Your urine may be cloudy and microscopic examination of the urine specimen will be loaded with white blood cells and bacteria. Chronic bacterial prostatitis is associated with repeated urinary tract infections, while nonbacterial prostatitis is not. In fact, if you do not have a urinary tract infection or a history of one, you probably do not have chronic bacterial prostatitis. Other symptoms, if any, may include urinary problems such as the need to urinate frequently, a sense of urgency, burning or painful urination, and possibly perineal and low-back pain. Microscopic examination of the urine specimen will be loaded with white blood cells and bacteria.
Nonbacterial prostatitis is more common than bacterial prostatitis.
It may cause no symptoms, or its symptoms may mimic those of chronic bacterial prostatitis. If you have nonbacterial prostatitis, however, it is unlikely that you will have urinary tract infections. On occasion we will find patients developing prostatitis from lack of sexual activity. This is called 'congestive prostatitis' and suggests that lack of ejaculation cause the semen to stay in the prostate too long and cause inflammation. Conversely, men who ejaculate too frequently can develop an 'exhaustive' or 'overuse' prostatitis.