Spicy Foods & Prostate Infections

Spicy Foods & Prostate Infections

Overview

Your prostate is located just below your bladder. Spicy foods have no effect on your prostate directly, but they can irritate your bladder. Bladder irritation and bladder infections can affect your prostate, which is why avoiding spicy foods while you have a prostate infection is typically recommended by physicians.

Bladder Irritants

During prostatitis, Medline Plus, a National Institutes of Health online encyclopedia, recommends eliminating spicy foods from your diet because they can irritate your bladder. Other bladder irritants include caffeinated food and beverages, alcohol and citrus juices. When a substance irritates your bladder, it can cause prostate irritation since the two are right next to each other. The American Academy of Family Physicians says that spicy foods will not bother every man while he has a prostate infection, but if it bothers you, avoid eating anything spicy. It is not known exactly why spicy foods affect the bladder.

Other Irritants

In addition to spicy foods, other agents can irritate your prostate, such as certain medications. Medications such as alpha-blocking agents and anti-cholinergic agents fall under the category of prostate irritants. These types of medications include oxybutynin, doxazosin, prazosin, tamsulosin and terazosin.

Causes

A urinary tract infection, certain sexually transmitted diseases and E. coli can cause prostatitis. Conditions such as urethritis, epididymitis, catheterization, anal intercourse and trauma can also cause infections to occur in your prostate. Prostatitis is rare in young boys but can occur in men ages 20 to 35 who have had multiple sex partners, which puts them at an increased risk of sexually transmitted diseases. Men over the age of 35 can develop an infection of the prostate due to urinary tract infections, epididymitis and urethritis. Men over the age of 50 tend to develop infections of the prostate due to having an enlarged prostate, according to Medline Plus.

Treatment

Aside from avoiding bladder irritants, your health-care provider may recommend hot sitz baths and anti-inflammatory drugs to provide relief, according to the AAFP. If the infection is due to bacteria, your physician may prescribe an antibiotic to help kill the bacteria. If your infection is severe enough, you may require hospitalization so that your health-care provider may give you intravenous antibiotics. When you've finished your course of antibiotics, have your physician examine you to ensure the infection has cleared. In some cases, surgery is necessary.

source : livestrong.com