When To Seek Medical Advice
See a GP if you have any of the symptoms of an enlarged prostate .
Even if the symptoms are mild, they could be caused by a condition that needs to be investigated.
Any blood in your urine must be investigated by a GP to rule out other more serious conditions.
Page last reviewed: 10 February 2020 Next review due: 10 February 2023
How Can You Know That You Have An Enlarged Prostate
Located right next to the bladder, the prostate is a tiny, walnut-sized gland thats vital for the normal functioning of the male reproductive system. It is wrapped around the urethra and significantly influences how the urethra transports both sperm and semen. As the prostate grows and swells, it puts a lot of pressure on the bladder and can obstruct urine flow through the urethra, resulting in various urinary issues.
If you have an enlarged prostate, you will:
The early warning signs of BPH include:
1. Weak or slow urination
As your prostate enlarges, it puts pressure on your urethra and bladder, interrupting urine flow, resulting in either a weak flow or a prolonged stay in the bathroom. This is a very early and most common sign of BPH, and youve probably heard older men joke about how long they take to urinate. So when you have an enlarged prostate, urine does not exit normally and the resulting stream is quite weak.
2. Leaking of urine
Those embarrassing wet spots on your pants may just be the warning that you have an enlarged prostate. Why? Because a swollen prostate not only makes it difficult to urinate, but also makes it harder to retain urine in your bladder, resulting in urine leakage. The enlarged prostate also puts a lot of pressure both on your urethra and on your bladder and compromises your normal ability to hold urine.
How Do You Find It
Youll need to head south along the back road to find it in a magical place called the anal region.
Although entering through the anus is the most direct way, you can also stimulate the prostate indirectly through the perineum, or taint.
This is the skin that runs underneath the scrotum to the anus.
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What Does A Prostate Orgasm Feel Like
P-spot orgasms are said to feel similar to penile orgasms, only way more intense and felt through the entire body.
There are reports of people having super orgasms, which are a stream of fast, continuous orgasms that cause the body to shudder.
Not everyone ejaculates during a prostate orgasm, but some release a dribble of milky fluid from the urethra.
A little bit of prep can help make the experience a good one whether youre flying solo, or on the giving or receiving end of things.
When To Contact A Medical Professional
- Less urine than usual
- Back, side, or abdominal pain
- Blood or pus in your urine
Also call if:
- Your bladder does not feel completely empty after you urinate.
- You take medicines that may cause urinary problems, such as diuretics, antihistamines, antidepressants, or sedatives. DO NOT stop or change your medicines without talking to your provider.
- You have tried self-care steps for 2 months and symptoms have not improved.
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Watchful Waiting With An Enlarged Prostate
When the symptoms of an enlarged prostate gland are mild, with low scores on the BPH Impact Index , it may be best to wait before starting any treatment — what’s known as “watchful waiting.”
With regular checkups once a year or more often, doctors can watch for early problems and signs that the condition is posing a health risk or a major inconvenience. That’s where the BPH Index is especially helpful, Westney tells WebMD. “It lets us know how high the symptom score is ⦠when to start treatment.”
The “driving force in treatment,” she explains, is whether the symptoms are affecting your quality of life — and whether a blockage is causing serious complications, such as inability to urinate, blood in the urine, bladder stones, kidney failure, or other bladder problems.
A few questions to ask yourself:
- How severe are your symptoms?
- Do symptoms prevent you from doing things you enjoy?
- Do they seriously affect your quality of life?
- Are they getting worse?
- Are you ready to accept some small risks to get rid of your symptoms?
- Do you know the risks associated with each treatment?
- Is it time to do something?
What Is The Prostate
The prostate is a walnut-sized gland that rests just below the bladder. It surrounds the urethra, the tube that carries urine from the bladder out of the body. The prostate plays a critical role in the male reproductive system by helping to nourish sperm and direct it from the testicles when a man ejaculates.
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What Is Prostate Cancer
Prostate cancer is common among American men. Your chance of getting prostate cancer may be affected by your:
- Age. Men age 50 and older run a greater risk.
- Race. Prostate cancer is most common among African-American men.
- Family history. If your father or brother has had prostate cancer, you are more likely to have it, too.
- Diet. Eating high-fat food with few fruits and vegetables may raise your risk.
If You Are Diagnosed With Bph
Taken together, these tests will help your doctor determine whether you have BPH and if you do, how severe it is. If you have BPH, your doctor should provide you with information on whether simply monitoring your symptoms is a reasonable option, or whether treatment is a better option.
BPH can be treated medically or surgically in some cases.
