Despite being more common in women, urinary tract infection can also affect men and cause symptoms such as an urge to urinate and pain and burning during or shortly after the end of urination.
This disease is more common in men over 50 years of age, who are more at risk of suffering from prostate hyperplasia, who have anal sex, who have not been circumcised, who have a problem that blocks the outflow of urine or who use a tube to urinate.
In order to act as quickly as possible, to avoid complications, one must be aware of the following characteristic symptoms of urinary tract infection:
- Frequent urge to urinate; Pain and burning when urinating; Difficulty holding urine; Cloudy and strong smelling urine; Waking up at night to go to the bathroom; Low fever; Presence of blood in the urine; Pain in the groin area or at the end of back.
However, it is also common that the infection does not cause any symptoms in men, being identified only during routine medical examinations.
How the diagnosis is made
The diagnosis of urinary tract infection in men is made mainly based on the history of symptoms and through the urine test, which will identify, through a urine culture, the presence of microorganisms that may be causing the problem. The microorganisms that are found most often in people with urinary tract infections are Escherichia coli, Klebsiella and Proteus .
In addition, the doctor can ask questions about sex life, to identify risk factors for infections or STIs, and can do a digital rectal exam to see if there is an increase in the size of the prostate.
In young men who have signs of an enlarged prostate, the urologist may also recommend tests such as computed tomography, ultrasound and / or cystoscopy, to assess whether there are other problems with the urinary tract. Find out which are the 6 tests that evaluate the prostate.
What is the treatment
Treatment for urinary tract infection in men is done according to the cause of the problem, and antibiotics are usually required.
In general, the symptoms start to improve after about 2 days of using the drug, but in the most severe cases it may be necessary to do a longer treatment, lasting two or more weeks, or with a hospital stay.
What are the rich factors
Some of the factors that can increase a man's risk of developing a urinary tract infection are:
- Having unprotected anal sex; Using a tube to urinate; Having an enlarged prostate, also known as benign prostatic hyperplasia, as well as a family history of this disease; Drinking little fluids; Holding the urge to urinate for a long time and very often; Having reflux from urine from bladder to kidneys; Kidney stone; Diabetes; Suffer from multiple sclerosis; Having chronic kidney failure; Tumors in the urinary tract; Use of certain medications; Chronic prostatitis.
In addition, men who are not circumcised are also more likely to experience urinary tract infections and sexually transmitted diseases, as excess skin on the penis makes cleaning difficult and increases the risk of proliferation of microorganisms in the area.
To identify diseases and prevent complications, see 10 symptoms that may indicate an inflamed prostate.
Watch the following video and learn what to eat to prevent a urinary tract infection:
