Deciding If You Need A Prostate Screening
How Is Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia Treated
Treatment options for benign prostatic hyperplasia may include
- lifestyle changes
- minimally invasive procedures
- surgery
A health care provider treats benign prostatic hyperplasia based on the severity of symptoms, how much the symptoms affect a mans daily life, and a mans preferences.
Men may not need treatment for a mildly enlarged prostate unless their symptoms are bothersome and affecting their quality of life. In these cases, instead of treatment, a urologist may recommend regular checkups. If benign prostatic hyperplasia symptoms become bothersome or present a health risk, a urologist most often recommends treatment.
What Does This Exam Feel Like
A digital rectal exam is uncomfortable. You may feel the urge to have a bowel movement in the process of the examination, but not to worry!
This is considered a normal sensation, and you wont actually have one. Similarly, you may feel the urge to urinate during palpation of the prostate gland. But chances are you dont actually need to urinate.
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What Do The Dre Results Mean
A digital rectal examination is a test used to see if you might have a prostate problem or prostate cancer.
Your prostate may feel:
- normal a normal size for your age with a smooth surface
- larger than expected for your age this could be a sign of an enlarged prostate
- hard or lumpy this could be a sign of prostate cancer.
The DRE is not a completely accurate test. Your doctor or nurse cant feel the whole prostate. And a man with prostate cancer might have a prostate that feels normal.
How Might An Enlarged Prostate Affect My Life
Having an enlarged prostate affects men in different ways. Some men can manage mild symptoms and dont need treatment. Other men find they need to stay near a toilet. This can make it difficult to work, drive, be outdoors and attend social events. If you need the toilet a lot during the night, this can affect your sleep and make you feel more tired during the day.
Some men with an enlarged prostate find their symptoms improve over time without treatment. But for most, the symptoms will stay the same or slowly start to cause more problems over time unless they have treatment.
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How To Check Your Prostate
This article was co-authored by Robert Dhir, MD. Dr. Robert Dhir is a board certified Urologist, Urological Surgeon, and the Founder of HTX Urology in Houston, Texas. With over 10 years of experience, Dr. Dhirs expertise includes minimally-invasive treatments for enlarged prostate , kidney stone disease, surgical management of urological cancers, and mens health . His practice has been named a Center of Excellence for the UroLift procedure, and is a pioneer in non-surgical procedures for ED using his patented Wave Therapy. He earned his undergraduate and medical degrees from Georgetown University and was awarded honors in pre-medical studies, urology, orthopedics, and ophthalmology. Dr. Dhir served as chief resident during his urological surgical residency at University of Texas at Houston / MD Anderson Cancer Center in addition to completing his internship in general surgery. Dr. Dhir was voted Top Doctor in Urology for 2018 to 2019, one of the top three Best Rated Urologists in 2019 & 2020 for Houston Texas, and Texas Monthly has named him to the 2019 & 2020 Texas Super Doctors Rising Stars list.wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. This article received 11 testimonials and 85% of readers who voted found it helpful, earning it our reader-approved status. This article has been viewed 1,066,224 times.
What Does A Dre Involve
You might have a DRE at your GP surgery or at the hospital.
The doctor or nurse will ask you to lie on your side on an examination table, with your knees brought up towards your chest. They will slide a finger gently into your back passage. Theyll wear gloves and put some gel on their finger to make it more comfortable.
You may find the DRE slightly uncomfortable or embarrassing, but the test isnt usually painful and it doesnt take long.
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About Half Of Men Older Than 50 Have An Enlarged Prostate Here Are Some Of The Basic Facts You Need To Know About This Common Condition
As men age, many experience prostate gland enlargement. This condition is known as benign prostatic hyperplasia .
The prostate gland surrounds the urethra, the hollow tube that carries urine out of the body. When the prostate gets bigger, it can squeeze or partially block the urethra, which leads to problems urinating.
BPH is quite common in older men. In fact, the condition impacts about 50% of men between the ages of 51 and 60. For men 80 and older, the prevalence of BPH is approximately 90%, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
While BPH can have serious complications, it is not a cancer and is generally linked to a mans aging process. Although the causes of BPH are not entirely understood, some researchers have investigated whether hormonal changes and cell growth as men age could be related to the development of the condition. If left untreated, BPH can lead to bladder, urinary tract or kidney problems.
