What can go wrong
The prostate gland gets bigger with age and can cause the urethra to narrow, causing problems with passing urine. Regular prostate problems can affect your quality of life and also your general health.
The main types of prostate problems are Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH), inflammation of the prostate (prostatitis) and prostate cancer. They can each be associated with similar symptoms. These include:
- Needing to urinate more often, especially at night
- Needing to rush to the toilet – you may occasionally leak urine before you get there
- Difficulty starting to pass urine
- Straining or taking a long time to finish urinating
- A weak flow
- A feeling that your bladder has not emptied properly
Less common symptoms include:
- Pain when passing urine
- Pain when ejaculating
- Pain in the testicles
If you have any of these symptoms, you should visit your GP to find out what is causing the problem.
Page last updated: November 30th 2007