Most often, redness and itching in the groin in men is annoying, causes anxiety and makes you want to get rid of it by scratching. Unfortunately, scratching the affected area that accompanies itching in the groin area in men (which is the perineum, scrotum and head of the penis) is a very short-lived and rather dubious pleasure. And this is not surprising.
Basically, itching in intimate places in men is an alarming signal indicating an infectious, parasitic, viral or other disease of the internal organs. That is why, if severe itching occurs in the groin in men, you should immediately seek help from a specialist.
Misconceptions about healing
The picture of unexpected pain and the listed symptoms in the urethra often takes a man by surprise.
In attempts to eliminate unpleasant sensations, ointments and tablets available in the home medicine cabinet are used.
Sometimes such methods can actually relieve pain and reduce the intensity of other unpleasant symptoms. But in addition to the occasional medications that help with troubles, you will need to do a number of diagnostic procedures and only then create a comprehensive treatment.
The misconception about curing burning and itching in the urethra leads to the transition of the pathology to the chronic stage, after which the problems are much more difficult to eliminate, and the disease becomes advanced.
The situation can bring harm to a man’s health if some of the symptoms have been eliminated, after which a visit to the doctor is made and the full picture of the disease is kept silent.
The disease will not be cured unless the doctor prescribes a proper examination and the necessary medications.
This can cause significant damage to the patient’s health if the remaining problems develop into an advanced form.
Organ injury
Soreness can be caused by the fact that a person has too intense sex life or masturbates. At the same time, the penis can hurt even if you simply touch it when visiting the toilet.
Pain also occurs due to the fact that the partner does not have enough discharge during intimacy and insertion of the penis is difficult. To reduce the risk of injury to the organ, for example, to avoid rupture of the frenulum, you need to use lubricant.
Injuries can be thermal - getting a burn, frostbite of the penis. Such accidents should not be ignored or treated at home. You definitely need to go to a surgeon.
Among mechanical injuries, head contusions are common. In this case, the pain is severe, the organ swells, there are bruises on it, and obvious difficulties arise when using the toilet. A urologist together with a surgeon will help.
Soreness can be caused by urolithiasis, a tumor after incorrect circumcision, or due to priapism. The latter pathology is manifested by an incessant erection.
Only medical assistance will help minimize the consequences. If you have pain, you need to go to the doctor.
Sources of burning and itching in the male urethra
Symptoms such as burning and itching in a man’s urinary tract do not appear in a healthy person. There is an infectious inflammatory process caused by bacteria of different groups:
- streptococci;
- staphylococci;
- gonococci;
- coli;
- chlamydia.
In addition to prokaryotes, Trichomonas can act as sources of unpleasant symptoms.
Most pathogens are transmitted through sexual contact; secondary pathogens that penetrate from other organ systems are less common.
A burning sensation is not a specific symptom of a certain pathology; if a sign is present, one can suspect inflammation of the prostate gland, one of the sexually transmitted diseases, a type of urethritis.
In addition to inflammatory processes, burning is caused by abuse:
- spicy dishes;
- alcoholic, too sour or spicy drinks, tea, coffee;
- components of preparations for intimate hygiene.
Microtraumas during sexual intercourse and masturbation are uncommon, but are not excluded from the list of causes of burning in the urethra.
Toilet paper of dubious quality, highly allergenic substances in cosmetics, soap or shower gel can leave an allergic rash on the surface of the penis, and itching and burning in the urethra.
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An infectious agent that causes unpleasant symptoms in the urethra can be not only of a bacterial nature.
In some cases, the fungal nature of urogenital pathology is revealed.
First of all, when itching and burning appear in the urethra, suspicion falls on diseases of one of the systems: the reproductive or urinary system.
In addition to gonorrhea, chlamydia and trichomoniasis, burning and itching are detected during an acute period of inflammation of the bladder, urethra, prostate gland and urolithiasis.
If itching and burning are associated with discharge from the urethra, then the range of suspected diseases is narrowed to sexually transmitted diseases - gonorrhea, trichomoniasis, chlamydia.
