Treatment Options

Helping Yourself

The severity and discomfort of symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) may be lessened by various lifestyle changes:

• Eat whole, fresh, unrefined, and unprocessed foods. Include fruits, vegetables, whole grains, soy, beans, seeds, nuts, olive oil, and cold-water fish (salmon, tuna, sardines, halibut, and mackerel). Eating organic food helps reduce exposure to hormones, pesticides, and herbicides.

• Decrease fluid intake, especially at dinnertime or before bedtime. This may help decrease the number of wake-up trips to the bathroom.

• Limit or avoid the consumption of alcohol and caffeine. These can increase urine production and worsen symptoms.

• Avoid common cold and allergy over-the-counter medications; talk to your doctor before taking any of these medications. These medications can cause the bands of muscles that control urine flow from your urethra to tighten, making urination more difficult.

• Perform pelvic floor exercises (called Kegel exercises) to help prevent urine leakage. The exercises are repetitive contractions of the muscles used to stop urinary flow. These exercises will strengthen the floor of the pelvis, which helps support the bladder and the bladder's opening. To learn how to perform Kegel exercises, go to www.urologychannel.com/education.

• Schedule your bathroom breaks every 4 to 6 hours throughout the day. This will help to ?retrain? the muscles of the bladder, and can be very useful in patients with severe frequency and urgency.

• Empty your bladder by trying to urinate all that you can each time you go to the bathroom. For some men, sitting on the toilet is more effective than standing.

• Stay active or exercise. Inactivity can lead to urinary retention, so even the smallest amount of exercise may improve the symptoms of BPH.

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Note: The above information is intended to supplement, not substitute for, the expertise and judgment of your physician, pharmacist, or other healthcare professional. It is not intended to diagnose a health condition, but it can be used as a guide to help you decide if you should seek professional treatment or to help you learn more about your condition once it has been diagnosed.