What It Means When A Man Has A Large Prostate Volume

The prostate sits just below a man's bladder and produces some of the fluid in semen. A healthy prostate is about the size of a walnut and weighs about 20 grams, which is about the weight of an AA battery. As a man ages, his prostate grows in size and volume. The prostate can grow to the size of an apricot around age 40 and a tennis ball at age 60. A large prostate volume can range from 40 to 100 milliliters and the gland can weigh 40 to 125 grams.

If you have a large prostate volume, you likely have benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH), also known as an enlarged prostate. Part of the prostate surrounds the urethra, and this is the part of the prostate that grows larger with BPH. This is why men with BPH might have problems with urination and ejaculation. Although BPH is common and isn't indicative of cancer, a large prostate volume that blocks off urine flow can lead to complications if it's not treated.

Men with BPH will experience symptoms such as difficulty urinating, frequent urinating, or problems emptying the bladder. They might also feel pain while urinating or ejaculating. If the prostate continues to pinch on the urethra, they could be at risk for bladder or kidney infections. It might also lead to kidney failure as the urine gets backed up in the urinary system. You should see a doctor if you can't urinate, see blood in your urine, or feel a fever or chills during painful urination.

If you've been diagnosed with mild BPH, you can often treat some of your symptoms by reducing your caffeine and alcohol or exercising your pelvic floor. You can also reduce the size of the prostate and treat BPH symptoms through medications like alpha blockers or 5-alpha reductase inhibitors.

A large prostate volume might require further treatment. In a 2023 guideline in The Journal of Urology, the American Urological Association suggested that prostate volumes between 30 and 80 grams might need to be treated by procedures such as a prostatic urethral lift, water vapor thermal therapy, or robotic waterjet treatments. Your urologist can recommend other procedures or combinations of treatments that might be best for a large prostate volume.

It might seem inevitable that you will get diagnosed with an enlarged prostate, especially since the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases says 50% of men over 51 and 90% of men over 80 will develop BPH. You're at a higher risk for BPH if you have a family history of it. A lack of exercise and medical conditions like obesity, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes also increase your risk of BPH.

Your current lifestyle can also affect your prostate health now and in the future, according to a 2022 article in Prostate International. The study looked at how certain lifestyle habits were associated with someone taking medication for BPH. Smoking is often associated with lung cancer and heart disease, but it's also significantly linked to an enlarged prostate. A light drink every once in a while might be fine, but excessive drinking could also affect your risk of BPH. Exercise not only helps to control obesity, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes but also boosts your prostate health. Exercise also can ease the urinary symptoms associated with BPH.

The Urology Care Foundation suggests adopting the same lifestyle habits associated with good heart health. That means keeping your blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol levels in check and shedding any excess weight.