Many men will suffer with prostate problems in their lifetime, most of which will be during their twilight years, but no matter what age they are a lot of men find it difficult to visit a doctor if they have a medical problem related to their sexual organ (penis).
Should you have any of the following symptoms then, as a male, there is a chance that you have a condition with your prostate, which needs reviewing by a doctor so it can be rectified.
-- Urinating frequently (outside what you would perceive is normal)
-- Needing to urinate a lot during the night
-- Passing small amounts of blood in the urine
-- Pain while going toilet to urinate
-- Finding it hard for urine to come out of the body
-- Erectile dysfunction (difficulty getting and maintaining an erection)
-- Impotence
So now we have established what are the symptoms of prostate problems, how do we find out if a person has a condition?
Firstly you will need to visit a doctor to carry out the procedures we are about the mention.
Digital Rectal Examination
A doctor will put on a rubber glove that has been very well lubricated and put one finger up your anus, and then gently feel the back of the rectum wall where the prostate sits on the other side. By doing this the doctor can feel for any abnormalities which can be associates with many prostate problems.
As the doctor feels the rectal wall you should feel no pain, but many people do complain about the physical discomfort of having another person's finger inserted in their anus.
Prostate Specific Antigen Test
This is a simple blood test where the blood is tested for the levels of prostate specific antigens, the results of this can show the medical professionals if you are in any risk of contracting prostate cancer.
They can tell this by looking at the levels of prostate specific antigens; you can see the risk levels below
-- Less than 4 nanograms per milliliter means the male is healthy.
-- Between 4 and 10 nanograms per milliliter means the male is at a high risk.
-- Above 10 nanograms per milliliter means the male is at a dangerously highly risk of having prostate cancer.
This simple blood test is fine to most people; only those who have a phobia of needles tend to have a problem.
Prostate biopsy
In some cases the medical professionals may require you to take one further test, this will be the prostate biopsy. This is carried out by using a small needle gun and inserting it in the anus, the medical professional will carefully align the needle gun so the needle will prick the rear wall of the rectum where the prostate sits, then the needle gun will shoot out a tiny hollow needle that will pierce through the rectum wall and into the prostate picking up vital tissue samples that can be checked in the lab for any medical conditions.
This fits the same details as the rectal examination where people generally only feel discomfort from having something inserted into their anus. Some people don't like the feeling of the needle gun in their anus.
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