How Does an Swollen or Expanded Prostate Affect Erectile Dysfunction?
Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a prevalent condition for men of all ages, with many causes, from psychological to physical. Another bodily ailment frequently mentioned when it comes to ED is benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), or more loosely, a bloated prostate. But what is it exactly that makes a bloated prostate the cause of erectile dysfunction?
Understanding Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH)
BPH is a benign tumour of the prostate gland, which is just below the bladder and around the urethra in men. The prostate expands as a man grows older, causing a number of urinary symptoms, including difficulty urinating, frequent urination or urgency. Although BPH is not specifically life-threatening, the discomfort and issues surrounding urination can drastically impact a man’s quality of life.
BPH: The Connection Between BPH and Erectile Dysfunction?
It is believed that men with BPH are more likely to develop erectile dysfunction. The two conditions were related to one another for several reasons:
Hormonal Changes: The Aging Factor
Men will undergo many other hormonal changes as they grow older, but perhaps the most dramatic of them is a variation in testosterone. Low-T, which comes from low testosterone, is known to impact sexual desire and lead to erectile dysfunction. Low testosterone tends to get mixed up with BPH, or enlarged prostate, further contributing to the man’s sexual dysfunction. This hormonal disruption emphasizes that the two conditions must be combined for completeness of care.
The Effects of Urinary Symptoms
BPH causes many urinary symptoms, including hypertension, night-time urination, and incomplete bladder emptying. Such horrifying afflictions can lead to enormous psychological and emotional distress. Anxiety about the possibility of urinary injuries could also play a part in performance anxiety over sex, which would in turn dampen sexual motivation and ability to produce an erection. The reciprocal loop of anxiety that can creep in undermines a man’s sexual efficacy and, more broadly, his level of relationship satisfaction.
Common Side Effects of Medication
Alpha-blockers like tamsulosin and 5-alpha reductase inhibitors like finasteride are some of the pharmaceutical therapies that most men with BPH use. These medicines serve primarily to relax the bladder neck and thus reduce the prostate size, although erectile dysfunction is sometimes an unwanted side effect. For many men, this becomes a double-edged sword: by trying to cure urinary tract infections, one can compromise erectile function. It’s one of those Catch-22 moments that healthcare providers should inform their patients of and, if possible, seek alternatives to treatment.
Shared Underlying Conditions
The major foundation of the connection between BPH and ED then is cardiovascular disease and diabetes. We had long been under the impression that ED and BPH were related in terms of their susceptibility to impaired blood circulation or the neurogenic machinery involved in getting a man. Because sexual wellbeing is intimately linked with bodily vascular health, any impairment in blood flow will adversely affect erectile function. Therefore, treatment of a chronic illness must be undertaken in parallel to the successful treatment of BPH and ED.
Assessing Your Health
If you’re noticing symptoms of BPH and erectile dysfunction, then please see a medical doctor. The correlation between the two conditions varies from individual to individual, and a detailed analysis of your condition will determine the root cause.
Your doctor might prescribe lifestyle interventions (diet and exercise) to help your prostate and erections. Furthermore, treatment for both BPH and erectile dysfunction are available, enabling a dual diagnosis of both.
Treatment Options
Medications
The default treatment for both BPH and ED is medication. You need to choose medications based on severity of symptoms and associated conditions.
For ED: PDE5 inhibitors, sildenafil (brand name Viagra) and tadalafil (brand name Cialis) are the other ED medications. These operate by drawing more blood into the penis and producing an erection during sex. One should always seek the advice of a healthcare provider before trying these, as not everyone will respond to the treatments the same way.
For BPH : Most medications can be used to treat symptoms of BPH. Alpha-blockers such as tamsulosin relax the bladder’s neck and the prostate in general, allowing the bladder to open more easily. 5 -alpha-reductase inhibitors like finasteride and dutasteride gradually reduce prostate size, which in turn can reduce symptoms and boost urine output.
In some cases, that can include taking the drugs for both disorders, but only under a doctor’s supervision to avoid interactions and side effects.
Therapy
Because drugs don’t solve anything but the symptoms, psychology is an integral part of erectile dysfunction. Sickness, depression and relationship stresses are the most dominant causes of sexual performance and man’s health.
CBT : A relatively short-term, structured intervention that is particularly helpful in managing the psychological problems associated with erectile dysfunction. This allows them to understand their thinking and feeling habits and build better coping skills that will help them build their self-esteem.
Couples Therapy: It can be helpful to bring a partner into therapy. When ED comes out of the box emotionally, couples therapy enables partners to work through this issue in partnership, allowing them to cultivate more effective communication and intimacy. The mental aspects that therapy alone will tackle could contribute to significant enhancements in sexual confidence and function.
Surgical Interventions
The most distressing signs of BPH might need to be surgically treated if they don’t respond to treatment. The most common is TURP (transurethral resection of the prostate), in which excess prostate tissue is excised from the organ to relieve pressure on the urethra.
Positive Aspects of TURP
Symptom Relief: TURP can significantly reduce urinary symptoms, such as frequency, urgency, and pain.
Possible Enhancement in erectile Function: Though the surgeries are meant to help alleviate urinary issues, many men find that they’re better off with surgery. It can be the result of less anxiety about the issue, or resumption of a more normal anatomical function.
Conclusion
Lastly, a enlarged or swollen prostate can actually cause erectile dysfunction, although the connection is often complicated and multifactorial. Learning to identify this connection can enable men to get proper medical care, explore treatment, and hopefully improve their quality of life. If you suffer from either BPH or erectile dysfunction, then it’s important to have an open discussion with your doctor about a personalized plan that fits your needs.
