Can an Enlarged Prostate Affect Bowel Movements

It’s well known that an enlarged prostate can press on the bladder and give men more of the urge to urinate. That’s only half of waste elimination, but it doesn’t make sense to think that any prostate is going to get so big it will impede the colon. Men need to be taking kids to the pool at least once a day just like anyone, but they may be dealing with BPH as they get to middle age. Excessive flatulence is one of the problems that can develop if a person is not able to pass the entirety of solid waste, and so can an enlarged prostate affect bowel movements? 

An enlarged prostate may not be muscling in on the colon, but it can put pressure on the rectum. This is the end of the line with the digestive tract, and it’s a part of the body people more commonly refer to as the chute. In these instances, it may be more difficult for the man to properly empty his bowels, and straining during bowel movements can increase the risk of hemorrhoids too. That’s the answer for can an enlarged prostate affect bowel movement. It can, and specifically with making it more difficult to have full bowel movements.  

This is part of the reason why BPH treatment is important, and anyone with benign prostate hyperplasia is going to have an enlarged prostate. Every man’s prostate gets bigger as he ages and for most of them it doesn’t get large enough to cause these problems. But if he has BPH then it will get that big. Needing to urinate much more often and / or urgently will be the first sign of the problem, but it can be that being able to have regular Number 2s is also compromised when a man has an enlarged prostate.  

Flowtime  

Continuing with can an enlarged prostate affect bowel movements we can now switch over to talking about what men can do to deal with an enlarged prostate. Plus promote easier bowel movements while they’re doing that. BPH is something that family physicians will see quite often in male patients over 40, and the standard course of treatment is always going to be with Rx medications like Flomax that are formulated to relax muscles in the prostate and bladder neck. It helps to reduce overactive bladder and the need to urinate at night, and that’s a big help for a lot of men.  

Sufferers can also make it easier to have easier and more complete bowel movements if they start adding psyllium husk fiber to their foods, or eating a bowl of All Bran cereal every day. The fiber will soften stools and make it so that more of them pass, even if an enlarged prostate is pressing against the chute. That’s all there is to say around can an enlarged prostate affect bowel movements, and men who start to suspect they have this condition are encouraged to see their doctor without delay.