How to Reduce the Size of Your Prostate

The prostate gland is a small walnut shaped structure that provides nutritious fluid to the sperm as at the time of ejaculation. For the most part, your prostate gland is done growing by your early twenties. It starts to grow again during your early forties as a normal part of aging. This is called benign prostatic hyperplasia. Benign prostatic hyperplasia is not necessarily a problem in itself. The problems come from the effects an enlarged prostate may have on your urinary and sexual function.

Instructions

• 1

  Recognize the signs of an enlarged prostate, which can show up in both your urination and ejaculation processes. Pain during ejaculation or urination is a sign of an enlarged prostate. You may have trouble urinating. Some men notice that they are unable to hold a steady stream of urine and have urine dribbles even when they think that they are done urinating. In severe cases, some men are unable to urinate or ejaculate at all. Enlarged prostates can cause frequent urinary tract infections.

• 2

  Take your symptoms to your urologist. He will give you a thorough physical exam, including a rectal prostate exam to evaluate the prostate gland for tenderness, size and consistency. He will also ask you for blood and urine samples to check for elevated levels for prostate-specific antigens or bacteria. In some cases, you doctor may even need to take a sample of prostate tissue for analysis. The idea is to rule out any other prostate problem that may cause swelling or prostate growth, including prostatitis or prostate cancer.

• 3

  Treat any underlying prostate problems. If your prostate enlargement is just a symptom of another prostate problem, such as a prostate infection, treating that problem will reduce the size of your prostate.

• 4

  Consider enzyme inhibitors such as Proscar or Avodart, which block the enzyme in the prostate that converts testosterone into dihydrotesterone. These drugs do not work fast; they can take up to a year to realize the full effects. You may also need to take it indefinitely to keep your prostate from enlarging again. Still, enzyme inhibitors do keep many men from having to go through prostate surgery.

• 5

  Consider prostate surgery to remove part of the prostate gland. Prostate surgery is invasive, can require up to a month of recovery time and can reduce your ability to maintain an erection. It should be left as a last resort, especially in older patients with other health problems. If you and your urologist decide that prostate surgery is the best bet, you must choose between traditional incision and removal or using radiosurgery. Using radiation is a little less invasive, and does not require anesthesia. However, traditional incision surgery can be more accurate and quicker.