When these pathologies are excluded, suspicions settle on mycoplasmosis and ureaplasmosis.
Overexertion and hypothermia can also have consequences in the form of a burning sensation in the urethra.
Why does a burning sensation accompany many urogenital diseases?
The male urethra is longer than the female urethra.
Chemical and bacterial agents must travel a long way to get inside the bladder walls.
Not all agents manage to travel such a distance, as a result of which they end up multiplying in the urethra, which causes many unpleasant symptoms, including burning.
It is extremely unwise to leave a burning sensation for self-treatment; it is necessary to find out the source of the pathological sensation in order to prescribe a competent treatment algorithm.
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How to diagnose the disease
When the first signs of pain in the bladder, scrotum and penis appear, you should see a professional urologist.
In order to diagnose a pathological condition, you should pay close attention to the signs that indicate that:
- the anterior section of the urethra is inflamed, says pain at the beginning of the process of emission of urine;
- neoplasms have appeared in the prostate gland, indicating a painful sensation after the end of the process;
- there is cystitis, the urinary canal has shriveled or a tumor has appeared, pain can be felt before the first drop of urine is spilled;
- Oncological disease develops, pain and discomfort develop during the entire process of urination.
Symptoms of itching and burning in urogenital diseases
Prostatitis.
One of the diseases when burning and itching is detected in the urethra.
The cause of prostatitis is inflammation in the structures of the prostate gland. The disease differs in acute and chronic forms.
Prostatitis develops both in the case of external penetration of infectious agents through the urethral opening, and in the case of injury, secondary infection or congestion due to irregular sexual life.
Problems with sensations in the male urethra are associated with other symptoms:
- frequent acts of emptying the bladder;
- the presence of blood cells in the urine;
- referred pain in the external genitalia and rectal area;
- decreased erectile function;
- problems with emptying the bladder;
- nagging pain in the groin.
Untimely and improper treatment of both forms of prostatitis is fraught with a complete lack of erectile function, male infertility, and the spread of the inflammatory process to the walls of the bladder, kidneys, testicles, and seminal vesicles.
If left untreated, pathological processes in the bladder can become malignant.
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Urethritis.
According to statistics, it is the most common cause of burning and itching in the urethra.
Infectious agents living in the organs of the genitourinary system, for the most part, are the cause of urethritis.
In addition to sexual intercourse (the main cause), less common provoking factors have been found, but they occur when inflammation of the urethra is detected (physical overload, consumption of spicy, acidic foods, severe hypothermia, kidney and bladder stones, etc.).
Urethritis sometimes develops over a long period of time without showing any noticeable signs. The disease becomes noticeable when the body's immune strength decreases.
Additional symptoms accompany burning and itching during urethritis:
- itchy surface of the glans penis;
- discharge of a purulent or other nature, often there are particles of blood in the urine;
- spreading inflammation to the foreskin and surface of the head;
- pain during bowel movements;
- problems with emptying the bladder.
Incorrectly prescribed treatment or its complete absence can serve as provoking factors for the development of a chronic form of the disease, inflammation in the prostate, testicles, bladder, follicles of the seminal vesicles, and curvature of the urethral canal.
Cystitis.
Despite the high incidence of cystitis in the “weaker sex,” men often share bladder inflammation with women.
Sudden burning and itching are some of the specific symptoms of the disease.
When inflammation occurs on the mucous membrane of the bladder, symptoms appear that confirm initial suspicions of cystitis:
- dark, cloudy urine;
- pain in the pubic area;
- pain when urinating;
- frequent urge to empty the bladder.
The provoking factors of the disease are the same as for other urogenital diseases, but more often - infections and hypothermia.
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Urolithiasis disease.
Burning and itching in the urethra develop with exacerbation of urolithiasis.
Urolithiasis can begin in the urethra, bladder, kidneys, or ureters.
The causes of urolithiasis are very different from the causes of other urogenital diseases.
