Diagnosing Benign Prostate Enlargement
You might have several different tests to find out if you have an enlarged prostate.
A GP may do some of these tests, such as a urine test, but others might need to be done at a hospital.
Some tests may be needed to rule out other conditions that cause similar symptoms to BPE, such as prostate cancer.
Checking For Psa At Home
Itâs best to look for prostate symptoms and then screen using a Prostate Specific Antigen blood test. While there is no physical way for you to check for prostate cancer at home, there are at-home screening options for PSA. imaware⢠at-home test for PSA can help screen you for prostate issues.
What Is Mri Of The Prostate
Magnetic resonance imaging is a noninvasive test used to diagnose medical conditions.
MRI uses a powerful magnetic field, radio waves and a computer to produce detailed pictures of internal body structures. MRI does not use radiation .
Detailed MR images allow doctors to examine the body and detect disease. The images can be reviewed on a computer monitor. They may also be sent electronically, printed or copied to a CD, or uploaded to a digital cloud server.
Multiparametric is an advanced form of imaging. It uses three MRI techniques to provide anatomical pictures and information on the function of the prostate gland.
Mp-MRI assesses water molecule motion and blood flow within the prostate. This helps your doctor tell the difference between diseased and normal prostate tissue.
The prostate is part of the malereproductive system. It sits in front of the rectum, above the base of the penis, and below thebladder. The prostate surrounds the first part of theurethra. It helps make the milky fluid called semen. Semen carriessperm out of the body when a man ejaculates. Your doctor will most commonly use ultrasound or MRI to image the prostate.See the Prostate Ultrasound page for more information.
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Medications For Enlarged Prostate
There are two main classes of pharmaceuticals that work to alleviate enlarged prostate symptoms: alpha blockers and alpha reductase inhibitors
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Alpha Blockers. Alpha blockers relax the smooth muscle around the bladder neck and within the urethra.
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Inhibitors. Inhibitors stop the conversion of the male hormone testosterone to DHT to reduce the prostate’s size, eliminating blockage.
Dont be surprised if your physician prescribes a combination of the two medications, as they have been shown to work more effectively together than alone. The downside is that combination therapy may increase the likelihood of experiencing side effects from the medications. Be sure to work with your doctor to assess the benefits and costs before starting on combination therapy.
How Is Yale Medicines Approach To Treating Enlarged Prostate Unique
“Urologists at Yale Medicine can give you a personalized approach to prostate care for both benign and malignant conditions,” says Dr. Honig.
Doctors at Yale Medicine work closely with specialists across all disciplines at Yale New Haven Hospital. Our doctors are dedicated to providing the latest treatmentsall personalized to meet the needs of each patient. This collaboration between different departments and teams sets Yale Medicine apart in its standard of care.
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What Are The Symptoms Of Enlarged Prostate
When the prostate becomes enlarged, it can block the urethra and impair bladder function. Symptoms that may indicate this is happening include:
- Urinating many times a day and being unable to hold off urination
- Problems starting a urine stream or a weak or interrupted stream, followed by dribbling at the end
- Waking at night to urinate and accidental loss of urine
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?
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What Are Clinical Trials And Are They Right For You
Clinical trials are part of clinical research and at the heart of all medical advances. Clinical trials look at new ways to prevent, detect, or treat disease. Researchers also use clinical trials to look at other aspects of care, such as improving the quality of life for people with chronic illnesses. Find out if clinical trials are right for you.
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Is A Prostate Massage The Same Thing As Trying For A Prostate Orgasm
Yes. If you massage the prostate in a way that feels good, youre probably going to have an orgasm if you keep at it.
Some doctors recommend prostate massage therapy to help relieve the symptoms of certain conditions, such as painful ejaculation prostatitis.
Yep! Though evidence on the efficacy of prostate massage for certain conditions is somewhat limited, it does appear to have some benefits.
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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.
With A Massager Strap
If youre playing with sex toys, you can really mix it up by playing with the different vibration settings, as well as pressure and depth.
- Pressure. Controlling pressure when using a toy is easier, especially when youre playing solo. Try pressing the toy against the prostate using more or less pressure till you find your sweet spot.
