How Is Prostatitis Treated?
(This information is from Dr. Patrick Walsh's Guide to Surviving Prostate Cancer)

The easiest to treat is the most dramatic form, acute bacterial prostatitis. (The most likely cause of infection is E. coli, a form of bacteria that’s common in the colon.) This can be cured with a course of antibiotics—usually one of a class called fluoroquinolones—that lasts for six weeks. Men with chronic bacterial prostatitis are helped by low maintenance doses of antibiotics. This is called chronic suppressive therapy and, as its name suggests, it is designed to prevent new UTIs from developing, instead of treating them after the fact. Men who do not have infections may be helped by drugs such as alpha-blockers (often used to treat high blood pressure; described in the BPH section), antidepressants, and antispasmodics (drugs that help calm muscle spasms). The treatment for most prostatitis is often trial and error, and it helps if men and their doctors can work together—with much patience—to come up with the right plan. New evidence suggests that some nonbacterial prostatitis may actually be caused by an autoimmune condition that mimics the symptoms of prostatitis. This exciting new research may help us find new ways to manage the condition.

Finally, many men with prostatitis have found that their symptoms improve when they change their diet—eating a good balance of fruits and vegetables; avoiding spicy foods, alcohol, caffeine, and soft drinks that contain saccharin; and drinking enough water to keep urine running clear—and their lifestyle. A thirty-minute hot bath or sitz bath, twice a day, can relieve pain and make it easier to urinate. Getting daily exercise (but not riding a bike or an exercise bike, which can irritate symptoms) and resuming normal sexual activity may also be helpful.