Enlarged Prostate: When To Get Worried and When To Just Relax

I was absolutely sure I was going to talk about sex this morning. How I ended up with enlarged prostate is surprising since sex is such an exciting subject any day. And no matter how much time we spend in a day thinking and talking about it, we never get enough of it.

I have to concede sometimes talking or reading about sex can be dry and boring. Especially when you read about them in academic journals, in religious books and in amazing articles like this one by my colleague Chidi. I think it takes special skills to make any gist about the subject boring

That write up by Chidi made sex seem like so much bother. Something highly technical. Not something to be approached with joy and excitement. The picture was nice though. More about that someday.

Prostate or the discussion of enlarged prostate can only be talked about in serious technical terms though. It has to be that way. It is an issue that could impact negatively on our ability function as real men.

What is Prostate?

Before we sink our teeth into enlarged prostate, we need to understand what prostate is.

The prostate gland is only found in men. A normal prostate is about the size of a decent walnut and is found just below the bladder, the organ that stores urine before it is expelled from the body.

Though it lies underneath the bladder, it also situated between said bladder and our penis. As a matter of fact, the tube which takes urine to our penis from the bladder passes through the prostate.

The main function of the prostate is to produce prostate fluid, which mixes together with sperms produced in the testes, to form semen that is ejaculated at orgasm during sex.

Another function of the prostate gland is to close the opening between the urethra and bladder during sex. That is why it is impossible to urinate while having sex.

Enlarged Prostate Symptoms and Causes.

At the best of times, an enlarged prostate shouldn’t mean much because it is normal for the prostate to get bigger as we get older. It shouldn’t pose any problem in your love life.

One normal sign of this is to compare how kids and adults urinate. You remember when as a kid you could point your penis skyward and pee like a fire hose in full action? And now you just can’t do it. That is the prostate getting bigger and weakening our water works.

The symptoms of enlarged prostate include

• Weak urine strength – the stream of urine coming out of your penis is weak and it takes longer to empty your bladder
• Time lapse in urinating – when you are about to urinate, you discover you have to wait a long time before the urine starts to flow.
• Ring a bell – it is because of enlarged prostate you have to shake your penis very well to expel every last drop of urine. As you get older, you do this more vigorously.
• Feeling of unfinished business – the business being urinating. You feel as if you still have a few pints of liquid in your bladder after the urine has stopped dribbling out.
• You pee more often – this can be very annoying if you share the same bed with a partner. You would disturb them often during the night with your frequent trips to the toilet. When it becomes too much, it is known as nocturia
• Peeing becomes urgent – you find it difficult to hold in your urine unlike when you were younger. Those were the days you could hold it in for hours.

Issues of Enlarged Prostate

As was mentioned earlier, an enlarged prostate is normal in men as they grow older. The typical age to start seeing those symptoms is from about fifty years. The symptoms become more pronounced from sixty years onward. This is also normal.

It becomes abnormal of you begin to see those symptoms in your youth. That is when you should begin to get worried.

At that age, an enlarged prostate could be the result of abnormal growth of the prostate gland. And this might be as a result of prostate cancer.

It should be made clear that prostate cancer is not always linked to having enlarged prostate at a young age.

Remedies

For something as important as your prostate, I wouldn’t advise any form of natural home remedy or exotic treatment. Seeing a medical doctor is the way to go. For the elderly, it is OK and advisable to do a thorough checkup at least once a year to make sure those symptoms are not an indication of something worse.

Basically though, if you eat well, live a healthy lifestyle including doing the occasional exercises even if they are just the less physically stressful ones, your prostate should be okay.

As usual, it is the bad habits we indulge in that cause the biggest health concerns for us.

So if you have any bad habit that is giving you a bit of concern, you can share it with us on Facebook or Twitter. Trust me, I’ll get our resident medical expert to handle it in his habitual professionalism.

Stay healthy.