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What are common BPH treatment options?

Diagnosed with BPH? Here’s what you can do about it.

Have you been diagnosed with BPH? Is your ability to urinate freely impacting your quality of life? While an enlarged prostate may be inevitable as you get older, there is something you can do about it.

Treatment options range from behavior modification and watchful waiting to medications, minimally invasive procedures and surgery. Which is right for you? It all depends on the amount of discomfort you’re in, your age, health, the size of your prostate and your post-procedure expectations. Read on, take our BPH Quiz to learn more.

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Watchful Waiting

If your BPH symptoms are mild to moderate and don’t interrupt your daily routine, your doctor may recommend a watch-and-wait approach. It includes active monitoring before considering other treatments.  

  

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Behavioral Modification

You can help control BPH symptoms by making lifestyle changes such as following a diet rich in fruits and vegetables. Getting regular exercise.  Maintaining a healthy weight. Reducing stress in your life. Limiting caffeine, alcohol and other beverages in the evening. And avoiding decongestants and antihistamines and other medications that can aggravate symptoms.1

  

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Medications

Alpha blockers relax the muscles in the bladder and prostate, making it easier to urinate. And alpha reductase inhibitors help shrink the prostate gland by blocking hormones. But they may not work for everyone. In some cases, side effects and cost make medication a less desirable option.

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Water Vapor Therapy

Water Vapor Therapy is an in-office treatment that uses the natural energy stored in water vapor, or steam, to treat the excess prostate tissue causing symptoms such as irregular urine flow, a weak stream, straining or getting up at night to urinate. All while preserving sexual function.2 Talk with your doctor to see if Water Vapor Therapy is right for you.

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Laser Treatments

Holmium Laser Treatments use a high-energy Holmium laser to remove your enlarged prostate tissue. With the tissue removed, you can experience restored urine flow and a reduction in BPH symptoms.

  

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Other Surgical Options

TURP, transurethral resection of the prostate, involves using a superheated thin metal band to cut and remove tissue. Open prostatectomy may be required in complex cases. This procedure enables surgeons to remove the inner portion of the prostate blocking urine flow by making small incisions in the lower abdomen.

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References

  1. American Urological Association Education Research, Inc. American Urological Association Guideline: Management of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH), Revised. 2010. Appendix 280, 283-5.
  2. McVary KT, Gange SN, Gittelman MC, et al. Erectile and ejaculatory function preserved with convective water vapor energy treatment of lower urinary tract symptoms secondary to benign prostatic hyperplasia: Randomized controlled study. J Sex Med. 2016 Jun;13(6):924-33.

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