Your prostate is a small gland located near your bladder that controls the flow of urine and forces out semen when you ejaculate. As you age, it is not uncommon for your prostate to become enlarged, and if it becomes very big, treatment is necessary to maintain kidney and bladder health.

Types of Medications

Alpha blocker medications like Terazosin help relax your bladder to make it easier for your body to release urine despite your enlarged prostate. Another class of drugs known as 5-alpha-reductase inhibitors like Finasteride and Dutasteride work very well at balancing the hormones that contribute to cases of grossly enlarged prostates, explains the Mayo Clinic.

Features of Other Treatments

In some cases, doctors use energy from microwaves inserted into your urethra in a procedure called transurethral microwave procedure to reduce urinary symptoms from prostate enlargement. A similar procedure is transurethral needle ablation (TUNA), which uses radio waves rather than microwaves.

Surgery

If your prostate is grossly enlarged, your doctor may need to perform surgery to reduce the size. Because of its size, your doctor is likely to use an open surgical procedure, where an incision is made to provide access to the gland, explains the National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse.

Time Frame

Medications for prostate enlargement usually take several weeks to produce noticeable changes in your symptoms, explains the Mayo Clinic. Surgery for a grossly enlarged prostate typically provides relief for symptoms for at least 15 years, according to the National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse.

Considerations

After treatment, it is possible for your prostate to become enlarged again in the future and require repeated treatment, explains the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

Source:

Mayo Clinic: Prostate Gland Enlargement

National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse: Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia

U.S. National Library of Medicine: Enlarged Prostate