Urethritis is an inflammation of the urethra, it can be both infectious and non-infectious in nature. Features of the course of the disease may differ based on the cause of development, gender of the patient, lifestyle and other factors. Therapy often requires an integrated approach and is aimed at treating not only urethritis, but also related diseases, such as cystitis, genital infections, and so on.
Urologists at the K+31 multidisciplinary clinic in Moscow are seeing patients with diseases of the urinary system, including urethritis. Experts will tell you what urethritis is, why the disease is dangerous and how to get rid of it. The use of modern equipment for diagnostics, individual approaches to treatment and prevention. All this is a guarantee of effective therapy to eliminate the disease. You can make an appointment by phone through the administrators of the clinic.
Main causes of disease
Possible factors provoking urethritis are:
- Bacterial flora. These are chronic infections, neglect of hygiene, refusal to use barrier methods of protection during sexual intercourse.
- Mechanical damage. It can be a stone from the bladder or kidneys, which causes microtrauma, moving along the urethra.
- Allergy to hygiene products or personal linen.
- Narrowing of the canal with formations, scars, foreign bodies.
- Eating disorders with excess salty, spicy foods, alcohol.
- Impaired circulation in the pelvis due to a sedentary lifestyle.
- Status after irradiation.
More often, several factors become the cause at once, which should be taken into account when choosing an effective therapy.
The inflammatory process develops faster against the background of a decrease in immunity, with an excessive amount of stress, and also after hypothermia.
Disease classification
Before treating urethritis, it is important to determine its form:
- acute and chronic urethritis are distinguished by activity;
- by cause - infectious, non-infectious, allergic, chemical;
- infectious is divided according to the type of pathogen - specific and nonspecific;
- according to the source of the pathogen, primary and secondary are distinguished.
The viral form is much less common. Of the causes, papillomaviruses, herpes, cytomegalovirus stand out.
Symptoms of the disease
Signs of inflammation in urethritis are mild. The acute form rarely causes an increase in temperature. Patients do not complain of weakness or malaise. The chronic form proceeds without clinical manifestations. Therefore, in order to detect inflammation of the urethra in time in men and women, it is necessary to visit a doctor prophylactically.
Possible signs are:
- slight discomfort in the groin (a symptom of urethritis in men is pain in the canal of the penis, while inflammation of the urethra in women causes discomfort behind the pubis);
- increased urination;
- the appearance of cloudy urine, blood impurities;
- selection from the channel;
- feeling of an overflowing bubble;
- itching in the urethra;
- redness of the urethra.
With inflammation, 2-3 signs are present at once.
Differences between urethritis in men and women
The gender of the patient directly affects the clinic and the characteristics of the treatment of the disease. Severe symptoms of urethritis in men are easily treatable, and more often the disease progresses against the background of stress, malnutrition. The large length of the urethra increases the risk of stagnant processes and the accumulation of pathogenic flora in the canal. With this pathology, pain in patients is constantly present, they are aching in nature.
In form, nonspecific urethritis is more common in men. Independent attempts to get rid of the disease can lead to the development of prostatitis, epididymitis, vesiculitis, sexual dysfunction. Therefore, only together with a urologist should decide how to treat urethritis in men.
The situation is reversed for the opposite sex. Hidden symptoms of urethritis in women make it difficult to treat. This leads to a chronicization of the process. The most common is the candidal form. The likelihood of its development increases after prolonged use of antibacterial drugs. There are also specific forms caused by chlamydia or Trichomonas. The type of flora determines the characteristics of the treatment of urethritis in women.
Inflammation of the urethra in women very quickly spreads to the bladder, due to the small length of the channel. The organs of the reproductive system also suffer. Therefore, patients should understand which doctor treats urethritis in women. With this pathology, you should contact a urologist, he can already refer you to a nephrologist or gynecologist.
Methods for diagnosing a disease
According to the patient's complaints, it is impossible to make a diagnosis, since a large number of diseases occur with similar symptoms. Tests are ordered to determine the cause of the inflammation. Mandatory will be:
- general blood and urine tests;
- bakpasev from the urethra;
- Antibiotic susceptibility test
To assess the state of the surrounding organs, doctors prescribe an ultrasound examination of the small pelvis, MRI, especially if tumors are suspected, as well as ureteroscopy. The latter technique allows you to visually inspect the canal in order to determine scars, growths, foreign bodies and other changes. After receiving the examination data, a diagnosis is made.
Before treating urethritis in women, it is necessary to refer the patient to a gynecologist to exclude inflammatory diseases of the genital organs. In men, diagnosis should include an ultrasound of the prostate.
