Diagnosis
Your physician will inquire about your symptoms. Then they will do a rectal examination to check the size and shape of your prostate gland.
The doctor may then order urine and blood exams. These checks will evaluate for infections and measure the prostate specific antigen or PSA levels in your blood. The PSA levels rise when the prostate enlarges.
High levels of prostate specific antigen can indicate prostate cancer, and your doctor may need further tests for this. In this time, your doctor may analyze a sample of cells from your prostate. You may also need a prostate ultrasound.
One other test is a cystoscopy, wherein the doctor inserts a slim instrument with a digital camera into the urethra through the end of the penis. This is done to check out your prostate gland inside the body.
You might also be asked to urinate into a device that measures your urine flow.
Medications/Treatment
In case your symptoms are moderate, you may not be given medical treatment. You may be told to make changes to your lifestyle, such as restricting fluid intake at night and lowering alcohol and caffeine consumption. Your medical professional will reevaluate your prostate at regular intervals.
Drugs are the commonly used treatments when you have more symptoms. You can take alpha-blocker medicines to relax the muscles of your prostate. Medicines called 5-alpha-reductase inhibitors may alter your hormone levels and cause the prostate to reduce in size.
If your prostate doesn’t respond to medicines, or if it’s very large, a surgical procedure may be vital to get rid of the enlarged parts of the prostate. The most common operation is known as transurethral resection of the prostate or TURP. As with cystoscopy, a thin instrument with a camera enters the urethra towards your prostate. Then the instrument removes enlarged tissues with an electrical loop. The loop not only cuts, but also cauterizes the blood vessels to stop bleeding.
Another form of surgery is transurethral incision of the prostate. This approach widens the urethra to permit more urine flow. This is an open surgical procedure, which means that it requires an external incision to access the prostate.
Non-surgical means use microwaves, radio waves, or lasers to do away with the enlarged prostate tissue. These may have fewer side effects but aren’t as effective as the other ways long-term.