How Do You Know If You Have Prostate Cancer
Theres no way of knowing if you have prostate cancer without visiting your doctor, as most men with early prostate cancer dont have any symptoms. And if you do have symptoms they can be caused by other things.
And you cant check for prostate cancer yourself.
You may want to speak to your GP if you’re over 50 , even if you don’t have any symptoms. These are all things that can increase your risk of prostate cancer. Your GP can give more information or tests if necessary.
If youre not sure about what to say to your GP, print and fill out this form and show it to them. This will help you have the conversation.
I thought I could be at risk after learning that African Caribbean men are more likely to get prostate cancer than white men.
Treatment For Urinary Problems
If your urinary problems are caused by infection or enlargement of the prostate gland, treatment may include:
- a long course of antibacterial medication because infection is difficult to get rid of, the antibacterial medication will need to be taken for many weeks
- medication to improve urine flow and other symptoms
- surgical procedures the type of surgery required depends on the size of the prostate and the condition of the urethra. Types of procedures include:
- transurethral resection of the prostate
- transurethral incision of the prostate
- laser resection of the prostate
- open surgery prostatectomy
- removal of prostate tissue using water jets or steam
Suggestions For Keeping Ones Back Healthy
Exercise regularly to keep muscular tissues solid as well as flexible. Get in touch with a doctor for a list of low-impact, age-appropriate exercises that are specifically targeted to strengthening lower back as well as abdominal muscles.
Keep a healthy weight and consume a nutritious diet plan with an adequate everyday consumption of calcium, phosphorus, and vitamin D to advertise new bone growth.
Usage ergonomically made furniture and tools in your home and at the workplace. Make sure work surfaces are at a comfy height.
Switch sitting positions commonly as well as periodically walk the workplace or carefully stretch muscles to alleviate tension. A cushion or rolled-up towel put behind the small of the back can offer some back assistance. Place your feet on a reduced stool or a pile of publications when sitting for a very long time.
Dont Miss: Can Teens Get Prostate Cancer
Don’t Miss: Va Disability For Prostate Cancer
Urinary Frequency And Urgency
Some men find they need to urinate more often after having radiotherapy , or get a sudden urge thats hard to ignore . You may also need to urinate more often at night . It usually only lasts for a few months after radiotherapy, but if it happens, it might help to drink less in the two hours before you go to bed, and to avoid drinks that irritate the bladder
A small number of men leak urine before they can reach the toilet . This happens when the bladder muscles twitch and squeeze without you controlling them. This pushes urine out before youre ready.
What Are The Causes Of Frequent Urination In Men With Enlarged Prostate
The most common cause of frequent urination and man with an enlarged prostate is incomplete bladder emptying. As a result, if the urinary bladder empties only halfway, it takes only a short period of time sometimes as little as 20 minutes to a few hours depending on how much you drink for a bladder to fill up again.
Enlarged prostate blocks urine flow, the urinary bladder needs to push hard to overcome resistance from the prostate to empty urine. This makes the bladder irritated and leads to frequent and premature urge to urinate. These symptoms of overactive bladder are a result of prostate obstruction. Prostate enlargement can also cause intermittent urination and inconsistent urine flow.
In the long-term, enlarged prostate can lead to the thickening of the bladder wall due to the need to push hard. This can lead to a decrease in the bladder ability to store a high volume of urine. The bladder cannot hold as much urine as it used to in the past. As a result, the small capacity bladder fills fast and men feel the need to urinate frequently.
Don’t Miss: When Is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month
Frequent Urination At Night And During The Day In Men With Huge Prostate
Men with an enlarged prostate often experience frequent urination at night which usually starts slowly with urinating once or twice a night a few times a week. Eventually, a urinary problem in men with BPH can progress to peeing 5-8 times a night. This causes a significant problem for men as they cannot get adequate sleep at night. Often, nighttime urination can be effectively treated with medications but sometimes office procedures such as Urolift, i-Tind, and Rezum can make it better. When the problem is severe, laser enucleation of the prostate, Greenlight laser or Bipolar TURP provides an effective solution for waking up at night to urinate.
