Three Prostate Issues (That Aren’t Cancer)

Most people focus on preventing prostate cancer when there are, in fact, prostate issues that aren’t cancerous but still cause a variety of health problems. Here are three prostate issues that aren’t cancer and how functional medicine doctors like Doctors Studio can help.

1. Prostate BPH

Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) is a chronic condition most common among older men, especially those aged 60 or older. It involves elevated cell growth and inflammation, resulting in an enlarged prostate. BPH is a prostate issue that’s not cancerous. Instead, it most often affects urination in men and can develop into other urinary issues. 

Most men with BPH experience the following symptoms:

• Weak urine flow
• The inability to fully empty the bladder
• Difficulty starting, during, and stopping urination
• Excessive need to urinate
• Sudden nighttime urination habits

BPH weakens the bladder and can sometimes block urine flow altogether. This leads to infections building up in the bladder and kidneys, and it can even cause kidney failure.

Most treatment for BPH involves taking medications, and many doctors perform surgery to alleviate symptoms in men. There are also ways a person can prevent and relieve BPH symptoms at home. These mainly involve limiting water, caffeine, and alcohol at night, using the restroom often, and emptying the bladder completely during urination. 

Read more about Prostate BPH.

2. Prostatitis

There are three types of prostatitis, affecting a wider variety of men. If a man develops prostatitis, his prostate gland is swollen and inflamed, most often due to a bacterial infection. 

Prostatitis isn’t cancerous, but it results in many of the following symptoms:

• Pain while urinating
• Difficulty urinating
• Chills and fever
• Body aches
• Low back pain
• Pain or throbbing in the genitals 
• Urge to urinate when no urine is present
• Loss of sex drive
• Pain while having sex
• Discharge with bowel movements

A doctor can test for prostatitis using a urine test or DRE, as well as methods for diagnosing the specific kind of prostatitis a patient has. There are three types of prostatitis: 

• Acute bacterial prostatitis develops quickly, with chills, fever, and bloody urine. This condition is caused by a bacterial infection, and it’s the easiest type of prostatitis to treat. Most doctors prescribe strong antibiotics for infection as well as pain medication. 
• Chronic bacterial prostatitis is another bacterial form of prostatitis. Instead of occurring suddenly and severely, it develops as many cases of bladder infections. Doctors treat chronic bacterial prostatitis with long-term antibiotics, lasting anywhere from 4 to 12 weeks. 
• Asymptomatic inflammatory prostatitis causes no symptoms in men. It’s usually identified when testing for another condition, such as prostate cancer. It’s often found when doctors perform a Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) test, and numbers come back elevated. Doctors don’t treat asymptomatic inflammatory prostatitis, but it may be addressed if a patient is treated for other prostate health issues.

Read more about Prostatitis. 

3. Pelvic Pain Syndrome

Doctors treat pelvic pain syndrome with medications to block inflammation. At-home treatments, such as a warm bath, are advised to manage pain. In some cases, alpha-blockers are prescribed, which relax prostate muscles to improve urination.

Men’s Health from Doctors Studio

Doctors Studio specializes in men’s sexual health and treating ED, and we address what issues are beneath the surface. Prostate BPH, Prostatitis, and Pelvic Pain Syndrome are often results of inflammation and bacterial infection in the body, which is exactly what our doctors help treat.

Here are specific ways we address non-cancerous prostate issues:

• Addressing localized and systemic issues. BPH causes problems in the local region of discomfort, and it also affects your body’s system as a whole. Instead of focusing only on the local region, where painful symptoms develop, we also focus on the entire body system. We provide localized treatment (i.e., intra-prostate injection) and make lifestyle interventions to promote better overall health. 
• Platelet Rich Plasma or LI-SWL therapy. Our variety of genomic tests provides us with the data we need to concoct the perfect combination of medication to kill your infection, injected directly into the localized area of concern. Depending on what’s going on in your body, we provide Platelet Rich Plasma therapy and Low-Intensity Shockwave Lithotripsy (LI-SWL) therapy. 
• Lifestyle habit coaching. Hormone imbalances and poor diet are often major players in developing non-cancerous prostate problems, and we intervene to help patients get a grip on their health. This might look like hormone therapy, diet coaching, or lifestyle advice like stress management and drinking enough water.
• Ozone therapy. Our ozone procedure is one of the number one ways to reverse sexual health issues in men. Ozone decreases inflammation, improves discomforting symptoms, and allows wounds to heal faster. It also prevents bacteria, mold, and parasites that can be found in or around the prostate gland.

Transform Men’s Health