Say you have some of its symptoms and they go away. Everything’s fine, right? Maybe. But you should still have your prostate checked out. Other causes for these symptoms could be serious, and include:
A urinary tract infection that does not involve the prostate;
Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), or enlargement of the prostate;
Urethritis, or inflammation of the urethra, often caused by an infection. Not seeking treatment for this condition could result in a urethral stricture or a nasty infection that progresses back into the vas deferens and involves the epididymis .
In rare instances, urinary problems such as those manifested in prostatitis could indicate something even more serious, such as bladder cancer; they also could mean a stricture or blockage in the urethra, an infected kidney stone or early signs of diabetes.
There are causes of prostatitis other than the ones we’ve covered here; these are not only extremely rare, but they’re secondary to another disease, such as gonorrhea or tuberculosis. In some parts of the world (but hardly ever in the United States), prostatitis can be caused by parasites or fungal infection.
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