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How Your Doctor Can Help
If you have one or more of these symptoms, its important to talk with your doctor about a treatment plan. Treatments for BPH include medication, minimally invasive therapies, and surgery. You can also try lifestyle changes to control symptoms. And sometimes the symptoms get better even without treatment, according to the Mayo Clinic. The best news? Although they can produce similar symptoms, enlarged prostate has no connection to prostate cancer.
How To Know If You Have An Enlarged Prostate
Your prostate gland a little structure about the size and shape of a walnut is situated between your penis and your bladder. It produces and secretes a fluid that nourishes sperm and carries it through your urethra in the form of semen during ejaculation.
Although the prostate grows slowly, by the time theyre in their 50s, about a quarter of men have a condition known as benign prostatic hyperplasia , also referred to as an enlarged prostate. By the time theyre in their 80s, about half of men have BPH.
Alex Lesani, MD, an expert and caring urologist, wants you to pay attention to your prostate to keep it healthy over time. Some of the symptoms of BPH are similar to those of other, more serious conditions, such as prostatitis or prostate cancer. Untreated, even BPH can cause significant complications, including kidney damage.
Do you suspect you might have BPH? Following are some of the most common BPH symptoms that should be diagnosed and addressed by an expert.
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My Enlarged Prostate Really Really Bothers Me Can I Take Both Types Of Medications Together
So I have a decent number of patients who are on both groups of medicines above. There are several strong studies that show an advantage in terms of how your symptoms are controlled, decreased need for a catheter, and decreased need for surgery if both are taken together. The downside is being on two pills rather than one but overall it is pretty well tolerated.
What Are The Side Effects Of Tamsulosin
One side effect is lightheadedness or orthostatic hypotension. The blood vessels in your body will adjust to changes in your position and Flomax can impair that.
This is why you need to take your time from lying down to sitting up or sitting up to standing. Usually this side effect goes away after the first week but I have seen patients get really dizzy and almost even pass out.
You get excited, the penis gets hard, but nothing comes out. This happens about 20-30% of the time. For some guys this isnt a big deal. For others it is. If this is a big deal then this might not be the drug for you.
The last main side effect is intraoperative floppy iris syndrome. This is a fancy term to say your iris behaves funny when you have cataract surgery. So even if you only took this medicine once, if you are having cataract surgery you need to let the Ophthalmologist know. The tamsulosin doesnt affect your eyesight, it just makes the cataract surgery more challenging for that surgeon.
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What Exams Tests And Procedures Diagnose Bph
A physical exam is required to see if other medical problems may be causing your BPH symptoms. The healthcare provider will order a digital rectal exam to examine the prostate gland. The healthcare provider may feel the prostate by inserting a gloved, lubricated finger into the rectum. The rectal exam allows your doctor to roughly estimate the size and consistency of the prostate. Most importantly, it allows the doctor to feel for lumps or hard areas that could indicate the presence of prostate cancer. Your doctor may check your urine for blood or signs of infection. Your blood may be tested for kidney problems , for PSA levels , a screening test for enlarged prostate, prostate cancer, prostatitis, and urinary tract infections
Some men are referred to a specialist for further tests. Urologists specialize in diseases of the male and female urinary tracts and of the male genital tract. Before you are treated for BPH. It is important for the doctor to rule out other possible causes of an enlarged prostate, such as prostate cancer, which is benign or non-cancerous.
When Prostate Cancer Symptoms Are Not Related To Voiding
Only when prostate cancer metastasizes to the bones and other organs do secondary and systemic symptoms of bone pain, weight loss and fatigue develop.
It is important to remember that the majority of men diagnosed with prostate cancer will die with itnot from it.
Yet early detection and appropriate management will help to achieve the best outcome and quality of life for each individual.
If you are a man of African descent or have a family history of prostate cancer, you should discuss with your physician about the option of screening starting at age 40, explains Dr. Lutz.
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Warning Signs You Have An Enlarged Prostate
An enlarged prostate is a condition that many men suffer from, but few wish to talk about it.
With the latest statistics showing that by the age of 60, 50% of men will have some symptoms of BPH , its time to tackle the rising epidemic.
Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia occurs when the prostate expands to twice or even three times its regular size.
As a result, the growing prostate gland gradually presses against the urethra, restricting urinary flow. This results in a range of urinary problems.
Risk factors for prostate enlargement include age, ethnicity, family history.
While an enlarged prostate doesnt necessarily mean you have prostate cancer, it could be a result of BPH .
An enlarged prostate can result in painful and embarrassing urinary problems, so to give you a hand, here are the 6 signs and symptoms of BPH to watch out for.
Talk To Me About The Roto Rooter
The most tried and true management of surgery for an enlarged prostate is a transurethral resection of the prostate, or TURP. This is where the urologist will offer the roto rooter or clean out or core out of the prostate.