More often they are faced with metabolic abnormalities, the hereditary nature of the disease, and the predominance of components in food that shift the acid-base balance of urine towards greater formation of hydrogen protons.
Failure in the secretion of thyroid hormones by the thyroid gland, problems in the functioning of osteoclasts and osteoblasts in osteomyelitis and osteoporosis account for a large percentage of the causes of the formation of urinary stones.
The burning sensation in the urethra is accompanied by purely individual symptoms for this disease: aching pain in the lumbar region of the body, which becomes more intense during body movements.
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In the urine, when stones are active, impurities of blood are found, resulting from injuries to the mucous membranes or deeper layers of the urinary tract by sharp parts of the stones.
Patients complain of surges in blood pressure, frequent urination, intermittent pain from the lower back to the genitals and legs.
Infectious and other diseases.
Burning and itching in the urethra accompanies many diseases acquired through sexual contact without the use of condoms:
- Chlamydia;
- Trichomoniasis;
- Gonorrhea.
Gonorrhea can be distinguished by profuse purulent discharge from the urethra. With trichomoniasis, the discharge has a foul odor.
Chlamydia has few additional symptoms, which complicates the timely diagnosis of the pathology.
If the first burning sensation occurs immediately after intercourse, the man should have the urethra examined for injury.
Some tips for prevention
Itching in the anus and urethra with prostatitis is associated with a decrease in local immunity. To avoid this, you need to promptly treat prostate inflammation. During the treatment of prostatitis, the following will help prevent the occurrence of itching in the anus:
- balanced diet, fermented milk products in the diet;
- wearing underwear made of natural fabric;
- proper hygiene of the genitals and anus;
- prevention of constipation;
- moderate physical activity.
Avoid using soaps containing chemical fragrances and dyes. For genital hygiene, it is better to use only water. To avoid imbalance of the microflora of the rectum, you should eat right, avoid constipation and prolonged sedentary work.
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Treatment of burning and itching
Before prescribing a treatment regimen, the patient undergoes a diagnostic examination, the full set of which includes:
- blood and urine tests;
- bacteriological smear and its microscopic examination;
- Ultrasound of the prostate, bladder and kidneys;
- endoscopy of the prostate and bladder.
In the treatment of prostatitis, cystitis and urethritis, antibacterial and physiotherapy, and means to enhance immunity are prescribed. Sexual life is temporarily limited.
Treatment of urolithiasis, in addition to these procedures, is characterized by the use of means to dissolve stones or equipment (operations) to crush them. Canephron, a medicine that mainly contains herbal ingredients, has performed well.
Otherwise, the stone moving through the urethra will damage the mucous membrane, which will cause unbearable pain.
Treatment of sexually transmitted diseases will require the selection of an antibiotic and adherence to a strict diet.
Fungal diseases, coupled with physiotherapy, require the use of antifungal drugs.
We do not specifically indicate the name of the drugs. You need to understand that treatment regimens for burning and itching in the urethra can be so complex that independent treatment, at best, simply will not produce results, at worst, it will harm your health.
Also, independent selection of medications with an ineffective therapeutic effect is wasted money. After all, drugs for the treatment of any urological diseases are very expensive.
Therefore, the method of therapeutic therapy must be prescribed by a urologist or andrologist, and therefore you need to run to the pharmacy.
What to do if a problem is detected
Not everyone can understand why the head of the penis itches. To avoid this symptom, urologists recommend:
- exclude sexual intercourse to possibly prevent the development of sexually transmitted infections;
- rinse the affected organ under running water using intimate hygiene products (you should do this 2-3 times a day);
- change your underwear to natural ones and change it every day;
- get rid of bad habits;
- protect yourself from stress;
- prevent overheating or hypothermia of the penis and scrotum;
- consult a doctor.
! If the head of the penis is very itchy, the causative agent is genital infections. Make an appointment with a urologist immediately. The doctor will do a visual examination, refer you for tests and prescribe a course of treatment, depending on the degree of damage to the genital organ.
