The need for a test for thrush in men can occur at any age. Candidiasis in men is less often diagnosed than in women. Make sure that you need to take an analysis for thrush, the man will help the symptoms. Their appearance is unlikely to be ignored - too many problems they can cause.
Types of analyzes
To confirm the presence of Candida fungus in the body, a laboratory study is prescribed for the patient. Material for research is usually taken from the urethra, and the methodology for determining pathogenic microflora may be different. Conventionally, the study is divided into two types: a general smear and tests for the determination of genital infections.
What is the most common thrush test for men? This is a general view of the study, which involves the sampling of the test material using a special probe from the urethra. This probe makes a smear on the glass, after which the glass is stained and examined under a microscope. A smear allows you to determine the number of white blood cells, various bacteria, fungi, protozoa, parasites. Moreover, such an analysis is not able to give information about the type of pathogenic infection, since under the microscope, most representatives of the pathogenic flora look the same.
To obtain a more detailed result, carry out:
- PCR study, which allows you to identify the DNA of Candida fungus and determine its quantitative load;
- bacteriological culture - the obtained biomaterial is placed in a sterile nutrient medium, then the sensitivity of the pathogen to antimicrobial components is determined.
Each of the methods for detecting Candida has its own characteristics, so the choice is made by a doctor in favor of a particular analysis. For reliability, several tests for thrush are prescribed at once. A man is told how to prepare before each of them. Depending on the type of pathogen detected in the laboratory, treatment is prescribed.
Norm indicators
Many are interested in what is called a thrush test in men. It is worth noting that this laboratory study has no special name, but distinguish it, as already noted, by the method of conducting.
Before you go to take a smear for Candida, you need to know that the presence of a microbe in the body is not a disease. Candida is a representative of opportunistic flora, which normally does not cause any malfunctions in the work of internal organs and systems. The norm for the content of this fungus is 10 * 4 CFU / tamp. In this case, it would be wrong to consider the norm indicator to be absolute, since sometimes the symptoms of candidiasis appear even with a significantly lower fungal content.
Thrush is a disease in which the amount in the body of Candida fungi is increased. Normally, this conditionally pathogenic microorganism is found in small quantities along with ureaplasma and mycoplasma in the urethra. It is impossible to determine exactly how much of it is considered pathogenic. This indicator is individual for each patient. However, experts take as a norm those values at which the majority did not show any symptoms of thrush. Deviation from this indicator allows you to diagnose candidiasis.
Diagnosis of thrush
What tests to take for men with suspicion of this disease, it can be difficult to understand for patients without a specialized education. If we are talking about a fungal infection, we must first remember that the acidic environment is optimal for Candida, and the microbe itself oxidizes the areas around it, which leads to the rapid development of the disease.
Before making an analysis for thrush, a man finds out if he took antibiotics for a long period prior to going to a doctor. Candidiasis is often a concomitant phenomenon in patients with diabetes mellitus, immunodeficiency. Analysis for thrush for men is sometimes prescribed to monitor a fungal infection and control the dynamics of recovery, the effectiveness of the treatment methods used. To confirm the presence of fungus in the body, carry out the following types of studies:
- smear microscopy;
- detection of microbe DNA using the polymerase chain reaction method;
- determination of antibodies to Candide by enzyme immunoassay;
- bacterial culture to determine the type of antimycotic agents to which the fungus is sensitive.
How to do an analysis for thrush, the man will tell the attending urologist. You can also find out about the timing of the results of the study from the doctor, but usually a complex study takes from 5 to 7 days.
Candida albicans in men
The PCR technique is considered the most objective and reliable method of research. The essence of the polymerase chain reaction of the method is to search for matches in a pair of artificially synthesized oligonucleotides. A molecule that repeats the structure of individual sections of its DNA is copied and, as soon as it matches, the diagnosis is confirmed. The principle of the study does not allow to lose sight of any Candida cells, therefore the accuracy of this analysis is at least 99.9%.
The PCR method is most often prescribed to men suffering from chronic thrush, in which relapses are replaced by remissions. If one smear for analysis for thrush in a man is not enough, in parallel, the patient is advised to donate blood for analysis.
It is worth noting that high accuracy is not only an advantage of PCR, but also the main disadvantage of this type of study. Even in a healthy person, PCR can show the presence of Candida in the body, even if not a fungus causes poor health.
Who is recommended to undergo a laboratory test
An indication for the appointment of a smear for thrush is the specific symptomatology characteristic of thrush in men. A swab from the urethra is taken during a urological examination with obvious symptoms of an urethral infection or with latent inflammatory diseases of the genitourinary tract. It is also recommended that patients be tested for thrush if the infection was detected in their partner.
Other indications for taking a smear from the urethra for latent infections may include the following symptoms and manifestations:
- discharge from the urethra;
- cramps when urinating, frequent urge;
- swelling and hyperemia of the glans penis;
- reddish small rashes;
- persistent itching in the groin, scrotum, inside the urethra;
- the presence of inflammatory diseases of the genitourinary system;
- suspected gonorrhea, mycoplasmosis, chlamydia, trichomoniasis, etc.);
- infertility;
- preventive examination;
- the presence of any sexually transmitted disease in a partner.
