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Prostate Enlargement

Prostate enlargement is the condition where the prostate gland gets bigger. This happens to the majority of men as they age and is a very common problem in men over the age of 60. The prostate is a gland that covers the urethra (the tube that carries urine out from the bladder through the tip of the penis) and is the gland that produces the fluid that carries sperm. If the prostate enlarges, this puts pressure on the urethra and presses on it causing it to narrow which will make it difficult for men to urinate. Prostate enlargement is mainly an age related disease but other causes can include, your diet, a family history of it, obesity and diabetes as well as erectile dysfunction. Certain medications can also contribute to the cause.

SYMPTOMS OF PROSTATE ENLARGEMENT

The most common symptom of prostate enlargement is the frequent and urgent need to urinate and waking up regularly at night to do so. Another symptom is a slow urinary stream and many difficulties trying to urinate. They may experience dribbling of urine straight after going to the toilet and they may not feel that they have completely emptied their bladder. Blood may also appear in the urine.

Treatments

For Prostate Enlargement Alpha Blockers or 5-Alpha Reductase Inhibitors are generally prescribed.

These work by relaxing the bladder muscles and fibres in the prostate and this makes it easier to urinate. It’ll increase the urine flow at a less frequent rate after a day or two of taking alpha blockers.

These medications include:

  • Alfuzosin (Uroxatral)

  • Doxazosin (Cardura)

  • Silodosin (Rapaflo)

  • Tamsulosin (Flomax)

  • Terazosin (Hytrin)

5-Alpha Reductase Inhibitors make the prostate gland smaller by stopping the hormones that make the prostate grow. Dutasteride (Avodart) and finasteride (Proscar) are two types of these medications. Within three to six months you’ll start to see and feel the difference.

If either of these medications stop working on their own then your doctor might recommend a combo of the two.

Transurethral Microwave Thermotherapy

This therapy is a minimal invasive surgery option for when drugs are no longer working. The microwaves in this treatment destroy the prostrate tissue with heat. It doesn’t cure prostate enlargement but can make it easier to urinate at a less frequent rate.

Transurethral Needle Ablation

This treatment includes high-frequency radio waves that are delivered through two needles which burn a specific region of the prostate. This can result in a better urine flow and can relieve the symptoms.

Water-Induced Thermotherapy

In this procedure hot water is pushed through a catheter to a balloon in the centre of the prostrate. It heats a specific area of the prostrate while the tissues surrounding it are protected. It destroys the problematic area and is then excreted through urine or reabsorbed into the body.

Transurethral Surgery and Transurethral Incision

This transurethral resection surgery includes the removal of prostate tissue that is obstructing the urethra with the use of a resectoscope which is inserted through the penis. Whereas transurethral incision includes the incision of the bladder and prostate to widen the urethra and increase urine flow.

Laser Surgery

This is where a scope is inserted in the penis tip to the urethra and a laser removes prostate tissue by melting and cutting it. Another type of laser surgery includes two instruments which cuts and removes excess tissue and a morcellator slices extra tissue that are then removed.

Managing Symptoms

  • Do pelvic strength exercises

  • Make sure to keep active

  • Limit alcohol and caffeine intake

  • Partition how much you drink throughout the day rather than drinking a lot at once

  • Don’t wait to urinate

  • Don’t use decongestants and antihistamines

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