be used.
Advantages of medication
The advantages of prostatitis medication include relief of long-term symptomatic pain, with fewer urinary issues, reduced inflammation and prostate shrinkage. As with all medication, prostatitis medication carries the risk of patients experiencing side effects such as stomach ulcers; personal suitability and other optional treatments should be discussed your doctor.
Prostatitis surgery
Prostatitis surgery may be deemed necessary in specific cases (e.g. chronic bacterial prostatitis or if BPH causes urinary tract infections). A procedure known as a transurethral prostatectomy is conducted to remove prostate tissue via the urethra; this is done using a tiny probe capable of both viewing and performing the necessary surgery. Recovery can take between a few days and a month.
Surgery is seldom recommended because of the risks attached; side-effects of surgery can include erectile dysfunction, urinary incontinence or retrograde ejaculation (semen travels from the prostate to the bladder and not from the prostate to the penis). As yet, little research has been done into the dis/advantages of surgical treatment.
Counselling and CBT
CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy)¹ focuses on practical methods of changing a patient’s negative behaviour patterns or problematic mindset. Because the impact of prostatitis has also been linked with personal beliefs and outlook, patients should consider consulting professional counsellors and psychologists, whose emotional support has (in some cases) proven to be beneficial.
Regular exercise has also proven to be beneficial; this is especially true when the suspected cause of a patient’s prostatitis is pelvic floor muscle issues. Physiotherapists can recommend physical activities and methods which typically involve breathing, relaxation or pelvic floor muscle massage; these can improve patient well-being and provide relief from urinary issues and pain.
Should regular pain relief methods become ineffective, patients can be referred to specialist pain clinics, who have numerous ways of assessing and treating symptomatic pain. Although they often prove unviable or necessary, other methods of can include prostate massage, the use of anti-depressants, sexual dysfunction medication (e.g. Viagra) or surgery.
¹ MIND.org.uk, Making sense of CBT, October 2017
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