What is BPH?
BPH (benign prostatic hyperplasia) is a condition where your prostate gland increases in size. Prostate enlargement is a common problem for men, especially in later life, and having BPH isn’t a sign that you have prostate cancer.
Your prostate is a gland roughly the size of a walnut underneath your bladder. It makes fluid that you need to produce semen during ejaculation. The prostate wraps around your urethra - the tube that carries urine from your bladder down to your penis – at the point where it exits your bladder.
Prostate enlargement puts pressure on your urethra, so symptoms of BPH tend to be related to urination.
What are the symptoms of BPH?
Typical urinary symptoms of BPH include:
- Frequent urination
- Slow urine stream
- Weak urine stream
- Urgent need to urinate
- Incomplete bladder emptying
- Problems getting started
- Stopping and starting
Having BPH can adversely affect your quality of life, but Flagstaff Surgical Associates can treat BPH and relieve you of problems like these.
How is BPH diagnosed?
Diagnosing BPH often starts with a digital rectal exam, where your provider puts a gloved finger inside the rectum to feel for any prostate enlargement. However, BPH can have similar symptoms to other conditions, like urinary tract infections (UTIs).
For this reason, you might also need to undergo additional tests to confirm a diagnosis and to assess the effect of BPH on your urinary system.
These tests could include:
- Urine test
- Blood test
- Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test
- Urinary flow test
- Postvoid residual volume test
- 24-hour voiding diary
- Transrectal ultrasound
- Prostate biopsy
- Urodynamic and pressure-flow studies
- Cystoscopy
Once your provider at Flagstaff Surgical Associates confirms you have BPH, you can begin treatment.
How is BPH treated?
If your BPH is mild, you might find medication is an effective treatment option. Medicines used for BPH include:
- Alpha-blockers
- 5-alpha reductase inhibitors
- Combination drug therapy
- Tadalafil (Cialis)
If these treatments aren’t effective, or your BPH gets worse, Flagstaff Surgical Associates can carry out surgical procedures to reduce the prostate enlargement. There are numerous potential approaches to prostate surgery.
Examples of the cutting edge approaches available at Flagstaff Surgical Associates include:
Rezūm procedure
The Rezūm procedure for BPH is a minimally invasive approach that uses water vapor ablation. Your provider introduces tiny jets of steam into your urethra, which destroys the excess tissue and reduces the size of your prostate.
UroLift®
UroLift can treat BPH through the insertion of small implants that lift the prostate tissue, eliminating any interference with the urinary system.
Radical prostatectomy
Removing some or all of the prostate is an option that might be necessary for some patients. The team uses two main approaches, robotic prostatectomy and transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP). Using the da Vinci Robotic System enables your surgeon to carry out the most delicate procedures with the utmost precision.
Find out more about the treatment options available for BPH by calling Flagstaff Surgical Associates.
