How Does Enlargement of the Prostate Cause Symptoms?
A man with an enlarged prostate may notice that he goes to the bathroom more often, gets up at night to go, has a slow stream that takes time to start, isn’t forceful and doesn’t stop cleanly. He’ll notice a start-stop pattern of voiding, and will go in spurts rather than with a continuous flow. He’ll notice that when he does get the sense he should go, he has to go immediately (urgency), or else risk wetting himself. Any or all of these patterns may be seen. Symptoms ignored for a long time will lead eventually to complete blockage – unable to void at all – called retention, which requires a trip to an emergency room for a catheter to drain the blocked bladder until the prostate can be further treated.
