While most men today are told before they begin to show any symptoms of prostate cancer, it is important to know what to look for and which signs may point to an underlying prostate cancer.
Anyone concerned about themselves or a loved one developing prostate cancer should know the basics about the first symptoms that are typically seen.
What Are the Most Common Symptoms of Prostate Cancer?
Because of the prostate's location in the body, prostate cancer is often accompanied by a number of unique symptoms.
The prostate is located just below the bladder in the lower pelvis. As urine empties out of the bladder it travels through a thin tube called the urethra. At the very beginning of the urethra, just as it exits the bladder, it passes directly through the prostate. As the prostate enlarges due to cancer or another problem, the urethra is pinched tighter and tighter within the prostate. As the tube narrows, urine has a much harder time making its way through the urethra and out of the body.
This results in four primary urinary symptoms:
- Frequency - urinating much more often than normal.
- Urgency - having a sensation that you need to urinate immediately.
- Nocturia - getting up to urinate multiple times during the night.
- Hesitancy - difficulty starting the urine stream.
All of these symptoms are a direct result of the urethra being pinched closed by the enlarged prostate.
Prostate cancer is not the only disease that can cause the prostate to swell, however.
In fact, BPH (benign prostatic hyperplasia) is a much more common cause of an enlarged prostate and, thus, of urinary symptoms. BPH is not cancer, but is still an important condition that should be treated by a physician.
What Are Other Less Common Symptoms of Prostate Cancer?
The urinary symptoms discussed above are undoubtedly the most common symptoms experienced by men with prostate cancer.
However, they are not the only ones. Other less common symptoms include:
- Blood in the urine.
- Blood in the semen.
- New-onset erectile dysfunction (impotence).
- Bone pain (especially in the lower back, hips, or ribs).
- Loss of bladder control.
These symptoms are less specific to problems with the prostate (meaning that problems with other organs such as the bladder can also cause them). However, they are important symptoms of which to be aware.
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