Why Is This Relevant
It matters because chronic prostatitis can also cause a set of symptoms and painful defecation is one of them. Some men with prostatitis also have irritable bowel syndrome.
While prostate size itself is not the common factor for problems with bowel movements, in some cases, it can happen.
Besides chronic or acute prostatitis, other BPH-related complications can also affect bowel movements. One of those complications is chronic urinary retention. Although rare, this complication can lead to large bowel obstruction.
You see, a common symptom of enlarged prostate is the inability to empty the bladder completely. When left untreated, this symptom leads to urinary retention.
In turn, urinary retention may lead to compression of the sigmoid colon against the sacrum . As a result, large bowel obstruction may occur. Considered a medical emergency, large bowel obstruction is a blockage that prevents the passing of food and liquid.
In other words, certain complications of BPH may impair bowel movements and lead to a medical emergency.
Besides the abovementioned complications, its also useful to mention that prostate enlargement can contribute to constipation. An enlarged prostate can form too much pressure on the rectum, making it difficult to defecate.
In addition to BPH, other prostate problems can act on the bowels too. A good example is prostate cancer or tumor, which may cause disruptions such as bowel incontinence or fecal incontinence.
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What Other Problems Might An Enlarged Prostate Cause
A small number of men may find it difficult to empty their bladder properly this is called urine retention. If youve been diagnosed with an enlarged prostate, your doctor will look at your test results to see if youre at risk of urine retention. You may be more likely to get urine retention if:
- youre aged 70 or over
- your prostate is very large
- you have a raised prostate specific antigen level
- you have severe urinary symptoms and a very slow flow.
Chronic urine retention
This is where you cant empty your bladder fully, but can still urinate a little. It usually develops slowly over time. Chronic means long-lasting. The first signs often include a weak flow when you urinate, or leaking urine at night. You may feel that your abdomen is swollen, or that youre not emptying your bladder fully.
Chronic urine retention is usually painless. But the pressure of the urine can slowly stretch your bladder muscle and make it weaker. This can cause urine to be left behind in the bladder when you urinate. If you dont empty your bladder fully, you might get a urine infection, need to urinate more often, leak urine at night, or get painful bladder stones. You might also see some blood in your urine. Chronic urine retention can damage your bladder and kidneys if it isnt treated.
There are treatments for chronic urine retention, including:
- passing a thin, flexible tube called a catheter to drain urine from your bladder
- surgery to widen the urethra.
Acute urine retention
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.
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How Do You Feel Your Own Prostate
Are you trying to feel it for pleasure or because youreconcerned about a swollen prostate?
If youre worried dont try to self-diagnose yourself youhave nothing to compare your prostate size to. Your family doctorcan do a rectal exam it doesnt hurt, and only takes a couple ofseconds.
If youre just interested in feeling your prostate lie on yourback, stick your finger in your rectum and feel the roof or topof the rectal cavity. In other words youll be curving you fingerup toward the groin.
It might feel good, or it might now neither means anything iswrong.
While on your back, you get a better reach inside by raisingyour knees up to your chest. You want to feel for any change intexture or shape. It should feel the same everywhere.
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What An Enlarged Prostate Gland Feels Like
The symptoms that come with an enlarged prostate vary from man to man, but they usually start out mild and get worse over time. Here are a few of the signs you might notice.
- An urgent need to urinate
- Frequent need to urinate
- The need to urinate frequently through the night
- A weak urine stream
- Urination that starts and stops
- Trouble starting to urinate
- Trouble emptying your bladder completely
- Dribbling
While these are the most common signs of BPH and are more annoying than medically problematic, a few symptoms require immediate attention, including the inability to urinate and blood in your urine.
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How Do You Achieve A Prostate Orgasm
As with any new sexual activity, learning how to have a prostate orgasm takes preparation and practice. Here are some expert-approved tips, techniques, and other important things to know.
Learn where your prostate is.
If youre new to anal play, the first step is finding your prostate. The walnut-sized gland is located underneath the bladder and in front of the rectum, and you can stimulate it by putting fingers or toys about three inches into your butt.
