Are you one of the thousands of male patients who are experiencing the symptoms of prostate illness or have high PSA scores? Have you been recommended by your physician for biopsy yet still undecided whether or not you would go for it?
Well, this dilemma will always haunt you and the best way to work on it is to get to know more about the prostate biopsy procedure, and what goes with it. Your possible questions and their respective answers may be:
What is prostate biopsy? It is a test done to establish whether cancerous cells are present in the prostate.
How is it done? It is basically done by inserting a device into the rectum and a needle is shot through the thin lining that separates the colon and the prostate. The prostate is perforated or cut to obtain sample tissue for examination by the pathologist for possible presence of cancer cells.
Is it a painful procedure? Definitely it is. It is common for biopsies to involve 20 or more shots, each of whom is very painful. Local anesthesia may be inadequate to put off the pain so general or regional anesthesia is commonly used to maximize pain tolerance.
Are there potential risks associated with prostate biopsy?Yes, it being an invasive test, there are. One is the risk of spreading cancer cells. The tumor may need to be cut several times to get the adequate amount of tissue for screening. This repeated penetration is believed to cause cancer cells to spread into the path formed by the needle, or spill cancerous cells directly into the bloodstream. Second is it may lead to extremely painful and long-lasting infection which results from the damage done to prostate ducts every time the needle goes in. This can inflame an existing infection causing more damage to the prostate.
Side effects? Those who have had biopsy claim of decreased ejaculation, rising PSA scores, or even difficulty with erections or impotency. Even if they got a zero PSA readings after the biopsy, patients are still at risk of having these complications.
What if you decide against biopsy, are there alternatives to it? Yes, instead of going through this invasive, painful, and damaging procedure, you can start improving the health of your prostate by changing your diet to a most appropriate one (cutting on food with much of animal fats), changing your lifestyle to a prostate-healthy one, and taking on appropriate natural supplements available for shrinking the prostate.
Going for biopsy or not? Well, the decision would still lie on you. Good luck then!
