Enlarged Prostate
St. George Urology & Body Sculpting
When your prostate becomes enlarged, problems arise when it starts to press on the tube leading out of the bladder, causing urinary problems. There are several treatment options and the doctors of St. George Urology in St. George, Utah will help you find the best alternative for your situation. Call the office or book an appointment online today.
Though prostate enlargement is extremely common, it’s not known why the problem occurs. It’s thought that changes in the testicles play a role, since men who lose their testicles at a young age, such as through cancer, for example, don’t develop enlarged prostates, called benign prostatic hyperplasia. If you lose your testicles after BPH starts, the prostate will start to shrink.
It’s important to note that BPH is not a cancerous condition and having BPH doesn’t put you at increased risk of developing prostate cancer. The only risk factors for BPH are age and normally functioning testicles. Over 90% of men over the age of 80 have enlarged prostates, and it’s said that every man will develop BPH if they live long enough.
Simply having BPH doesn’t guarantee you’ll be symptomatic since it’s only once the enlarged prostate interferes with the urethra that symptoms arise. Which symptoms you develop and how severe these are may vary, but typically these tend to get worse with time. Common symptoms include:
- Frequent urges to urinate
- Urgent need to urinate
- Increased nighttime urination
- Inability to completely drain your bladder
- Weak or inconsistent urine stream
- Dribbling at or after the end of urination
The severity of symptoms is also not connected to the amount of prostate enlargement you have. It’s possible to develop symptoms that later improve or stabilize.
There are other conditions that mimic those of BPH including:
- Urinary tract infections
- Prostate inflammation
- Kidney stones
- Prostate cancer
- Nerve problems affecting the bladder
There are many ways to treat BPH, ranging from medications to surgical solutions. Medications may have some unusual side effects, and some take up to six months to reduce symptoms. The doctors of St. George Urology frequently recommend a minimally invasive treatment using the Rezūm® system, a device that uses radiofrequency energy to warm and destroy excess prostate tissue, reducing its size and relieving its symptoms.
The Rezūm procedure is done in the St. George Urology offices in about two hours. Typically, you’ll be mildly sedated for the procedure, and recovery time lasts a day or two. Most patients see symptomatic improvements within two weeks of treatment.
