Prostatitis - Treating prostatitis

You'll need to take a course of antibiotics if your prostatitis is caused by a bacterial infection.

However, in many cases of prostatitis there's no infection and the cause is uncertain, which makes it challenging to treat.

This page outlines the treatment of both acute (sudden, severe) and chronic (longer-lasting) prostatitis.

Treating acute prostatitis

Acute prostatitis is caused by a bacterial infection of the prostate gland and will be treated with antibiotic tablets. Most people will need a four-week course. Your symptoms should pass within two weeks, but it's very important that you finish the course of antibiotics to prevent the infection returning.

The pain can be relieved using paracetamol or ibuprofen. If your pain is particularly severe you may be prescribed a stronger painkiller, such as codeine.

Treating chronic prostatitis

If chronic prostatitis appears to be caused by a bacterial infection, you'll need to take a four to six week course of antibiotic tablets. You may also be prescribed a type of medication known as an alpha-blocker.

Alpha-blockers help to relax the muscles in the prostate gland and the base of the bladder and can therefore improve problems with urination, such as difficulty passing urine.

The possible side effects of alpha-blockers include:

dizziness
headaches
weakness
little or no sperm when you ejaculate

Once you have completed your course of antibiotics, you'll be given a urine or semen test to check whether any bacteria remain in your prostate or near it. If the test is positive, a further course of antibiotics may be needed.

As with acute prostatitis, paracetamol and ibuprofen can be used to help relieve any pain.

If the cause doesn't appear to be a bacterial infection, antibiotics aren't necessary. In this case, you'll just be treated with alpha-blockers, paracetamol and ibuprofen.

A number of other medications have been used to treat non-bacterial chronic prostatitis, but there is only limited evidence that they're effective. These medications include:

finasteride – a medication usually used to treat prostate enlargement
fluoxetine – an antidepressant medication usually used to treat depression
gabapentin – a medication used to treat chronic pain
amitriptyline – a medication used (in low doses) to treat pain, bladder problems and aid sleep