It is important to make sure that the bladder empties completely as that can be a problem in men with large prostates.
Many men also experience frequent urination during the day every 1-3 hours. This is most commonly caused by an enlarged prostate in men. Typically, the problem starts around age 50 but in some men can start as early as in the mid-30s. This can make it difficult sitting in meetings or driving. Some men end up carrying a pee bottle or a urinal in the car because they cannot make it to the bathroom when they drive. This is a fairly easily treatable problem that can be effectively treated at New York Urology Specialists.
Beware Frequent Urination Could Be A Sign Of Prostate Disease
Dr Manish Ahuja, Consultant Urologist, explains some of the frequent signs and symptoms of prostate disease.
Prostatic diseases are common among ageing men causing significant morbidity. The prostate problem can be led due to the current circumstances like ageing, weather change, travel or business-related stress, the water of different places, etc. However, due to the sedentary lifestyle and an increase in age. As men get older, the quality of life gets hampered as the prostate gland enlargement, can be caused due to lower urinary tract symptoms. Research data from India show that almost 65% of men aged 40 years and above suffered from these annoying symptoms as per research data from India. Then why most of these patients are unseen?
Read Also: Do I Have Prostate Cancer
Bladder And Urinary Troubles
A prostate tumor that has grown significantly in size may start to press on your bladder and urethra. The urethra is the passage the carries urine from your bladder out of your body. If the tumor is pressing on your urethra, you might have trouble passing urine.
One of the common areas for prostate cancer to spread to is the bladder, because the two organs are close. This can cause additional problems with urination and bladder function.
Some symptoms your bladder and urethra are being affected by cancer include:
- urinating more frequently
- getting up in the middle of the night to pee
- feeling like you have to urinate often and not actually passing anything
Its not as common, but prostate cancer can also spread to your bowel. The cancer first spreads to the rectum, which is the part of your bowel closest to the prostate gland.
Symptoms of cancer thats spread to the bowels include:
What Is Prostate Cancer Ablation
To begin, its important to understand what ablation is. Ablation means the removal of diseased body tissue such as cancerous tumors. Image-guided ablation is performed by applying thermal energy that physically destroys the cancer. For prostate cancer, ablation is an alternative to surgery or radiation.
Thermal ablation for prostate cancer has two main advantages over surgery:
- Same day outpatient procedure
- Very rapid recovery time and return to normal activities
Ablation also has a unique advantage over surgery and radiation, which are both whole-gland treatments. Ablation can be done as a focal treatment with added benefits:
- Targets only the tumor plus an extra safety margin
- Avoids damage to healthy prostate tissue
- Greatly reduces the risk of impaired urinary and sexual function as compared to surgery
Today, focal treatment for prostate cancer is recognized as an excellent option for patients who are accurately diagnosed and determined to be appropriate for a focal approach. Besides being clinically qualified, psychologically they desire high quality of life after treatment and are committed to actively participating in their doctors follow-up monitoring protocol using PSA blood tests and multi-parametric MRI scans at prescribed intervals.
Read Also: Prostagenix Vs Super Beta Prostate
What Is The Prostate Gland
The prostate is a gland about the size of a walnut. It is part of the male reproductive system and wraps around the tube that carries urine out of the bladder. It grows larger as you get older. If your prostate gets too large, it can cause health issues. Having prostate problems does not always mean you have cancer.
Sometimes a doctor may find a problem during a routine checkup or by doing a rectal exam. If you think there is something wrong with your prostate, see your doctor right away.
Schedule An Appointment With Dr Shteynshlyuger:
Call today: or make an appointment online
Dr. Alex Shteynshlyuger is a fellowship trained board-certified with expertise in evaluation and treatment of urinary problems in men. He uses modern effective and proven treatment methods including prostate enucleation and Urolift for BPH. He is highly recommended by top primary care physicians in the New York area.
