complications prostate surgery
Prostatitis And Prostate Cancer: The Effects They Can Have On Men Urinary System
As men grow older especially around retirement age and shortly afterward life can be very good as they begin to enjoy the fruits of their labor and the opportunity to do what they want to do for a change. No longer punching time clocks or holding their heads to the grinding stone; life can prove to be quite sweet after all. For many men, reaching retirement and just kicking back and enjoying life is what it’s all about. After working for twenty, thirty, and forty plus years, I think you guys deserve to relax and take it easy for a while. It’s time to exist off crowded free-ways and super highways of life and take the scenic route and just slowly cruise on down the line and celebrate life…and let your hair blow in the wind. Man, life is good, and living is great. Good food. Good times. Good fun. Who can blame you? You guys have earned it, so celebrate your life!
Unfortunately, for men around the age of forty and up there could be a skeleton in the closet in the form of a problem prostate. Generally, the prostate doesn’t even become an issue for most men until around forty years of age, and even then it’s usually just prostatitis or inflammation of the prostate which is usually a very benign condition. But as men continue to age the prostate gland can become increasingly larger and here lies the problem. Prostate problems can range from benign to malignant. Men in their sixties and seventies are at a much greater risk than any other time in their lives to be diagnosed with an enlarged prostate. The key to warding off possible disaster with the prostate gland is seeking medical care from their primary care giver as early as possible.
An enlarged prostate or benign prostactic hyperplasia (BPH) detected early enough can be successfully treated with practically no complications whatsoever. However, the reality of the problem with the prostate gland is that most men do not follow through on annual check ups and in between visits to their doctor(s). When a prostate problem is detected early enough it does not pose a lethal threat at all, but when it is left to grow unchecked it can and will in most cases become a real problem. That’s why men should submit to regular examinations so that the growth or lack of it can be closely monitored and treated.
The prostate gland is about the size of a chestnut or walnut and it is situated at the base of the bladder’s neck where the urethra connects to the bladder. The prostate is part glandular and part muscle. It is actually a part of the reproductive system in men. It secretes a viscid like fluid that is ejected into the urethra to help the motility of the sperm at the time of ejaculation. The fluid that it secretes is anti-acidic and therefore it helps the spermatozoa to remain alive inside the female sexual organ where it can remain alive for hours in a highly acidic environ; without the viscid substance that the prostate emits at the time of discharging the spermatozoa, the spermatozoa would not survive long enough to fertilize the eggs. It also acts as some type of guard or blocking agent that seals off the bladder’s neck to prevent urine from mixing with the semen and the spermatozoa. Once the discharging process is completed the prostate will then automatically allow the urine to pass through the urethra.
It is simply amazing how all of this take place time and time again throughout the life of the prostate. Within the prostate glands there are cells, and cells and more cells. When cells mass or join together they form tissue; all animals and plants are composed of one or more cells, but some times rogue cells break away from normal operations and group together to form a tumor. Tumors can be benign or they can be malignant. If a tumor creates no immediate threat it can be allowed to exist as it is, however it must be closely watched by a physician or urologist to see if it is spreading and/or if it has become cancerous. If the tumor does become cancerous it must be removed at once to keep it from spreading throughout the body. When a prostate gland becomes cancerous and removal of it from the body is the only alternative; this type of surgery is called a prostatectomy. The prostate gland is not essential to life, therefore it is expendable; left in place the cancerous tumor would spread and spread until it has covered every organ in the body, or as long as the person remained alive.
A cancerous prostate usually is excised from the body as quickly as possible because it is literally a life and death operation. Surgeons will do everything within their power to remove every bit of cancerous tissue in the body because they are all too well aware of the fact that any cancerous tissue left in the body will begin to spread immediately. That is the reason some men have to undergo a second surgery because the first one felled short of removing all of the cancerous growth. During a prostatectomy it is possible to incur some collateral damage, meaning; something can get damaged that shouldn’t have.
For instance, the sphincter muscle sometimes becomes damaged when the prostate is being removed. The sphincter muscle is located on the pelvic floor at the base of the bladder or bladder neck. The sphincter is a muscle that encloses the bladder neck to prevent urine from escaping when it is not suppose to. When the sphincter muscle is working properly it is capable of maintaining a firm grip around the bladder’s neck to prevent urine leakage. During a prostatectomy the sphincter muscle can become damaged and made useless to put it mildly. No longer able to prevent the bladder from voiding or leakage the person who is undergoing a prostatectomy has one more problem to add to the list. He now suffers from urinary incontinence because without the sphincter muscle in place and functioning properly urine will continue to leak from the bladder.
The only solution is to schedule another operation to install a new artificial sphincter muscle. This new artificial sphincter muscle has capacity to do the work that the original sphincter muscle once did—preventing any type of urinary leakage. Usually after a prostatectomy most men suffer from a temporary condition called stress incontinence. Normally stress incontinence would occur in women who were pregnant, and after childbirth. Stress incontinence is the leaking of urine during laughing, sneezing, coughing, or practically any and all physical activities. Men who have undergone a prostatectomy suffer with stress incontinence too, but in most cases it’s just a temporary condition that doesn’t last permanently unlike with some women.
After prostate surgery many men also suffer from urge or urgency incontinence. Urgency incontinence is the sudden urge to urinate, but in most instances the urine voids or passes before the man can reach the bathroom. This is the source of a lot of embarrassing scenes for men and women. Having this kind of accident in public or other social settings can be devastating to say the least. Many men and women both have chosen to avoid public and social settings in fear of having yet another accident that only brings more humiliation and degradation. With some men who have had their prostate removed their lives undergo a total change when they realize that they suffer with a type of incontinence called mixed incontinence.
Mixed incontinence is a combination of stress incontinence and urgency incontinence. It’s enough to leave any man totally bewildered and unamused; but the good news is that either forms or types of urinary incontinence is treatable, and in a growing number of cases completely curable. Overflow and Continuous incontinence can occur during post prostate surgery for some men; however, both conditions are treatable and in a growing number of cases they are also curable as well. Overflow incontinence occurs when the bladder becomes filled and for some reason or another, the brain does not send a nerve signal to the bladder to activate the detrusor muscle that is located within the bladder’s walls to remove its content.
When this exchange is working properly the brain will send a nerve signal to the detrusor muscle which in turn would commence to squeeze spastically to force the urine out of the bladder and down through the urethra and out through the male sexual organ, but when there is a problem at any point between the brain, nerve signal, bladder, detrusor muscle, sphincter and urethra; voiding or passing or urine will not work correctly. Continuous incontinence happens when there is a continual dripping or dribbling of urine. This type of urinary incontinence can occur due to a number of causes and circumstances, but like the other forms or types of urinary incontinence; continuous incontinence is highly treatable and often curable too.
The key is getting to your primary care giver and/or your urologist as quickly as possible. From there you will be examined and given the proper care and medication(s) to help you overcome these unnatural conditions. In conclusion, I feel that the most important point throughout this article is the need to have a close and working relationship with your primary care giver and your urologist as well. A problem prostate can be successfully taken care of if it is caught before the damaged is done—cancerous cells spreading throughout the body. And by scheduling an appointment with your doctor(s) when you first begin to experience the symptoms of a problem prostate and/or urinary incontinence you will have a greater chance of survival and enjoying life after all. So here’s to you great guy, enjoy your retirement as you cruise down the scenic route of life.
About the Author
D. Raye Samoth has written several articles on Incontinence. Please feel free to visit our website for all your “Incontinence Products Just for Men”. There you will find a large selection of new and innovative “Incontinence products Just for Men”. Incontinence Products Just For Men
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