Painful or Frequent Urination in Men

Your symptoms could be caused by a prostate problem, although there could be other factors playing a role. For example, even a medication you've been taking for a while could cause trouble if your prostate has been enlarging over time.

Contact your doctor. You should have a medical evaluation.

If you have an enlarged prostate, there are a number of ways to handle the problem:

• Use the bathroom well before the situation becomes urgent. Give yourself enough time to empty the bladder completely.

• Don't drink fluids within a few hours of bedtime.

• Limit alcohol intake. The current recommendation for men is no more than two alcoholic beverages per day.

• Review your medications with your doctor, as diuretics, decongestants, certain antidepressants and many other drugs can worsen symptoms.

• Consider medication treatment -- although mild symptoms may need no treatment, review the available treatment options with your doctor, including tamsulosin (Flomax), alfuzosin (UroXatral), doxazosin (Cardura), terazosin (Hytrin), finasteride (Proscar) and dutasteride (Avodart).

• Consider surgery -- for severe symptoms, especially when medications do not work well, surgery may be recommended to remove prostate tissue.

You've completed this Decision Guide!

Would you like to learn more about causes of painful or frequent urination? Or, would you prefer to quit now?

Yes, I'd like to learn more.

I'm all set, time to quit.