The prostate is a walnut-sized gland that forms part of the male reproductive system. The prostate is located in front of the rectum and just below the bladder, where urine is stored. The prostate also surrounds the urethra, the canal through which urine passes out of the body.

As a man matures, the prostate goes through two main periods of growth. The first occurs early in puberty, when the prostate doubles in size. At around age 25, the gland begins to grow again.

Many men feel uncomfortable talking about the prostate, since the gland plays a role in both sex and urination. As life expectancy rises, so does the occurrence of BPH. Your comfort about speaking with your physician about your prostate health is important to us.

There are several tests we use to determine the health of your prostate. These tests vary from person to person and help our physicians with the diagnosing any prostate issues. We recommend that all men over age 50 have both a digital rectal exam and a PSA .

Benign Prostatic Hypertrophy (BPH)

It is common for the prostate gland to become enlarged as a man ages. This condition is called benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), or benign prostatic hypertrophy.

Though the prostate continues to grow during most of a man's life, the enlargement doesn't usually cause problems until late in life. BPH rarely causes symptoms before age 40, but more than half of men in their sixties and as many as 90 percent in their seventies and eighties have some symptoms of BPH.

Common symptoms of BPH may include weak urinary stream, frequency of urination, getting up at night to urinate, severe urgency to urinate, and incomplete emptying of the bladder. There are numerous medical and surgical treatment options depending on the severity of symptoms (“quality of life”), the size of the prostate gland, or whether the obstruction is damaging the bladder and/or the kidneys.

WUA urologists provide the entire range of medical and surgical treatment options including minimally invasive surgery options such as:

Microwave Thermotherapy

In this treatment a device uses microwaves to heat and destroy excess prostate tissue. The procedure takes about 1 hour and can be performed in our office without general anesthesia.

Although microwave therapy does not cure BPH, it reduces urinary frequency, urgency, straining, and intermittent flow. It does not correct the problem of incomplete emptying of the bladder.

Transurethral needle ablation (TUNA)

Is an outpatient procedure that uses radio waves to heat and destroy the part of your prostate that's blocking the urine flow. During this procedure, a cystoscope is passed into the urethra and needles are placed in the prostate gland under visual guidance. Radio waves pass through the needles and heat the prostate and destroy the blockage.

Laser Vaporization Therapy

Also called photoselective vaporization of the prostate, or PVP uses a laser beam to remove the part of the prostate that is blocking the urethra. The procedure is done under either a general or spinal anesthetic. Most men who have laser treatment of BPH are able to leave the hospital the same or the next day.