Benign prostate enlargement : Treatment


The main treatments are:

  • lifestyle changes
  • medication
  • catheters
  • surgery and other procedures

Lifestyle changes


Drink fewer fizzy drinks and less alcohol, caffeine and artificial sweeteners

Fizzy drinks and drinks that contain alcohol, caffeine (like tea, coffee or cola) and artificial sweeteners can irritate the bladder and make urinary symptoms worse. 

Drinking less in the evening


Remember to empty your bladder

Remember to go to the toilet before long journeys or when you know you won't be able to reach a toilet easily.

Double voiding


Checking your medicines

Check with your doctor whether any medicines you take, such as antidepressants or decongestants, may be making your urinary symptoms worse.

Eating more fruit and fibre

Eating more fruit and fibre will help you avoid constipation, which can put pressure on the bladder and worsen symptoms of an enlarged prostate.

Using pads or a sheath



Bladder training

Bladder training is an exercise programme that aims to help you go for longer without peeing and hold more pee in your bladder.


It's a good idea to use a bladder training chart (PDF, 115kb), which allows you to record each time you pass urine and the volume of urine passed – you'll need a plastic jug to measure this. Your doctor should give you a chart to take home.


Over time your target time will be increased, and at the end of the programme you should find you're able to go for longer without peeing.


Top of Page


If lifestyle changes don't help or aren't suitable for you, you may be offered medicine.


Alpha blockers relax the muscle in the prostate gland and at the base of the bladder, making it easier to pass urine. Commonly used alpha-blockers are tamsulosin and alfuzosin.


Anticholinergics relax the bladder muscle if it's overactive.

5-alpha reductase inhibitors



Diuretics speed up urine production. If taken during the day, they reduce the amount of urine produced overnight.



Alternative treatments

Your doctor shouldn't offer you homeopathy, herbal treatments or acupuncture to treat urinary symptoms.

This is because there isn't enough reliable evidence about how well they work or how safe they are.


Top of Page



A catheter is a soft tube that carries urine out of the body from the bladder. It can be passed through your penis, or through a small hole made in your tummy above the pubic bone.


Top of Page

Surgery and other procedures

Most men with urinary symptoms don't need to have surgery, but it may be an option if other treatments haven't worked.

Transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP)


Open prostatectomy


Prostatic urethral lift (PUL) implants

A surgeon inserts implants that hold the enlarged prostate away from the urethra so it isn't blocked. This helps to relieve symptoms like pain or difficulty when peeing.



Prostate artery embolisation



Potential benefits of prostate artery embolisation compared with surgery are fewer complications and you can have the procedure under local anaesthetic as an outpatient.

Botulinum toxin

This procedure involves injections of botulinum toxin into the walls of the bladder. It may help men whose bladder muscle contracts before the bladder fills.

Implanted sacral nerve root stimulation


Urinary diversion


This method is suitable for men whose symptoms can't be managed by self-management and medicine, and who can't have – or don't want – cystoplasty or sacral nerve root stimulation.

Water ablation

Water ablation is a new treatment for prostate enlargement. There are 2 types of water ablation procedure. In the first, water is directly injected into the prostate using a probe passed up the urethra. The pressure of the water is then used to destroy some of the prostate tissue, making it smaller.


Water ablation is probably less likely than a TURP to cause side effects.

But not all NHS surgeons are currently trained to carry out the procedures. So access to these procedures may be limited and waiting lists for them may be longer than for other surgical options.

Go back to the top of this page