Meet Mike. He's fifty seven years old and lives an active lifestyle. Between playing golf with his buddies and spending time with his wife, life is good. Although, in the past year, Mike started noticing problems with his urination, like having to wake up several times a night to go, having to find a men's room all the time when he's out, and having trouble actually starting to urinate as if something was blocking the flow. These symptoms could mean that Mike has an enlarged prostate, a condition called benign prostatic hyperplasia, or BPH. A man's prostate grows over time and can compress the urethra, blocking the passageway and preventing normal urine flow. This progressive condition is very common among men as they age. In fact, over forty percent of men in their 50s have BPH, and the number grows to over seventy percent of men in their 60s. Rest assured, BPH has nothing to do with prostate cancer, but it can greatly affect a man's quality of life. As the prostate grows, bothersome symptoms can occur, including a frequent need to urinate without completely emptying the bladder, a poor stream during urination, starting and stopping, embarrassing leakage and dripping, and even painful urination. Men suffering from BPH often make multiple trips to the bathroom during the night, affecting their sleep and relationships. For too long, men suffering with BPH have had to choose between only three options: watchful waiting, medications, or surgeries that cut laser or steam to destroy prostate tissue. For the first option, patients just live with the symptoms. It's called watchful waiting, which simply means to modify behavior and lifestyle as symptoms of BPH worsen. It can include drinking less before bedtime and always making sure there's a bathroom nearby. Some downsides besides the physical discomfort are that symptoms typically get worse over time, and waiting now may make it harder to reduce symptoms later. The second option is taking prescription medications with the potential for many common side effects. Unfortunately, drugs don't work for everyone, with two out of three patients surveyed expressing frustration over their BPH medication. Drugs can take several months to work and require continual use to manage symptoms while becoming less effective over time. Side effects may include headaches, dizziness, weakness, nasal congestion, loss of libido, ejaculatory dysfunction, erectile dysfunction. No wonder nearly twenty five percent of men on prescription BPH medications in the US discontinue their drug use each year. The third option is surgery to destroy or remove part of the prostate, which comes with its own set of side effects. Surgery is generally recognized as an effective treatment for BPH. Unfortunately, until now, surgery meant more complications, including the clinically demonstrated potential for erectile and ejaculatory dysfunction and a long recovery time, frequently including use of a catheter. And some less invasive surgical procedures even require retreatment as much as twenty five percent of the time. No wonder millions of men give up and choose to live with their BPH. Now, there's a proven solution that fills the gap between prescription medication and more invasive surgical procedures. Mike's doctor told him about the UroLift System treatment FDA cleared in twenty thirteen. The system treatment is typically performed as a one time outpatient solution that provides rapid relief with a fast recovery. The system uses tiny implants to hold open the obstructed pathway so it no longer blocks urine flow. There's a new procedure that's recently been approved in the United States, and that's UroLift. This has been a great experience for me, and I would recommend UroLift for men. I notice results actually the same day. And over the next year, it just has continued to get better. It was excellent. The UroLift procedure provides a truly minimally invasive treatment that can be performed in the physician's office. Most patients no longer need to continue BPH medications, and they can avoid the slower recovery of tissue destructive prostate surgery. Clinical studies have shown that the UroLift system is the only leading BPH treatment option that does not cause ejaculatory or erectile dysfunction. Best of all, five years of clinical data on hundreds of patients show consistent results and durable relief from the symptoms of BPH. Now with the system procedure, Mike has discovered a better option that can very likely free him from his BPH medication without the discomforts of more invasive surgery so he can quickly get back to what matters most. Ask your doctor if you are a candidate for UroLift.
