Enlarged Prostate Q & A
—What Is An Enlarged Prostate?
Your prostate is a walnut-sized gland located between your bladder and pelvic floor. It surrounds your urethra and contributes seminal fluid, which nourishes and carries sperm out of the body during ejaculation.
Another term for an enlarged prostate is benign prostatic hyperplasia or BPH. You may develop the condition if you have continued prostate growth throughout your life. This is very common among men. An enlarged prostate can disrupt your ability to pass urine out of your body by compressing the urethra. Other symptoms of an enlarged prostate include:
- Increased Nighttime Urination
- Frequent Urinary Infection
- Blood in Your Urine Stream
- Inability to Completely Void Your Bladder
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- Weak Urine Stream
- Frequent or Urgent Need to Urinate
- Trouble Starting the Urine Stream
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—What Causes An Enlarged Prostate?
The exact reason why some men have continuous prostate growth isn't fully understood, although it's likely that changes to the balance of your sex hormones later in life contribute to the condition. Physicians and medical researchers have identified risk factors for an enlarged prostate, including:
- Age
- Family Medical History
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- Obesity
- Physical Activity Levels
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If you begin to notice symptoms of an enlarged prostate and have any of the common risk factors, make an appointment with the team at North Florida Urology Associates. Many conditions can cause similar symptoms, and your trusted urologist needs to diagnose your condition before providing customized treatment.
—How Is An Enlarged Prostate Treated?
Our physicians provide customized treatments, including medication and in-office procedures and therapies. Your doctor may prescribe medications like alpha blockers to relax your bladder and the surrounding muscles to make it easier for you to urinate. They can also prescribe drugs that can shrink your prostate by preventing the hormonal changes that lead to prostate growth.
Our doctors provide a variety of in-office procedures such as thermotherapy that heats and destroys the inner portion of your prostate, causing it to shrink and reduce the pressure on your urethra. They also perform minimally invasive surgery to remove part of your prostate when other treatments to shrink your prostate haven't been effective.
