{"id":1039,"date":"2020-12-30T10:51:50","date_gmt":"2020-12-30T02:51:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/asiamd.com\/?p=1039"},"modified":"2025-08-20T10:23:22","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T10:23:22","slug":"slower-urine-flow-it-could-be-bph","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asiamd.bqubetech.com\/ms\/2020\/12\/30\/slower-urine-flow-it-could-be-bph\/","title":{"rendered":"Slower urine flow? It could be BPH"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This article has been fact-checked by <a href=\"https:\/\/asiamd.bqubetech.com\/make-an-appointment\/?dr=chong_kian_tai\">Dr Chong Kian Tai<\/a>, urologist at Surgi-TEN Specialists, Farrer Park Hospital, Singapore.<\/span><\/i><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/asiamd.bqubetech.com\/doctors\/chong-kian-tai\/\">About the Doctor<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Slower Urine Flow. As men get older, their prostate slowly grows larger. While the exact cause of this is unknown, it could be due to the build-up of the male hormone dihydrotestosterone, which helps men develop the physical characteristics typical of an adult male. Almost every man will eventually have benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), a condition where an enlarged but non-cancerous prostate blocks the flow of urine through the urethra.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"p1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/AsiaMDWhatsAppEN\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b><i>Follow us on WhatsApp for the latest updates: https:\/\/bit.ly\/AsiaMDWhatsAppEN\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As a result of BPH, men may:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Feel the need to urinate more often both during the day and at night<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Have difficulty starting to urinate, and dribble after they finish<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Find their urine streams becoming smaller and weaker<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Wake up at night to urinate<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Feel as if they\u2019ve not completely emptied their bladder<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">BPH is extremely common, and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.singhealth.com.sg\/patient-care\/patient-education\/benign-prostate-hyperplasia\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">only about 10 per cent of men who have it need medical or surgical intervention<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, either because the symptoms have become too severe or have led to complications such as urine infections or kidney failure. Men who experience these symptoms, however, should still see a doctor as they could be caused by problems other than BPH.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Calculating your International Prostate Symptom Score<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before men go to see a doctor, they should fill out the online <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ruh.nhs.uk\/patients\/Urology\/documents\/patient_leaflets\/Form_IPSS.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">International Prostate Symptom Score<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (IPSS) questionnaire. Created by the American Urological Association in 1992, it asks men seven questions about their urine over the past month to determine the severity of their urinary problems, and one question about how they feel about the current state of their urine. The questions are:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How often have you had a sensation of not emptying your bladder completely after you finish urinating?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How often have you had to urinate again less than two hours after you finished urinating?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How often have you found you stopped and started again several times when you urinated?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How difficult have you found it to postpone urination?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How often have you had a weak urinary stream?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How often have you had to push or strain to begin urination?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How many times did you most typically get up to urinate from the time you went to bed until the time you got up in the morning?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In addition, an eighth question checks the patient\u2019s quality of life due to existing urinary symptoms.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you were to spend the rest of your life with your urinary condition the way it is now, how would you feel about that?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The questions each have a range of answers, with a score assigned to each answer. Doctors may use a patient\u2019s total IPSS to help plan treatment. They may also ask a patient to complete the questionnaire again after the treatment to assess its effectiveness.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Diagnosing BPH &#8211;\u00a0Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To determine the cause of the urinary symptoms, doctors may conduct a digital rectal examination. This involves inserting a gloved and lubricated finger into the patient\u2019s rectum to feel the prostate for hard or lumpy areas that may indicate the need for more tests.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><i>Usana Stronger Together (Prostate Health) &#8211; Intro of Prostate Health by Dr Chong Kian Tai, AsiaMD<\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Usana Stronger Together (Prostate Health) - Intro of Prostate Health by Dr Chong Kian Tai, AsiaMD\" width=\"1000\" height=\"563\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/efxCYIzv2T8?start=15&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They may also carry out a blood test called the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cancer.gov\/types\/prostate\/psa-fact-sheet#:~:text=Prostate%2Dspecific%20antigen%2C%20or%20PSA,to%20a%20laboratory%20for%20analysis.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Note that BPH, prostate cancer, and other medical problems such as an inflamed prostate can lead to higher levels of PSA. If the test finds a high level of PSA in a patient\u2019s blood, further tests are done to establish the cause. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH), a condition where an enlarged but non-cancerous prostate causes urinary problems, is extremely common among older men.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":1040,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[182,153],"tags":[263,300,434,447,496,674,1074,1129,1137,1165,1304,1370,1381,1420,1436,1585,1630,1797,1830],"class_list":["post-1039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-urinary-and-male-reproductive-system","category-urology","tag-benign-prostatic-hyperplasia","tag-bph","tag-diagnosis","tag-dr-chong-kian-tai","tag-enlarged-prostate","tag-ipss","tag-symptoms","tag-urinary-frequency","tag-urologist","tag-wake-up-at-night-to-urinate","tag-1304","tag-1370","tag-1381","tag-1420","tag-1436","tag-1585","tag-1630","tag-1797","tag-1830"],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"3.0.0","language":"ms","enabled_languages":["en","zh","ko","ja","mn","vi","ta","th","ms","km","id","my","hi"],"languages":{"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":true},"zh":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":true},"ko":{"title":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false},"ja":{"title":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false},"mn":{"title":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false},"vi":{"title":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false},"ta":{"title":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false},"th":{"title":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false},"ms":{"title":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false},"km":{"title":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false},"id":{"title":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false},"my":{"title":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false},"hi":{"title":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/asiamd.bqubetech.com\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/asiamd.bqubetech.com\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/asiamd.bqubetech.com\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asiamd.bqubetech.com\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asiamd.bqubetech.com\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1039"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/asiamd.bqubetech.com\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1039\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10219,"href":"https:\/\/asiamd.bqubetech.com\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1039\/revisions\/10219"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asiamd.bqubetech.com\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/asiamd.bqubetech.com\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asiamd.bqubetech.com\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asiamd.bqubetech.com\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}