About preparation for research
Before you go to take an analysis for thrush (in “Invitro” both men and women can undergo this type of study), you need to go through a simple preparation:
- 3-4 hours before taking a smear from the urethra, you can not go to the toilet.
- It is also advisable to refrain from sexual intercourse two days before visiting a doctor.
- On the eve of the procedure, do not take a shower, so as not to wash off conditionally pathogenic microorganisms from the surface of the urethral canal and not to disturb the true picture of microflora. Otherwise, it will take 6-12 hours to restore the balance. Then a maximum of bacteria and fungi will accumulate in the urethra, which will allow you to take the material and conduct an objective study.
In addition, a few days before the test, you should stop taking antibiotics and antimycotics, do not drink alcohol.
How is the procedure
Before taking biomaterial, the doctor will treat the surface of the head of the penis with a special disinfectant solution so that extra pathogenic microorganisms from the epidermis do not get into the smear. The material for the study is removed from the urethra using a special urological probe, which is inserted into the urethra by several centimeters and with intense, but careful movements is turned several times in place. Thus, the material is collected on a tool, which, after extraction, is sent to the laboratory.
For a general analysis, a smear is applied to glass, and for PCR or bacteriological culture, the probe is placed in a special sterile tube and only then transported to the laboratory. You should not come to the study if before that it was not possible to undergo training.
How to make an analysis for thrush in men so that it does not hurt? According to reviews, taking a smear from the urethra brings not so much painful as unpleasant discomfort. In this case, much depends on the experience and qualifications of the urologist, the quality of the probe used by him, as well as the inflammatory process in the urethra. For example, patients with urethritis experience more pain during the test than healthy men during a routine examination.
After analysis
Within a few days after the study, many patients note pain during urination, burning, itching, sometimes severe pain. This is a natural reaction of the inflamed and irritated urethra. Urine, getting into microscopic wounds, irritates the mucous membrane and causes discomfort. Some men try to limit themselves in fluid intake in order to visit the toilet less often, but this tactic is completely wrong. The more concentrated the urine comes out, the more it irritates the urethra.
Deciphering the results
So, how does an analysis for thrush in men surrender, no questions will arise. To find out if candidiasis was confirmed, if any other disease was detected, it is necessary to understand what the main indicators mean. The smear delivered to the laboratory is delivered to the laboratory, where it is stained and carefully examined under a magnifying glass. In the conclusions, the number of leukocytes, epithelial cells, the presence of coccal flora and other elements is noted. For example, the following values are considered normal:
- white blood cells - no more than five in the field of view;
- epithelial cells - from five to ten;
- mucus - a moderate amount;
- microflora - up to 10 units in the field of view;
- trichomonads and gonococci - should be absent.
If the smear showed that the leukocytes and epithelium are higher than normal, there is more mucus and red blood cells, eosinophils, which, in principle, should not be in the urethral smear, appear, make a conclusion about the ongoing inflammation. In the presence of Candida in an amount of more than 10 * 4 CFU / tampa, candidiasis is diagnosed. The general result of the smear will have to wait 2-3 days.
In Invitro and Helix, it is easiest for men to test for thrush for men, since the branches of these laboratory clinics are within walking distance in almost most Russian cities. When studying by PCR, the results will have to wait no more than two business days. If Candida is confirmed, the analysis may be delayed in order to conduct control confirmatory tests.
What other infections can the PCR method show?
In a healthy man, no DNA of hidden pathogens should be detected. If the result of the study is positive, the analysis is repeated and the quantitative load of the pathogenic flora is determined. Thus, it is important to identify not only thrush, but also to determine the amount of fungus of the genus Candida. In addition to this microorganism, the polymerase chain reaction helps to identify pathogens:
- chlamydia;
- gonococcal infection;
- Trichomonas;
- ureaplasmosis;
- mycoplasmosis;
- herpes simplex virus;
- human papillomavirus;
- cytomegalovirus.
Analysis of smears from the urethra allows specialists to identify hidden infections and draw up a scheme for effective and safe treatment. Thrush itself is not a life-threatening disease, but it can cause a lot of problems to patients and provoke various complications. In addition, candidiasis is often not an independent disease, but develops against the background of already existing sexually transmitted infections. In advanced cases, Candida fungus can affect the urethra, provoke phimosis and sexual dysfunction.
For men, collecting material from the urethra is far from the most pleasant medical procedure, but it is a necessary part of a comprehensive diagnosis to detect sexually transmitted infections. Without a smear, the doctor will not be able to make a single diagnosis, including determining the thrush. And so that as a result of the study it was possible to have no doubt, you need to do an analysis for Candida fungus in a proven place.
Where to pass the analysis
With an active sex life and the absence of a permanent partner, a man needs to undergo an examination at least once every six months. A man does not need to remember the name of the analysis for thrush, because the doctor will send the study. You can go through it both in budgetary clinics and in private independent laboratories, among which the most reliable patients are called network “Invitro”, “Helix”, “Hemotest”, “Litech”, “CityLab”.
To obtain the most reliable results, it is important to pay attention to preparing for the analysis. You can take biomaterial directly from home to the above laboratories, leaving a request and waiting for the arrival of a specialist. Taking a smear from the urethra to the thrush is not the most convenient diagnostic procedure, but its carrying out is extremely important in cases of suspected infection.