- Depth. Depth is another area where toys win out since reaching can make it hard to go deep, if thats what you crave. Try different sized anal toys or get a longer one that you can insert as deep as your bottom desires.
- Vibrations. You can buy prostate massagers that offer up multiple speed and pulse settings. Play with the different settings to find your preference. Up the vibes as you get closer to orgasm.
- Sensation. Some prostate massagers have an attached external stimulator to give your perineum some sweet lovin while the other end penetrates. Who doesnt love a hard worker?
Want a little more?
If your partner has a penis, you can kick things up a notch with penis-in-anus penetration. Prostate stimulation for you, penile stimulation for them and a happy ending for you both.
Different positions can make reaching and pleasuring the prostate easier. These positions work for external and internal prostate stimulation, alone and with a partner.
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Herbal Therapies For An Enlarged Prostate
Several herbal supplements are marketed for enlarged prostates. Saw palmetto, beta-sitosterol, and pygeum are all are widely used in Europe. They are available in the U.S. and don’t require a prescription.
However, researchers and doctors are cautious about advising patients to try herbal supplements. Because they are not FDA-regulated, there are concerns about a product’s quality from batch to batch, according to the NIH’s Office of Dietary Supplements. Also, the safety of an herbal product depends on many things — the chemical makeup, how it works in the body, how it is prepared, and the dosage.
Something else to consider: Like any drug, a herbal remedy can affect how other medications or treatments work, or interact dangerously with your other medications. They can also have side effects. And, the AUA points out, they have not been well-studied for effectiveness or safety.
Before trying any alternative treatment, learn as much as you can about it, the AUA says. Most importantly — talk to your doctor before you try an herbal remedy. Many doctors consider alternative therapies like saw palmetto to “have no effect on symptoms, except as expensive placebos,” Slawin tells WebMD.
Beta-sitosterol: This compound is extracted from pollen of rye grass. There has been some evidence that it provides relief from urinary symptoms. However, in four studies the supplement did not increase urinary flow rates, shrink the prostate, or improve bladder emptying.
How Common Is Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia
BPH is the most common prostate problem in men. Almost all men will develop some enlargement of the prostate as they grow older. By age 60, 50% of men will have some signs of BPH by age 85, 90% of men will have signs of the condition. About half of these men will develop symptoms that need to be treated.
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Does Prostate Exams Feel Good
Your health care provider will insert a gloved finger into the rectum and feel the prostate for hard, lumpy, or abnormal areas. The test takes only a few minutes to complete. You may feel slight, momentary discomfort during the test. The procedure does not cause significant pain or any damage to the prostate.
What Is Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia
Benign prostatic hyperplasia , or benign prostatic hypertrophy, is an enlargement of the prostate, a walnut-sized gland that forms part of the male reproductive system. During ejaculation, the prostate secretes fluid into the urethra, the narrow tube that runs through the center of the prostate. When a man urinates, the bladder squeezes urine out through the urethra.
As a man ages, the prostate can become enlarged. Because it surrounds the urethra right at the bladder exit, the prostate may squeeze or pinch the urethra as it gets larger over time. This may cause difficulty with urination such as a slow stream, the need to strain, increased frequency, urgency to urinate, incomplete emptying of the bladder, and intermittent flow or dribbling.
BPH is the most common disorder of the prostate gland and the most common diagnosis by urologists for males between the ages of 45 and 74. More than half of men in their sixties and as many as 90 percent in their seventies and eighties have some symptoms of BPH.
Although research has yet to pinpoint a specific cause for BPH, theories focus on hormones and related substances like dihydrotestosterone , a testosterone derivative in the prostate that may encourage the growth of cells.
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Tests Used To Check The Prostate
This first step lets your doctor hear and understand the “story” of your prostate concerns. You’ll be asked whether you have symptoms, how long you’ve had them, and how much they affect your lifestyle. Your personal medical history also includes any risk factors, pain, fever, or trouble passing urine. You may be asked to give a urine sample for testing.
Using Medication To Reduce Symptoms
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What Else Do You Need To Make Your Decision
Check the facts
- Sorry, thats wrong. Most men can treat their symptoms at home or take medicines for their symptoms. Surgery can be helpful if an enlarged prostate is causing serious problems or if medicines arent working.
