What Is an Enlarged Prostate?

Many men have heard of the term an enlarged prostate but they don't know what it is. Every man over the age of 40 men get this problem. The prostate gland is about the size of a walnut and located just outside your bladder. It actually encircles the urethra, which transfers urine from your bladder to the penis. As men get older this glad will gradually enlarge.

An enlarged prostate can cause many problems such as bladder infections, urinary tract infections and even your kidneys. A few amount of men are not bothered by it, but most experience some sort of symptoms. Having an prostate enlargement does not mean you have prostate cancer and it does not cause prostate cancer, though if you have this problem you still can develop cancer.

A few symptoms of an enlarged prostate include, nocturia or having to urinate frequently during the night, poor urine flow, incomplete emptying of the bladder, dribbling of urine, difficulty starting urination, and urinary urgency. The severity of the symptoms will depend on the individual. If you ignore you problems the symptoms can become much more severe and include enlargement of the bladder, bladder stones, backup of urine to the kidneys, inability to urinate, bleeding from the urethra and urinary tract infections.

There are three main treatments to an enlarged prostate and treatment is really only needed if you are experiencing symptoms. The three treatments include wait and watch, medical treatment and surgical treatment. Most of the medical treatments include medication to relax the muscles of the prostate. Only a very few men with an prostate enlargement require surgery and the common type of surgery is transurethral resection of the prostate. In this surgery some excess prostate cells are removed. It is also possible to have an open prostectomy in which part of the prostate is removed.

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