He has successfully performed hundreds of prostate procedures in adults. Urolift procedures are performed in the office under local anesthesia, in a surgical center and affiliated hospitals under anesthesia.
If you or someone you know has been experiencing urological symptoms, to take advantage of Dr. Shteynshlyugers expert advice. Please feel free to Contact Us with any questions.
If you have any questions, to schedule a consultation or if you need a second opinion, pleasecontact us or call:
We offer affordable, highest-quality urology care with or without insurance. Find out our . We offer weekday, weekend, and evening office hours.
You May Like: Trunature Prostate Health Complex 250 Softgels
What Can Help With Urinary Frequency And Urgency
There are treatments that can help with urinary frequency and urgency, as well as things you can do yourself.
Bladder retraining
If you need to urinate more often than usual or sometimes leak before reaching the toilet, you could try a technique called bladder retraining. This can help you control when you urinate, and help you hold on for longer. Speak to your specialist continence nurse or physiotherapist for more information.
Medicines
Drugs called anti-cholinergics can help to reduce frequency, urgency and leaks. If you can’t have anto-cholinergics, you may be offered mirabegron tablets.
Percutaneous posterior tibial nerve stimulation
This treatment may help some men to urinate and leak urine less often. A needle is placed under the skin just above your ankle. A low electrical current is passed through the needle to affect the nerves that control urination. This can help stop the bladder from emptying before its full.
Youll normally have PTNS once a week for 12 weeks. Each treatment lasts about half an hour. PTNS has no serious side effects, although the area where the needle enters the skin may feel a little sore afterwards.
Sacral nerve stimulation
This is sometimes called Sacral Neuromodulation . A small wire is surgically placed against the sacral nerve in your lower back. The other end of the wire is connected to a small box . The SNS device makes mild electrical pulses that stimulate the sacral nerve to help you regain control of your bladder.
Botulinum toxin
Radical Prostatectomy Retropubic Or Suprapubic Approach
Youll be positioned on the operating table, lying on your back.
An incision will be made from below the navel to the pubic region.
The doctor will usually perform a lymph node dissection first. The nerve bundles will be released carefully from the prostate gland and the urethra will be identified. The seminal vesicles may also be removed if necessary.
The prostate gland will be removed.
A drain will be inserted, usually in the right lower area of the incision.
Read Also: When To Get A Prostate Biopsy
Read Also: What To Take For Prostate Infection
How Will Your Doctor Diagnose A Prostate Infection
A prostate infection diagnosis is based on your medical history, a physical exam, and medical tests. Your doctor can also rule out other serious conditions such as prostate cancer during the exam. During a physical exam, your doctor will conduct a digital rectal exam to test your prostate and will look for:
- enlarged or tender lymph nodes in the groin
- swollen or tender scrotum
Your doctor may also ask about your symptoms, recent UTIs, and medications or supplements youre taking. Other medical tests that can help your diagnosis and treatment plan include:
- urinalysis or , to look for infections
- a prostate biopsy or a blood test for prostate-specific antigen
- urodynamic tests, to see how your bladder and urethra store urine
- cystoscopy, to look inside the urethra and bladder for blockage
Your doctor may also order an ultrasound to get a closer look. The cause will help determine the correct course of treatment.
What Is An Enlarged Prostate
An enlarged prostate is when your prostate gland becomes larger than normal. Its also called benign prostatic hyperplasia or BPH for short. Benign means not cancer. And hyperplasia means too much cell growth. BPH isnt cancer and it doesnt increase your risk of getting prostate cancer.
Usually, the prostate gland continues to grow during adult life. Thats why BPH is the most common prostate condition in people over age 50. As the prostate gets bigger, it may press against the bladder and pinch the urethra. This can slow or block the flow of urine out of your bladder.
