BPH: Everything You Need to Know and More!
Glad to see you here! I have a lot of information to tell you about your prostate and some of the symptoms you have been experiencing lately. You may not have thought much about them, but they are now so present you can’t ignore them any further.
About Your Prostate
Your prostate is walnut sized, a small but muscular gland found in your reproductive system. It surrounds your urethra and produces a large amount of the fluid found in your semen. Its muscular action helps propel your fluids and also your semen through your penis while you are climaxing. Your prostate also helps with your erection, when the nerves trigger your penis to swell up and get hard. Depending on the health of your prostate, it may be a weak or a hard erection.
What Is BPH
Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) is the enlargement of the prostate. You may be asking yourself, how does this happen? When the cells in your prostate gland multiply the additional cells make your prostate swell. This pretty much tightens the area of your urethra and diminites your urine flow. BPH is very common in men in their 40’s and 50’s. It causes severe symptoms that affect the quality of your life, especially your sex life!
The Causes of BPH
The exact causes are unknown. Many doctors consider BPH to be a typical condition for men as they age. They have also found links to BPH in your family history to be a contributing factor. Usually the changes men go through as they age such as, variation in your male sex hormones is also another common contributing factor.
How to Diagnose BPH
Doctors who check for BPH will usually start with a personal medical questionnaire as well as questioning your family medical history. A rectal exam is phase two of diagnosing BPH. There are many other tests as well, such as:
- Urodynamic test: Your Doctor will fill your bladder with liquid via a catheter and measure your bladder pressure while you urinate.
- Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test: Is a blood test that checks for cancer of the prostate.
- Urinalysis: Your urine will be analyzed for blood and bacteria.
- Prostatic biopsy: You will have a small amount of your prostate tissue removed and examined for any abnormalities.
- Post-void residual: This test will verify the amount of urine left in your bladder after you urinate.
- Cystoscopy: Your urethra and bladder is analyzed with a tiny lighted scope that is inserted via your urethra.
- Intravenous pyelography or urography: An X-ray exam or CT scan done after a dye is injected into your body. The dye will highlight your entire urinary system on the images produced by the CT or X-ray.
Some Symptoms of BPH
You are probably already experiencing some of these symptoms. They were probably not very evident at first so you didn’t immediately seek treatment. These symptoms worsen and become very serious affecting your everyday life and especially your sex life! If you are experiencing any of these symptoms they need to be addressed in order to prevent further complications.
- Blood in your urine
- Dribbling when peeing
- Urine leakage
- Urinating more than two or more times every night
- Sudden urges to urinate
- Pain while peeing
- Unable to empty your bladder
How to Treat BPH
This will definitely take some TLC! You will have to make changes in your lifestyle. Those positive lifestyle changes will help improve your symptoms and may prevent further complications. Keep in mind that you should also start supporting your prostate health with the right supplements.
- Avoid over-the-counter decongestants or antihistamine medications, they make it challenging for your bladder to empty
- Keep yourself warm, being in the cold can make symptoms worse
- Don’t consume alcohol or caffeine
- You should pee as soon as you feel the urge
- Try to reduce your level of stress
- You will have to exercise regularly, not exercising will worsen your condition
- Kegel exercises are a must, they will help strengthen your pelvic muscles
- Go pee even when you don’t necessarily have to
BPH Medications
Your doctor may recommend several different medications if the treatments mentioned above do not work. Though they should work, if done right, along with the proper prostate health supplements. You should be cautious of any medication your Doctor recommends if you want to have a healthy sex life. These medications may decrease your sex drive significantly and may also leave you with impotence.
- Alpha-1 blockers
- Hormone reduction medications
- Antibiotics
What Are Alpha-1 Blockers
These medications relax the muscles found in your prostate, as well as your bladder. Some examples of Alpha-1 blockers are:
- alfuzosin
- terazosin
- doxazosin
- tamsulosin
- prazosin
Hormone Reduction Drugs
These medications will reduce the levels of hormones produced by your prostate gland. When you reduce your hormone levels it reduces the size of your prostate and may improve your urine flow. Some of the most common medications doctors prescribe are:
- Dutasteride
- Finasteride
Antibiotics
When you experience chronicle inflammation caused by bacterial prostatitis, related to BPH, your doctor may prescribe antibiotics. This may improve some of your symptoms but it won’t help with the inflammation that is not caused by bacteria or prostatitis.
BPH Complications
If you choose to ignore the symptoms you are experiencing from BPH, you may be putting yourself at risk for some very serious complications such as:
- Kidney Damage
- Chronic UTI’s
- Bleeding in the urinary tract
- Suddenly unable to pee
- Urinary stones
Our Recommendations
If you are experiencing BPH this does not mean it will require immediate medical treatment. Your doctor may just want to monitor your symptoms and the size of your prostate while you start to implement the lifestyle changes we mentioned above. This is why it is so important for you to start game planning right away. Think about some of the immediate steps you can start taking to improve your BPH symptoms like: start exercising daily, find the right prostate health supplement like ProstaGenix, start to reduce the amount of alcohol and caffeine you consume. No matter how unimportant you feel your symptoms may be now is the time to address them.