Prostate health maintenance methods

There is no universal formula for prostate care. There are only three core underlying logics—avoiding long-term oppression of the gland, maintaining normal gland metabolism, and conducting regular targeted screenings. All the effective methods spread online are essentially an extension of these three points. There is no magic formula that “one size fits all.” The specific choice depends on your own living habits and physical condition.

A while ago, I saw a 28-year-old Internet programmer. He worked on a project and sat for more than 12 hours a day for three consecutive months. He used to hold it in until the bug on his hand ran away before going to the toilet. Finally, he suffered an acute prostatitis attack that made him unable to straighten his back. The first thing he asked when he came was: Whether he needs surgery or whether he can have children in the future, in fact, he fell into the most common pitfall of "long-term oppression + holding in urine to the point of metabolic disorder". He didn't even prescribe too many medicines, just asked him to go back and change the cushion, stop sitting for too long, and don't hold in urine, and he recovered within a week.

Talking about the issue of oppression, there is actually quite a controversy online about prolonged sitting. One group says that you must stand up and walk for 5 minutes every 40 minutes. The other group says that as long as the posture is suitable for sitting for a long time, it will be fine. Among the patients I have come into contact with, the latter basically use an adapted ergonomic chair. The legs are completely flat, the waist is supported, and the prostate is just suspended in the air without touching the chair surface. If you are sitting on a hard bench or an ordinary office chair, and your whole body is nestled in it, the prostate is just stuck between the chair surface and the pelvis and is severely compressed. Sitting for half an hour will cause more damage than sitting for two hours. Oh, and cyclists should pay attention. Those narrow and hard mountain bike saddles are really harmful. I once saw a cyclist who rode 20 kilometers three times a week. The pain was so bad that he urinated blood and came to the doctor. Exercise is really not a good thing. Wrong exercise methods will put a burden on the glands.

Many people ask whether they can take a sitz bath. This also depends on the group of people, and there is no unified answer. For middle-aged and elderly friends who no longer need to have children, they usually have the discomfort of lower abdominal distension. Taking a sitz bath with warm water of about 40 degrees for 10 minutes can indeed promote local blood circulation and relieve the discomfort of congestion. ； But young men who have not yet given birth to children should not join in the fun. The testicles are afraid of high temperatures, and long-term sitz bathing will affect the quality of sperm, which is not worth the gain. There is also the "prostate massage detoxification" that is so popular on the Internet. Let me say one more thing. Prostate massage in regular hospitals is used to collect fluid for examination, or to assist patients with chronic prostatitis to drain accumulated prostate fluid. If you massage it randomly at home, in the wrong position and with the wrong intensity, it is easy to damage the gland and cause edema, which will aggravate the problem. If you really need to see a doctor, don't do it yourself.

In addition to not stressing it blindly, it is also important to ensure its normal metabolism. Let’s talk about the most controversial lycopene. Some people say it is a miracle drug for protecting the glands, while others say it is a pure IQ tax. Objectively speaking, current clinical studies have indeed confirmed that lycopene has antioxidant effects and can reduce the risk of prostate hyperplasia, but you have to eat enough - Lin The effective dose in the bed experiment is equivalent to eating more than ten kilograms of raw tomatoes a day. It is really not as practical as taking purified supplements directly. Of course, if you usually like to eat tomatoes with scrambled eggs or tomatoes mixed with sugar, there is no harm in eating more. Don't expect that you can cure your disease with just two bites.

When drinking water, don’t stick to the “8 glasses of water a day” rule. If you sweat a lot in summer, it’s okay to drink two more glasses. In winter, you already urinate more. Drinking too much will increase the burden of urination. The key is not to hold in your urine. Go and urinate when you feel the urge to urinate. Don’t wait until you can’t hold it anymore before moving. Urine refluxes into the prostate, which can easily cause inflammation. There is also the issue of the frequency of sexual life, which is more controversial. Some people say that abstinence is needed to nourish the glands, while others say that ejaculation should be regular. In fact, the mainstream clinical view is that as long as you do not have backache or discomfort in the lower abdomen after sex, it is fine once or three times a week. I am afraid of two extremes: either not ejaculating for more than half a month, causing prostate fluid to accumulate and block, or too frequently in a short period of time, and the glands are repeatedly congested, which is prone to problems. Oh, by the way, drink less alcohol and eat less spicy food. This doesn’t mean you can’t touch it at all. Last time, a young man drank a pound of white wine the day before and couldn’t urinate the next day, so he had a urinary catheter inserted. This is not an alarmist. If you eat too much irritating food, your glands will easily become congested and edematous, and you will suffer.

Finally, when it comes to screening, this is the most easily overlooked point. Last year, there was a 52-year-old uncle who didn't feel any discomfort at all. The physical examination at work showed that the PSA (prostate-specific antigen, the core indicator for screening for prostate cancer) was high. A further puncture was performed and it was confirmed that it was early-stage prostate cancer. After the surgery, he has no problems now. If he delayed the examination until he had symptoms of difficulty urinating and blood in the urine, he would probably be in the middle and late stages. Let me also mention the differences between different guidelines: The American Urological Association recommends that people over the age of 55 have their PSA checked every year. The domestic guideline is that those with a family history should start checking at the age of 50, and those without a family history should check it every year at the age of 55. Don’t think that you don’t need to check if you don’t usually have symptoms. In the early stages of prostate cancer, you really don’t feel it at all.

Harmful, in fact, the prostate is a very "delicate" but not pretentious organ. There are not so many bells and whistles about its maintenance. Just follow its temper. Don't make up nonsense. Don't believe in those "aphrodisiacs to protect the gland" and "acupoint massage to radically cure hyperplasia". If you really feel uncomfortable, go to the urology department of a regular hospital. Don't frighten yourself by searching blindly. Nine times out of ten, the problems are caused by bad habits. If you change them, you will be fine.

Oh, yes, I have been sitting in the clinic all morning. I specially put a prostate cushion with a hollow in the middle. It is a bit ugly, but it can really relieve the pressure. I usually make some light green tea and drink it when I have nothing to do. It is better than drinking iced milk tea. I personally tested it and it works.