Do you have a weak urinate stream? Are you having trouble sleeping because you are up several times at night to urinate? Do you know where every bathroom is wherever you go? If so, you may have an enlarged prostate causing these symptoms. This condition is known as BPH and is not only an annoyance but can also be a health problem. In its most severe form BPH can even lead to kidney failure and require a man to catheterize himself to empty the bladder every day. It also can lead to lack of quality of life and sleep deprivation.
What causes BPH? Men frequently ask what they did wrong to cause enlargement of their prostate. The fact is that nothing is known to cause BPH in one man while another man may never develop enlargement of his prostate. Certainly, genetics plays a large role as men who have BPH typically have fathers who also had an enlarged prostate.
What can you do if you have BPH? Men do not have to live with symptoms of BPH. There are medications called alpha blockers which can help to alleviate the symptoms of BPH. A common alpha blocker is the drug Flomax (generic Tamsulosin). Other drugs called 5ARis can slowly shrink the prostate with time but may ultimately only decrease the size by 20% long term.
Men who need, or desire, rapid improvement in symptoms can undergo surgery for BPH. Several different procedures either remove parts of the prostate or alter that size of the passageway through which urine travels through the prostate. Procedures such as TURP and UroLift as well as many others can effectively alleviate the symptoms and potential harm to the body from prostate enlargement.
If you are having symptoms of BPH talk to your primary care physician or schedule an appointment at NEO Urology to be evaluated. You do not need to continue to live with these symptoms.