Exploring ‘What Happens If BPH Is Not Treated?’ is crucial for maintaining optimal men’s health. Untreated BPH can lead to complications that may affect urinary function and overall well-being. Integrating prostate capsules into a holistic care routine can support prostate health and potentially mitigate some BPH symptoms.
Symptoms
Men with BPH may experience lower urinary tract symptoms, including feeling the urge or frequency to urinate (brisk urine flow). Over time, these symptoms may worsen and lead to other health problems like bladder infections, stones or kidney damage.
Men who suffer from mild to moderate BPH symptoms have several treatment options available to them. Over-the-counter medicines that relax muscle fibers of the bladder neck and prostate to increase urine flow such as alpha blockers such as tamsulosin, terazosin and alfuzosin may help, while another class of medication known as 5-alpha reductase inhibitors can actually shrink their prostate over time, leading to improved symptoms; dutasteride and finasteride are examples of 5-alpha reductase inhibitors that work over longer time periods than alpha blockers do.
Surgery should only be considered as an extreme last resort and only after other treatment plans have failed. Your doctor will use a lighted instrument called a urethoscope to view inside of your urinary tract and bladder and identify exactly which part of the prostate has become enlarged, while then using a small, hollow needle, they can remove tissue causing your symptoms.
Some men experience difficulty during surgery ejaculating. Others may find their semen entering their bladder instead of exiting through the penis (retrograde ejaculation). These issues usually resolve themselves within time.
Some individuals with mild BPH may not need treatment. A strategy known as watchful waiting can involve having your doctor visit several times annually to observe your symptoms and conduct some simple tests. Additionally, over-the-counter cold and sinus medicines containing decongestants should be avoided as these may aggravate symptoms; you should also reduce fluid consumption at night to decrease nocturia.
If treatment is required, a prostatectomy may be the best choice; this involves surgically extracting all or part of your prostate gland using either laparoscopic or robotic techniques. You should seek out an experienced surgeon in this area; or laser ablation or enucleation may provide less-invasive options that involve inserting a tube-like tool called resectoscope into your urethra and placing a laser at its tip for less invasive removal of prostate tissue.
Urinary Tract Infections
The prostate gland sits just beneath the bladder and surrounds the urethra – the tube through which urine exits the body – similar to how an orifice opens into a pipe. Young men usually have walnut-sized prostate glands; as they age they become much larger, often compressing the urethra like a rubber hose and stopping urine flow (urinary obstruction). Urinary tract symptoms from this obstruction usually include weak or intermittent flow, strong stream or the urge to urinate more frequently. Over time if left untreated this can lead to bladder stones and/or kidney damage; moreover the longer a prostate obstructs the urethra the higher his chances are of getting UTIs; which can become increasingly uncomfortable for men, with some even experiencing urinary retention (not urinating at all or only occasionally).
There are various approaches to treating BPH, from medication and surgery to minimally invasive procedures done at your doctor’s office. Most men with BPH find medication effective. Medications work by shrinking or changing how their prostate operates – the most popular medications being 5-alpha reductase inhibitors such as finasteride or dutasteride as well as alpha-adrenergic blockers like tamsulosin; taking them may take several months before significant results become noticeable, while decreasing symptoms as well as complications; plus they may help decrease erectile dysfunction or lower libido in some individuals.
Surgery should only be considered when BPH symptoms become bothersome and other treatments do not relieve them, or when complications such as urinary tract infections, blood in the urine, or bladder stones arise. Surgery involves either extracting all or part of the gland from its base – commonly transurethral resection of prostate (TURP), whereby an instrument called a resectoscope inserted through the penis into the urethra contains light-irrigating fluid and an electrical loop to cut tissue while sealing blood vessels before extracting it out through its base into its base in this manner allowing complete removal through its passageway into its original home – then out through its way out again through its base resectoscope to finish its work before being removed via its base from there on out through its original home place in its entirety through its original path!
More recently, new minimally invasive procedures can also be performed at your doctor’s office and are much less traumatic to healthy tissue, with reduced side effects than surgery but lessened effectiveness for LUTS control.
Bladder Stones
The prostate gland is a walnut-sized organ situated between the bladder and rectum. It makes most of the fluid for semen production while surrounding an important tube called the urethra which drains urine through to the penis. An enlarged prostate presses on this tube, restricting or blocking urine flow from passing outward through its penis.
Untreated bph can increase the risk of bladder stones and urinary tract infections, as well as cause the urethra to narrow and restrict urine flow, making it harder for the bladder to empty completely. This may create the sensation that you need to urinate frequently at nighttime.
Bladder stones are small mineral crystals that form in the bladder and may irritate its urethra or kidneys, leading to pain when urinating as well as blood in urine (haematuria).
Signs of bladder stones include sudden needing to urinate frequently, weak urine flow or feeling that your bladder isn’t completely emptying. Doctors typically conduct physical and digital rectal exams; urine analysis to detect blood, bacteria or minerals is also conducted before an ultrasound or cystoscopy may be needed to find their location and size.
Untreated BPH should be addressed immediately if symptoms such as the need to urinate frequently at night or a feeling that his bladder isn’t fully emptying occur. A physician will conduct a rectal exam, possibly order an urinalysis, urodynamic study or CT scan as necessary.
Some individuals with BPH don’t require medical intervention and can manage their symptoms with lifestyle modifications and medications alone, while others can opt for surgery or minimally invasive procedures to address their symptoms. Surgeries offer long-term control; they involve traveling to an operating room, anesthesia and possibly hospital stays before providing long-term control; however they increase chances of sexual side effects like retrograde ejaculation or erectile dysfunction in men.
Kidney Damage
Men with mild BPH often assume their symptoms are normal and don’t require treatment; however, over time the untreated condition can lead to urinary tract infections, bladder stones and kidney damage as well as weak urine streams and incomplete bladder emptying sensations – worsening with age and diminishing quality of life.
BPH symptoms result from an obstruction by the prostate gland (a walnut-sized part of male reproductive system) to urine flow out of the body, irritating bladder wall muscles over time and leading to increased frequency and urgency in needing to urinate, with weak or intermittent streams, feeling incomplete emptying, straining to urinate and straining to empty bladder completely. BPH can even lead to frequent night urinations requiring multiple awakenings each night in order to urinate.
There are various medications available to alleviate BPH symptoms. These include alpha blockers, which lower testosterone levels that contribute to prostate growth; 5-alpha reductase inhibitors reduce dihydrotestosterone that contributes to prostate growth; combined therapy using both drugs works even better than either drug alone; however, using both might lead to decreased sex drive, difficulty with erection/ejaculation or depression but typically resolves once treatment has stopped.
If medications don’t improve your symptoms, surgery may be an option. Doctors can remove enlarged parts of the prostate through the urethra without making external incisions through transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP), while transurethral incision of the prostate (TUIP), which involves widening of urethra without removal of tissue, may also provide relief.
Laser ablation and enucleation may also be considered surgical options for BPH, using light energy to destroy the prostate gland. These procedures may also be useful in treating other conditions, such as prostate cancer.
If you are suffering from BPH, our experienced urologists offer unparalleled care to alleviate its symptoms and enhance overall health. Get in touch with us now to schedule a consultation.
