“I am living proof that if you catch prostate cancer early, it can be reduced to a temporary inconvenience, and you can go back to a normal life.”
— Norman Schwarzkopf
Prostate and urethral conditions
What does the prostate gland do?
The prostate gland lies just beneath the bladder and is normally about the size of a chestnut. The urethra (water pipe) runs through the middle of the prostate. The main function of the prostate is during your reproductive life. It produces fluid containing chemicals which nourish sperms to help with fertilisation.
What should I do if I have prostate symptoms?
If you have difficulty starting or stopping your urine flow, a weak stream, a feeling that you do not empty your bladder completely, increased frequency and urgency of urine passage by day or night and a tendency to dribble after you have finished, you should contact your GP for further advice.
Prostate enlargement
Your GP will normally review you initially and may supply you with a symptom questionnaire and/or a bladder diary to complete before your appointment.
Referral to a urologist is only indicated if:
- Your symptoms are severe
- Your urine flow is very poor
- Your blood tests (e.g. PSA) are abnormal
- There are any complications of the condition (e.g. chronic retention, urinary infection, bladder stones)
Using the International Prostate Symptoms Score (I-PSS), we have built an online form to assess the severity of your condition, and email the results to us.
Click here to complete the form – it should take less than five minutes.
Useful tools
- Bladder diary
- International Prostate Symptoms Score (I-PSS) – PDF version
What happens when I attend the appointment?
We will take history of your problem and undertake clinical examination of your tummy, genitals and the dreaded DRE (finger examination of the prostate through the back passage). It would be a good idea to come with full bladder, so you can do a urine flow test into a receptacle that measures flow rate.
You may also have an ultrasound examination of your prostate using a rectal probe.
What options are available?
- Medication: There are 2 types of medication, one to relax prostate, one to shrink prostate.
- Surgery: Transurethral resection of prostate is the gold standard ( coring out inner bit of prostate to relieve the blockage). Others include Holmium laser enucleation of prostate, Bladder neck incision, UROLIFT (stapling of prostate).
Meet Our Team
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Mr Bernard Potluri
Mr Bernard Potluri
Our Surgeon
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Dr. Shashi Gopinath
Dr. Shashi Gopinath
Anaesthetist
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Dr. Venkat Shenoy
Dr. Venkat Shenoy
Anaesthetist
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Jo Nualart
Jo Nualart
Medical Secretary
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Sharon Lambe
Sharon Lambe
Medical Secretary
08000 434353
FREEPHONE
Further prostate and urethral related information
Please see below links to information leaflets from British association of urological surgeons, on prostate conditions and their treatments
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Telescopic procedures on your prostate
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Laparoscopic procedures on your prostate
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Open procedures on your prostate
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Ultrasound-guided prostate procedures
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Non-procedural prostate information
- Active surveillance for low to intermediate grade prostate cancer
- Advice to patients requesting PSA measurement
- Chronic prostatitis symptom score (NIH-CPSI)
- Input/output chart (bladder diary)
- International prostate symptom score (I-PSS)
- Male lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS)
- Managing male LUTS | Video
- Performing a urinary flow rate
- POSSUM scoring for TURP
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Surgery for urethral strictures
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Surgery for urethral lesions
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Non-procedural urethra information
Latest prostate related news
Men with prostate cancer can be spared radiotherapy after surgery, according to late breaking results of the RADICALS-RT trial presented by Prof. Chris Parker (The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and Institute of Cancer Research, London, UK), as well as a supportive meta-analysis of 3 trials. The analysis found no evidence that adjuvant radiotherapy improves…
“Ejaculating at least 21 times a month significantly reduces a man’s risk of prostate cancer,” is the headline on the Mail Online. This is based on research from the US that asked men how often they ejaculated per month and subsequent reporting of prostate cancer. They found that men who ejaculated 21 times or more…