Acute Bacterial Prostatitis Symptoms
Medically reviewed by Dr. Paul Song M.D
It should not be a surprise that acute bacterial prostatitis symptoms are caused by bacteria. Acute bacterial prostatitis may be the least common type of prostatitis, but it is the most serious. Seek immediate medical attention if you experience any symptoms so your doctor can run tests to determine if what you are experiencing is acute bacterial prostatitis. Different kinds of bacteria can cause acute bacterial prostatitis, including the same types of bacteria that can cause a urinary tract infection. One of the more common culprits is Escherichia coli (E. coli). If you do end up getting diagnosed with acute bacterial prostatitis, it can usually, but not always, be treated with antibiotics.
Acute Bacterial Prostatitis Symptoms
There are two kinds of symptoms that affect men with acute bacterial prostatitis; urinary tract symptoms and flulike symptoms (from the infection spreading throughout the body). Some men experience just a few symptoms while others have more severe symptoms.
Acute bacterial prostatitis symptoms may include:
- Chills
- Fever
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Malaise (generally feeling run-down)
- Strong urge to urinate immediately
- Painful urination
- Difficulty urinating, including trouble starting urination and maintaining urinary flow
- Weak urinary stream once it starts
- Dribbling after you think you are finished
- Frequent nighttime urination
- Blood in the urine
- Pain in the genital and pelvic area
- Abdominal pain
- Back pain, especially in lower back
- Extreme pain
- Rectal or perineum pain (area between the anus and scrotum)
- Blood in the semen
- Painful ejaculation
- Cloudy urine
Starting treatment soon after symptoms appear and completing the treatment course you are prescribed (taking all antibiotics until gone) is the best bet for successfully beating this illness. It is also helpful to modify your lifestyle by changing diet and managing stress to help prevent recurrence of acute bacterial prostatitis. The good news is that prompt treatment with the right antibiotics along with dietary and lifestyle changes usually eliminates the infection and can help prevent it from coming back.
If you delay treatment of acute bacterial prostatitis or do not complete prescribed treatment, you run the risk of it developing into a more severe with some serious complications, such as sepsis (a severe blood infection) or an inability to urinate. Delaying or not finishing treatment can also cause it to develop into chronic bacterial prostatitis. Even though the symptoms of acute and chronic bacterial prostatitis are very similar, acute bacterial prostatitis symptoms are much more short-term and do not tend to recur.