To say that an enlarged prostate is common among men would be an understatement — benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) affects half of men between the ages of 51 and 60 and up to 90% of men over the age of 80. Thanks to this prevalence, the urology community offers a wide range of treatment options, depending upon its effect on your quality of life and your health.
At Arizona Urology, our highly skilled urologists stay up-to-date on all the latest research and treatment options when it comes to BPH, and we’re pleased to offer the resources you need to effectively manage the condition.
To give you an idea about how we can treat your BPH, here’s a look at some of your options.
Before we get into your treatment options, let’s quickly review what we’re up against. As the name implies, BPH is a benign condition, which means cancer isn’t a threat.
The primary complaint about BPH is its effects on your urinary tract. Your prostate gland goes through two growth stages — one during puberty and the second after the age of 25. This second stage is the one that likely leads to BPH, because the stage doesn’t end and continues throughout your life.
What this means is that as your prostate continues to slowly grow, it can place pressure on your urethra, which causes the walls of your bladder to thicken. As a result, your bladder may not empty correctly or become weaker, which often leads to frequent urination, urine retention, and other problems with urination, including incontinence.
The reason we quickly reviewed the symptoms of BPH is that your treatment depends upon the severity of these symptoms.
If you need to get up a few more times at night or you encounter difficulty initiating urination, we may recommend active surveillance on your problem.
If, however, your symptoms start to become more pronounced and have an impact on your quality of life and your health, we typically recommend taking action.
For example, if you’re encountering issues with incontinence or frequent bladder infections, we may treat your BPH with medications.
We also offer GreenLight™ laser treatments, which can clear your symptoms in no time at all. With this technology, we use the laser to remove your excess prostate tissue, which allows your urine to flow more freely. In most cases, we provide the laser treatment during an in-office procedure, which means you're free to go home afterward.
Another treatment option we offer is the FDA-cleared UroLift® system, which quickly and easily remedies your BPH symptoms. During this in-office procedure, we insert implants to open up the pathways that hampered the flow of your urine. These tiny devices hold the excess prostate tissue away from your urethra, re-establishing normal function almost immediately.
The bottom line is that we offer a wide range of options to treat your BPH, and we’re happy to sit down with you to determine which approach is best for your unique goals. To get started, simply contact one of our locations in Goodyear, Glendale, Gilbert, or Phoenix, Arizona, to set up an appointment.