Try it on your own first.
Kenneth Play, sex educator and creator of the Sex Hacker Pro Series, suggests experimenting with yourself before trying with your partner. I recommend masturbation rather than partner play to start this exploration because you have a direct feedback loop, he says. Without having to instruct someone else or worry about being comfortable, things are much simpler and more effective.
Know that there are two ways to achieve a prostate orgasm: through internal and external stimulation.
Now, we know you might be scratching your head in confusion, wondering how there can be an external prostate orgasm when the prostate is located inside your anus. But heres a quick bio lesson: an external prostate orgasm is when you stimulate your prostate externally, by applying pressure between your anus and your testicles, Saynt explains . No insertion required.
Internal orgasms, on the other hand, involve massaging your prostate .
Massage your perineum.
If youre going up the butt, clean out beforehand.
Risk Factors For Prostate Cancer
Some risk factors have been linked to prostate cancer. A risk factor is something that can raise your chance of developing a disease. Having one or more risk factors doesn’t mean that you will get prostate cancer. It just means that your risk of the disease is greater.
- Age. Men who are 50 or older have a higher risk of prostate cancer.
- Race. African-American men have the highest risk of prostate cancerâthe disease tends to start at younger ages and grows faster than in men of other races. After African-American men, prostate cancer is most common among white men, followed by Hispanic and Native American men. Asian-American men have the lowest rates of prostate cancer.
- Family history. Men whose fathers or brothers have had prostate cancer have a 2 to 3 times higher risk of prostate cancer than men who do not have a family history of the disease. A man who has 3 immediate family members with prostate cancer has about 10 times the risk of a man who does not have a family history of prostate cancer. The younger a man’s relatives are when they have prostate cancer, the greater his risk for developing the disease. Prostate cancer risk also appears to be slightly higher for men from families with a history of breast cancer.
- Diet. The risk of prostate cancer may be higher for men who eat high-fat diets.
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Does Having Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia Increase The Risk Of Prostate Cancer
Based on research to date, having BPH does not seem to increase the risk of developing prostate cancer. However, BPH and prostate cancer have similar symptoms, and a man who has BPH may have undetected cancer at the same time.
To help detect prostate cancer in its early stages, the American Urological Association and the American Cancer Society recommend a prostate screening every year for men ages 55 to 69. They also recommend that men who are at high risk such as African-American men and men who have a family history of prostate cancer begin screening at age 40. Screening tests for prostate cancer include a blood test for a substance called prostate-specific antigen and the digital rectal exam .
How Common Is Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia
Benign prostatic hyperplasia is the most common prostate problem for men older than age 50. In 2010, as many as 14 million men in the United States had lower urinary tract symptoms suggestive of benign prostatic hyperplasia.1 Although benign prostatic hyperplasia rarely causes symptoms before age 40, the occurrence and symptoms increase with age. Benign prostatic hyperplasia affects about 50 percent of men between the ages of 51 and 60 and up to 90 percent of men older than 80.2
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Another type of prostate issue is chronic prostatitis, or chronic pelvic pain syndrome. This condition causes pain in the lower back and groin area, and may cause urinary retention. Symptoms include leaking and discomfort. In severe cases, a catheter may be required to relieve the symptoms. If the problem is unresponsive to other treatments, your doctor may suggest a surgical procedure. If these do not work, your symptoms could progress and become chronic.
An acute bacterial infection can cause a burning sensation. Inflammation of the prostate can affect the bladder and result in discomfort and other symptoms. This is the most common urinary tract problem in men under 50, and the third most common in men over 65. The symptoms of acute bacterial prostatitis are similar to those of CPPS. Patients may experience a fever or chills as a result of the infection.
A bacterial infection can also lead to prostate issues. Acute bacterial infections can be hard to treat. Some men with a bacterial infection may need to take antibiotics to prevent or treat symptoms. Symptoms of the disease include fever and chills, pain in the lower back and the tip of the penis. Some men may have blood in the urine, frequent urination, and blood in the urine. If you suffer from acute bacterial prostatitis, a medical professional should be able to prescribe you the appropriate treatments to prevent the disease.