How Does PlasmaButton™ Vaporization Treat Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia?

You’re up and down throughout the night, making sleepy trips to the bathroom to urinate. Or, maybe urinary incontinence has taken hold thanks to an enlarged prostate.

About 1 in 4 men develops symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) by the age of 55, and this number jumps to half by the age of 75. All told, BPH affects the quality of life of one-third of men over the age of 50.

If you have BPH symptoms that continue to worsen despite conservative efforts to manage the condition, it might be time to explore a more aggressive and long-lasting approach, namely the PlasmaButton® procedure, which Dr. Robert J. Cornell offers here at our urology practice.

Why BPH symptoms get worse

If you’re reading this blog post, the odds are good that you know a little bit about BPH. Still, it’s worth reviewing this common men’s health condition, as it sets the stage for why the PlasmaButton procedure is so effective.

Your prostate gland encircles your urethra, right where it meets your bladder. This gland is primarily responsible for producing semen. When you pass through puberty, your prostate goes through a growth spurt, but as you enter adulthood, the small gland can continue to grow, albeit more slowly than its initial growth spurt.

Over time, this continued growth can start to interfere with your urethra and bladder and lead to symptoms such as:

• Increased urination
• Needing to urinate throughout the night
• Urinary urgency
• Difficulty initiating urination
• Urinary incontinence
• Pain during urination

And once BPH symptoms start, they’re likely only going to get worse as the prostate enlargement continues as you age. The one bright spot with BPH is that it has nothing to do with prostate cancer, hence the term benign.

Making more room with the PlasmaButton

Since an enlarged prostate that’s interfering with your ability to urinate normally is at the heart of symptomatic BPH, finding ways to remove excess prostate tissue is the best answer. While this may seem like an easy task, it’s a little trickier in practice since we have to take great care to preserve your urinary tract while getting rid of prostate tissues that are blocking the way.

At our practice, Dr. Cornell is a leading expert in treating BPH, and he has done his homework when it comes to effective procedures for BPH. We’ve found great success with the PlasmaButton.

As the name suggests, we use plasma energy to remove obstructive tissue around your urethra. The PlasmaButton delivers low-temperature energy that vaporizes the excess prostatic tissue, essentially creating a wider margin between the gland and your urinary tract.

There are several advantages to using the PlasmaButton, including:

• Often performed on an outpatient basis
• Great precision and accuracy
• Less thermal heating in surrounding prostate tissues
• Only takes about an hour
• Shorter catheterization time afterward
• Long-lasting results

And after the PlasmaButton procedure, many of our patients report that they’re back to their usual activities quickly, and they can also discontinue their BPH medications.

So, if your BPH has come to the point where your quality of life is suffering, it’s a good idea to come in and explore your treatment options, including the innovative PlasmaButton vaporization procedure.

To get that ball rolling, simply contact our office in Houston, Texas, to schedule an appointment with Dr. Cornell.