The best way to think of this is to pretend the prostate is an orange. We take out the fruit but leave the peel on the outside.The next question I get is why not just take the whole thing out? The reason for that is that the risks are higher for when the whole prostate is taken out as is done for prostate cancer. Our focus is on the part of the prostate that is blocking your urine flow, which is why we dont need to remove the whole thing.
This is done in the operating room. You are put to sleep.
A scope is inserted into the penis and a device is used to scrape or resect the part of the prostate that is blocking your flow. This usually takes 1-2 hours and oftentimes you will stay overnight in the hospital.
When you wake up, you will have a catheter coming out the penis and usually continuous bladder irrigation will be done overnight. This is where fluids will run constantly through the catheter into the bladder to help lessen the risk of bleeding and blockage of the catheter. Most of the time you will be able to go home the next day. There are differences in when your urologist will feel comfortable taking the catheter out.
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Blood In Urine/bladder Stones
A number of factors associated with enlarged prostate can cause blood in the urine: Enlarged veins in the prostate can rupture, or if youre forcing hard to urinate, that can also rupture veins. Blood in the urine can also be a sign of a UTI. Urine retention in your bladder can also cause bladder stones. These occur when urine becomes concentrated and crystallizes. They can be very painful and can further block the flow of urine. However, its unlikely that bladder stones would be the first noticeable symptom of an enlarged prostate, Dr. Linehan says.
What Kind Of Symptoms Would Lead Me To Think That I Have An Enlarged Prostate
So when you come to the urologists office, he/she will typically give you this questionnaire below. This questionnaire really gets to the heart of what symptoms suggest that you are dealing with an enlarged. prostate.
So these questions really focus on how an enlarged prostate can cause bothersome urination.
If you notice that your urine stream is slow or that you have to rush to the bathroom, or that you are straining to urinate, then you are likely suffering from an enlarged prostate.
As a urologist, we will count up these numbers and studies have shown that this can help us evaluate how bad your enlarged prostate is for you. Additionally, this can also help guide us to see how effective your treatment is.
What I mean by this is that when you come back to the office after starting medication or having surgery, we can see what your symptom score is and track to see if we have improved your symptoms of an enlarged prostate.
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When To Get Concerned About An Enlarged Prostate
Common symptoms of BPH involve difficulty beginning to urinate, straining to urinate, dribbling at the end, and a decreased force of the stream. This occurs because the prostate surrounds the urethra and its enlargement will squeeze the urethra making it difficult to urinate.
When symptoms begin to affect your quality of life, it is time to see McIver Clinic. It is time to decide on a treatment that is right for you depending on your age and the severity of your symptoms.
Do not ignore painful or burning urination, painful ejaculation, blood in the urine or semen, frequent pain in the lower back, hips, pelvic or rectal area.
Possible complications from untreated BPH include the following:
- Urinary retention
- Chronic prostatitis causing chronic pelvic syndrome with pain in the lower back, groin, and tip of the penis
- Bacteria infections
You Pee Often Or Poorly
Frequent urination during the day is another sign of BPH. In fact, your need to urinate may be so strong that you barely make it to the bathroom in time. Other signs that your prostate has enlarged to the point its impeding on your bladder or urethra are:
- Your bladder doesnt feel empty after you pee
- You start and stop several times when urinating
- Your urine dribbles instead of pours
- Your urine stream is weak
- You have to strain to urinate
If youre urinating every hour or two, you either have BPH or another condition that needs to be diagnosed and resolved. Frequent urination, incomplete urination, and straining are all symptoms that can severely impact your quality of life and may, eventually, damage your kidneys.
Your BPH may also progress to the point where you cant pass urine at all, which is a life-threatening medical emergency. If you cant urinate, head to the emergency room right away.
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What Causes An Enlarged Prostate
We still dont really know all the things that cause the prostate to grow. But we do know about two risk factors that can increase your risk of having an enlarged prostate.
Age
Your risk of having an enlarged prostate increases as you get older. Many men aged 50 or over have an enlarged prostate, but they dont all get symptoms. And some men have symptoms that don’t bother them.
Hormone levels
The balance of hormones in your body changes as you get older. This may cause your prostate to grow.
Other factors
Some studies show that obese men and men who have diabetes may be more likely to develop an enlarged prostate. Regular exercise may help to reduce your risk of urinary symptoms. But we still need more studies into the causes of enlarged prostate to know for certain if, and how, we can prevent it.
There is also some research that suggests you may be more at risk of developing an enlarged prostate if your father or brother has one. Again, further studies are needed to confirm this.