Considering the Surgical Options for an Enlarged Prostate
You could always get surgery for BPH, but now you can get that surgery with a laser. At first pass, this seems pretty good, which is why I was so intrigued when I heard about it. With a TURP, which is the traditional surgical option, you can expect to be in the hospital for about 4 days, you can expect the swelling to mean you need a catheter, and you can expect pain. There are other less common side-effects, most of which are different kinds of sexual dysfunction. However, the surgery can also cause things like a frequent need to urinate, painful urination, or even blood in the urine, but these are supposed to go away in a couple of weeks.

The laser surgery seems to offer a better set of outcomes. First of all, it’s less invasive. They insert a laser tip through the urethra and laser the prostate from the inside. Once it’s burned off by the laser, the body just disposes harmlessly of the excess prostate tissue. Second, the side-effects are supposed to be less severe. I have found nothing that says to expect sexual problems, but apparently the laser surgery also results in a frequent need to urinate, burning feelings while urinating, and some blood in the urine, but I get the sense these are less severe than from a TURP.

But remember, this is still surgery. Just because it’s less invasive than a TURP, that doesn’t mean that it’s non-invasive. It’s still just a procedure to destroy the excess prostate tissue, it just enters the body through an existing opening rather than carve a new one. Of course, nobody wants a new opening carved into them if they can avoid it, but I still think it’s better to avoid any kind of surgery if we can.

The different clinics and articles which talk about laser prostate surgery manage to make some of the details about this surgery pretty confusing too. For example, an article featured on ABC’s Chicago affiliate says that there’s no swelling from the procedure, which means that most patients go home without a catheter. At the same time, laserscope.com, a site dedicated to promoting a brand of laser prostate surgery, tells patients that they may need a catheter depending on how much swelling they get. So the people selling the surgery say that there’s swelling and the journalist says there isn’t.

It’s also unclear how much anaesthetic and recovery are required. The University of Missouri Health Care website describes the recovery period as lasting only an hour, since the surgery only takes a local anaesthetic. But Laserlight is quite clear that their surgery takes a general anaesthetic, which means that you may need to spend the night and that you can expect to be groggy for a couple of days after. Either way, it’s probably no loss, since you aren’t allowed to move for 2 days and can’t resume strenuous activity (including sex) for 2 weeks.

All in all, I think that I'll avoid laser surgery the same as traditional surgery. There are other options, supplements in particular, which can actually control the prostate without cutting any away. Right now, I'm on Provelex and finding it very effective. It took a few days to notice the difference, but it works and instead of having to recover from surgery I feel great. Hope someone tells the surgeons before Provelex takes all their business away!