| Posted September 26, 2014 | By Joel Locke, M.D. | Categorized under Men's Health, Women's Health |

There are multiple urology irregularities that can plague us as we age, but what many people may not know is that most of them can be fixed, and in many cases with a minimally invasive procedure.

Having something like incontinence can be embarrassing and life altering, but I see this condition a lot in my practice and in most cases, it's an easy fix, so there's no need to try to live with it.

Other issues ranging from overactive bladder syndrome and kidney stones to enlarged prostate and even prostate cancer, in many cases if caught early enough, can be fixed.

Rolling stones

Stone disease, also known as kidney stones, is such a common problem. We live in the "stone belt" because of the high incidences of stone disease. Everything from the cold winter and hot summers to relative dehydration and inactivity can contribute to these small stones forming in the kidneys.

Symptoms of stones include blood in the urine, a recurring urinary tract infection and acute sudden onset of severe pain.

Most stones are treated surgically, but some can pass spontaneously, which can be extremely painful. With the minimally invasive surgery we are able to do now, we can surgically remove the stones and have you in and out the same day and back to normal activity within 24 hours.

Overactive Bladder

Overactive Bladder Syndrome causes a sudden urge to void. You experience abnormal frequency and urgency throughout the day and at night. OBS isn't always associated with a urinary tract infection, which is a common suspicion among patients.

Incontinence

Incontinence is another common problem that is more widely prevalent than you might think. Women experience it more than men and it can be associated with running or even sneezing. But this is something that is totally manageable. We can do everything from exercises to surgery to fix the problem. We have multiple new surgery modalities to help us manage urge urinary incontinence. This again can be an easy day surgery process. 

BPH

Benign prostatic hyperplasia, or BPH, is another issue that can have a simple solution. BPH is a natural enlargement of the prostate that happens in all men as they age. It creates symptoms of bladder outlet obstruction so men will feel hesitancy with urination, slow stream or double voiding. It can be corrected with medication or surgery.

BPH is not a precursor to cancer and doesn't increase your risk of getting cancer, but there is no need to live with it when it's easily treatable.

We are able to treat this with medication. If a patient fails on medication, there are minimally invasive surgical procedures we can do that, again, can get you back to your daily routine in less than a week. In some cases there are in-office procedures we can do, but that is dictated by the size and nature of the obstruction.

Prostate cancer

People ask me all the time what the early warning signs are for prostate cancer and I hate to tell you that there are none. That's the dilemma. In the early, curative phases, it is essentially asymptomatic. By the time you have symptoms of prostate cancer, such as pain, difficulty urinating or sexual dysfunction, it has advanced beyond the curative phase and at that point we are only able to treat the symptoms.

That's why screening for prostate cancer has become so important, so we can find it early when it's still curable. The PSA test that we use to screen for cancer has become somewhat controversial recently, but there is good data to show that screening is beneficial for men.