Urethritis: its symptoms, detection, treatment and prevention
Urethritis is a disease characterized byinflammation of the urethra (urethra), they suffer from both men and women. There are infectious and non-infectious forms of the disease, the latter include traumatic urethritis, iatrogenic, allergic and arising from metabolic disturbances. Infectious urethritis is caused by microorganisms. It can be nonspecific inhabitants of the genito-urinary tract (streptococci, E. coli, fungi) and specific causative agents of sexual infections (gonorrhea, trichomoniasis, ureaplasmosis, chlamydia). In addition to the main reasons, doctors also highlight the factors predisposing to the development of the disease:
- supercooling;
- urolithiasis disease;
- insufficient water consumption;
- heavy physical activity;
- operations and manipulations on the genitals;
- promiscuous sexual intercourse.
Signs of a urethritis
The doctor can not accurately determine only by complaints,this is cystitis or urethritis. Symptoms are similar, so you need to conduct a more detailed examination of the patient, in order to determine more specifically which department of the genitourinary system is involved in the process.
How is this disease identified and treated?
There is the following algorithm for diagnosingurethritis: symptoms (including complaints) indicate which system of organs the patient is afflicted with, and can be suspected of this disease. Then the doctor prescribes blood and urine tests, a smear of the separated urethra and bacteriological culture. If there are still other complaints and it is necessary to determine the prevalence of the process in the urinary tract, then other diagnostic techniques are used, including instrumental studies (for example, renal ultrasound).
In some people, only in a laboratory examination, urethritis is accidentally detected, they have little or no symptoms at all.
When a patient is diagnosed with urethritis (symptoms),treatment is prescribed as soon as possible, not only because this disease worries a person and reduces the quality of life. Also, urethritis can be complicated by the spread of infection up the urinary tract to the kidneys and cause their inflammation. Its consequences can be vaginitis in women, inflammation of the testicles and their appendages, seminal vesicles, prostate, narrowing of the urethra in men.
Treatment includes the use of antibacterial or disinfectants, diuretic and immunity-enhancing drugs, the use of warm linen from natural tissues.
How to prevent disease?
Such an unpleasant disease as inflammationurethra can be prevented if one observes personal hygiene and a culture of sexual behavior (including the use of condoms), regularly visit a urologist and treat illnesses, preventing the process from becoming chronic.
