As you age and get older, your body is definitely prone to shows the signs of aging however healthy you are. One of the biggest changes for men is that of the prostate getting bigger. It can lead to a condition called BPH or benign prostatic hyperplasia.

Prostate and aging

The prostate is a gland that surrounds the part of your urethra, the tube that carries urine and semen out of a man’s penis. As a result of age, this gland or prostate tend to enlarge or grow bigger than normal. The result is that it presses on the urethra and causes your urine stream to be weak and making you feel like urinating often especially at night.

This enlargement is a common condition and is known as BPH, which can also lead to other urinary problems.

Causes of BPH

Though doctors are not sure what causes BPH in older men, they mainly attribute it to the hormonal changes that happen as you grow older. Early in puberty the prostate doubles in size and around 25, it starts to grow again. Usually for most of the men this growth is lifelong and finally may lead to BPH.

Symptoms of BPH

Since the enlarging prostate pushes agains the urethra sqeezing it there are may symptoms that results:

> Dribilling of urine as you finish

> Finding difficulty is starting urination

> A weak stream once you start urinating

> Feeling that you still want to go after urinating

> Having to go often

> Incontinence

> Waking up at night and causing sleep disturbance

Even with a large prostate the symptoms and their severity may differ from person to person.

What is the treatment for BPH?

Treatment is mainly based on age, health and the size of the prostate. It depends also on the severity of the symptoms due to BPH. If the symptoms are not too bothersome than treatment can be a bit deferred to another time.

Certain lifestyle change can help tackle and get over the BPH problem.

> Do regular exercises to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles

> Decrease the amount of fluid intake before bedtime

> Drink less of caffeine and alcohol which will irritate the urinary bladder

Medications and in very severe cases surgery is used to treat BPH.