Many men are familiar with the common annoying symptoms caused by benign prostate enlargement. These symptoms include a slowing stream, urinary frequency, urgency, hesitancy, intermittency, sleep interruption and a feeling of incomplete emptying despite pushing. Years ago, the only treatment of prostate enlargement was surgical. Over the past 20 years, medical treatment has come into vogue using two different types of medications. One type shrinks the glandular portion of the prostate; the other relaxes the muscular tissue of the prostate. The result is to effectively relieve the symptoms and make them more tolerable. However, the medicines don’t always work and they may lose their initial effectiveness. Furthermore, there are many possible adverse side effects associated with using these drugs, including erectile and ejaculatory dysfunction as well as painful breast swelling, allergic reactions, drug interactions, and the never ending expense and bother of a lifetime of buying drugs, making it intolerable for many men to continue treatment. For these patients, the choice then becomes whether to return to a surgical approach or choose the new ultra-modern non-surgical, safe and easily tolerated in-office, TherMatrx microwave thermo-therapy.
Compare; surgery is a one way road; once prostate tissue has been removed or destroyed, it cannot be replaced. TherMatrx on the other hand, involves no cutting or removal of tissue. This fully FDA approved Microwave technique is a safe and comfortable procedure, easily performed during a pleasant 30-minute period in the office. Prostate surgery on the other hand involves increased risk and requires hospitalization with anesthesia and the wearing of an uncomfortable Foley catheter. However, microwave thermal treatment is a safe, minimally invasive, in-office 30-minute procedure where patients are sent home from the office without having to wear a catheter. Symptoms of the enlarged prostate diminish within a few weeks following treatment and the improvement continues over he next few weeks or months. Just like surgery, microwave thermal therapy does not work for every patient. The overall success rate runs from 80 percent to 90 percent. Although the beneficial results are usually quite durable, lasting for many years, occasionally both surgical treatments and microwave thermal therapy may require repeated treatments. The end result is usually very satisfactory. Patients who are in poor medical condition and unable to tolerate the risk of surgery and/or anesthesia may be excellent candidates for microwave thermal therapy. Even patients on anticoagulant therapy, whose doctors are not willing to risk stopping their anticoagulation are easily handled using TherMatrx. Patients should remember that LASER, TURP and many other variations on the surgical theme are still all surgery and carry the risks of surgery and anesthesia. So if you are suffering the intolerable symptoms of prostatic obstruction and have not found success with the medications available for relief, before going down that one way surgical road, consider a much simpler safer alternative, TherMatrx microwave thermotherapy.
Have a Question? Call Dr. Okun at 718-241-6767
