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

Can Spicy Foods Affect the Prostate?

Can Spicy Foods Affect the Prostate?

Overview

The prostate is part of the male reproductive system. It's responsible for producing semen, which carries sperm during ejaculation. The prostate surrounds the urethra, which is the tube that allows urine to pass out of the body. Since the bladder and prostate are so close together, bladder health is imperative during times when the prostate may become inflamed. Ask your doctor if you should follow a special diet if your prostate becomes inflamed.

Spicy Foods

Spicy foods do not directly affect your prostate, but they can irritate your bladder. The exact reason why spicy foods irritate your bladder is unknown, according to MayoClinic.com. Your bladder is close to your prostate, and when you experience prostatitis, or inflammation of the prostate, it can affect the way you urinate. While spicy foods do not affect the prostate, additional bladder irritation can further complicate your prostate condition.

Complications

When you suffer from an inflamed prostate, you can experience burning during urination, pain with urination and inability to completely empty your bladder. You may also experience lower back pain, painful bowl movements, pain with ejaculation and pain in the area between your genitals and anus, also known as the perineal area. Prostate inflammation can even cause you to have fever and chills and cause your skin to become flush. In extreme cases of prostate inflammation, you may experience blood in urine or semen, testicle pain, decreased force of urinary stream, difficulty urinating and foul-smelling urine, according to National Institutes of Health online encyclopedia Medline Plus.

Treatments

If prostatitis is due to a bacterial infection, your doctor may prescribe antibiotics that you will need to take for several weeks. In extreme rare cases, it may be necessary to be hospitalized and receive intravenous, or IV, antibiotics. Your physician may also recommend a stool softener and an over-the-counter pain reliever until the inflammation in your prostate decreases. Avoid spicy foods as they can irritate your bladder and make it more difficult and painful to urinate. Drinking plenty of water and avoiding alcohol and caffeine can also decrease the severity of symptoms.

Considerations

If you begin to experience pain during urination or during a bowel movement, let your health-care provider know right away. In addition to feeling pain while relieving yourself, you may experience regular pain in your testicles and penis. Certain sexually transmitted diseases can affect your prostate or have side effects similar to prostatitis, which makes it necessary that you receive medical attention right away.

source : livestrong.com