- Thats correct. Most men can treat their symptoms at home or take medicines for their symptoms. Surgery can be helpful if an enlarged prostate is causing serious problems or if medicines arent working.
- It may help to go back and read Get the Facts. Most men can treat their symptoms at home or take medicines for their symptoms.
- Thats right. Retrograde ejaculation, which means semen is ejaculated into the bladder instead of out through the penis, is a common side effect of surgery. That can make it difficult to father children.
- Sorry, youre wrong. Retrograde ejaculation, which means semen is ejaculated into the bladder instead of out through the penis, is a common side effect of surgery. That can make it difficult to father children.
- It may help to go back and read Get the Facts. Retrograde ejaculation is a common side effect that can make it difficult to father children.
1.How sure do you feel right now about your decision?
3.Use the following space to list questions, concerns, and next steps.
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Positron Emission Tomography Scan
A PET scan is similar to a bone scan, in that a slightly radioactive substance is injected into the blood, which can then be detected with a special camera. But PET scans use different tracers that collect mainly in cancer cells. The most common tracer for standard PET scans is FDG, which is a type of sugar. Unfortunately, this type of PET scan isnt very useful in finding prostate cancer cells in the body.
However, newer tracers, such as fluciclovine F18, sodium fluoride F18, and choline C11, have been found to be better at detecting prostate cancer cells.
Other newer tracers, such as Ga 68 PSMA-11 and 18F-DCFPyl , attach to prostate-specific membrane antigen , a protein that is often found in large amounts on prostate cancer cells. Tests using these types of tracers are sometimes referred to as PSMA PET scans.
These newer types of PET scans are most often used if its not clear if prostate cancer has spread. For example, one of these tests might be done if the results of a bone scan arent clear, or if a man has a rising PSA level after initial treatment but its not clear where the cancer is in the body.
The pictures from a PET scan arent as detailed as MRI or CT scan images, but they can often show areas of cancer anywhere in the body. Some machines can do a PET scan and either an MRI or a CT scan at the same time, which can give more detail about areas that show up on the PET scan.
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What Is The First Test For Detecting Prostate Problems
The first test for detecting prostate problems is a blood test to measure prostate-specific antigen , a protein made only by the prostate gland. This test is often included in routine physical exams for men older than age 50. Because African American men have higher rates of getting, and dying from, prostate cancer than men of other racial or ethnic groups in the United States, medical organizations recommend a PSA blood test be given starting at age 40 for African American men. Medical organizations also recommend a PSA blood test be given starting at age 40 for men with a family history of prostate cancer. Some medical organizations even recommend a PSA blood test be given to all men starting at age 40.
If urination problems are present or if a PSA blood test indicates a problem, additional tests may be ordered. These tests may require a patient to change his diet or fluid intake or to stop taking medications. If the tests involve inserting instruments into the urethra or rectum, antibiotics may be given before and after the test to prevent infection.
Use In Men Who Might Have Prostate Cancer
The PSA blood test is used mainly to screen for prostate cancer in men without symptoms. Its also one of the first tests done in men who have symptoms that might be caused by prostate cancer.
PSA in the blood is measured in units called nanograms per milliliter . The chance of having prostate cancer goes up as the PSA level goes up, but there is no set cutoff point that can tell for sure if a man does or doesnt have prostate cancer. Many doctors use a PSA cutoff point of 4 ng/mL or higher when deciding if a man might need further testing, while others might recommend it starting at a lower level, such as 2.5 or 3.
- Most men without prostate cancer have PSA levels under 4 ng/mL of blood. Still, a level below 4 is not a guarantee that a man doesnt have cancer.
- Men with a PSA level between 4 and 10 have about a 1 in 4 chance of having prostate cancer.
- If the PSA is more than 10, the chance of having prostate cancer is over 50%.
If your PSA level is high, you might need further tests to look for prostate cancer.
To learn more about how the PSA test is used to look for cancer, including factors that can affect PSA levels, special types of PSA tests, and what the next steps might be if you have an abnormal PSA level, see Screening Tests for Prostate Cancer.
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