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7 Prostate Symptoms That You Should Watch For

Almost all men run into prostate problems of some description as they get older, with signs of trouble appearing for a few men at about 50 years of age or possibly slightly earlier. By 60 years of age approximately fifty percent of all men will be experiencing prostate gland symptoms and this figure will have increased to about 9 out of 10 men by 80 years of age.

For the majority of men any prostate symptoms will be fairly mild and, because many men begin to develop medical problems at this point in life, it is common for men to simply ignore prostate symptoms as a normal part of the ageing process. As a lot of prostate problems are not serious, and symptoms can often be very mild, this may not be too much of a problem and you can live with many prostate problems quite happily without them doing you any particular harm.

But, not all prostate problems are harmless and if your particular prostate problem happens to be prostate cancer and you ignore it then it will start to spread and might eventually kill you. Indeed, ignoring prostate symptoms is the chief reason why prostate cancer represents the second highest cause of cancer death among men the United States.

There are a variety of symptoms that could point to the existence of a prostate problem and one problem we run into in recognizing the cause of these symptoms is that they are all too often symptoms which can appear for many different reasons. But, if symptoms are not being caused by prostate problems then they will often to be short lived and will disappear in a matter of days without the need for treatment. But, where symptoms remain with you for some time then there is a fair chance that they are being caused by a problem with the prostate gland.

Common symptoms are:

  • Problems beginning urination and the need to strain in order to start urination.
  • A loss of strength in the urine flow.
  • A urine flow that tends to stop and start.
  • A feeling of needing to urinate even just after you have been to the bathroom.
  • A requirement to urinate urgently and problems in ‘waiting’.
  • A requirement to urinate more frequently and a requirement to get up to urinate during the night.
  • A tendency to continue dribbling urine for a while after you have finished urinating.

These symptoms indicate that prostate problems could be developing and although, in the majority of cases, these problems are not serious this is not always the case.

Accordingly, as soon as these symptoms appear, you should see your doctor who will be able to tell you precisely what the problem is and how it should be treated. More importantly, should the problem turn out to be prostate cancer, he can recommend treatment while the problem is in its early stages and can be fairly easily treated and, with any luck, removed altogether. Your prostate gland may well be a small organ but it kills thousands of men every year so take a moment to think about your prostate health.