Over time, the bladder muscle may become weak from trying to pass urine through a narrow urethra. When this happens, your bladder may not empty completely when you urinate. A narrowed urethra and weak bladder cause many of the urinary problems you may have with BPH.
Read Also: How Much Water To Drink Before Prostate Radiation
Does Prostate Cancer Have Any Symptoms
Most men with early prostate cancer dont have any signs or symptoms.
One reason for this is the way the cancer grows. Youll usually only get early symptoms if the cancer grows near the tube you urinate through and presses against it, changing the way you urinate . But because prostate cancer usually starts to grow in a different part of the prostate, early prostate cancer doesnt often press on the urethra and cause symptoms.
If you do notice changes in the way you urinate, this is more likely to be a sign of a very common non-cancerous problem called an enlarged prostate, or another health problem. But its still a good idea to get it checked out. Possible changes include:
- difficulty starting to urinate or emptying your bladder
- a weak flow when you urinate
- a feeling that your bladder hasnt emptied properly
- dribbling urine after you finish urinating
- needing to urinate more often than usual, especially at night
- a sudden need to urinate you may sometimes leak urine before you get to the toilet.
If prostate cancer breaks out of the prostate or spreads to other parts of the body , it can cause other symptoms, including:
- back pain, hip pain or pelvis pain
- problems getting or keeping an erection
- unexplained weight loss.
These symptoms can all be caused by other health problems. But its still a good idea to tell your GP about any symptoms so they can find out whats causing them and make sure you get the right treatment, if you need it.
How To Treat Frequent Urination
Treating frequent urination is focused on treating the underlying cause. This will vary based on the problem. Some treatments and coping strategies include:
- Frequent urination related to nerve problems may require lifestyle changes, drugs or surgery.
- A UTI may require treatment with antibiotics.
- An enlarged prostate may require surveillance, medication, or surgery.
- Vaginitis may require treatment with medication in the form of a cream, tablet, or suppository.
- If frequent urination is accompanied by incontinence, it may be helpful to protect clothes by wearing an incontinence pad. You may also protect bedding with a pad.
- Avoiding too much fluid just before bed and avoiding alcohol and caffeine may also help.
There is a stepwise plan for managing overactive bladder with incontinence with frequency or urgency . This includes dietary changes, medications such as Oxytrol or Gemtesa , and other interventions.
Urge incontinence is differentfrom stress incontinence which has different management.
Read Also: What Percent Of Prostate Cancer Is Metastatic
Questions To Ask Your Doctor Or Nurse
- Is the treatment Im having for prostate cancer likely to cause any urinary problems?
- What type of urinary problems might I get?
- What should I do if I cant urinate?
- Will my urinary problems get better?
- What treatments are available?
- What are the risks and side effects of treatments for urinary problems?
- What can I do to help myself?
- Where can I get pads and other products?
What Are The Treatments For Bph
Not everyone needs treatment for BPH. Treatment options depend on how much your symptoms bother you, your health, age, and the size of your prostate:
-
Lifestyle changes may improve mild symptoms. They include:
- Drinking less before bedtime or going out
- Avoiding or cutting back on beverages with caffeine and alcohol
- Bladder training and exercising the muscles that control urine flow
- Preventing or treating constipation
Medicines can help mild to moderate symptoms by:
Sometimes combining 2 types of medicine helps more than taking just one type of medicine.
Medical procedures can help improve moderate to severe BPH symptoms when medicines dont help enough. There are several different types of procedures. They all use an instrument inserted into the urethra to either:
Surgery may be helpful when symptoms are severe, other treatments havent helped, or you have another problem, such as bladder damage. Different types of surgery are used to:
Most BPH surgery is done with tools inserted into the urethra.
Your provider can explain the possible benefits and side effects of your treatment options so you can decide whats best for you.
You May Like: What Is The Prostate Gland
Also Check: Cancer De Prostata Con Metastasis Osea