The prostate gland is a walnut-sized organ that sits just below the bladder and wraps around the urethra – the tube by which urine leaves the body.

As men age, their prostate can expand and pinch the urethra, a condition known as benign prostatic hyperplasia, or BPH. The condition can make it difficult to urinate or cause men to urinate frequently.

“When you think your life is revolving around a restroom, that’s a reason to seek care,” says Dr. Lauren Cooley, a urologist and urological oncology specialist at Tidelands Health Urology.

BPH is not the same as prostate cancer, and it doesn’t increase the risk of developing prostate cancer. But if left untreated, it can lead to problems such as bladder stones and urinary tract infections, which can escalate into a larger problem.

“The issue is that the bladder itself starts accumulating damage over time,” Dr. Cooley says.

Straining to push urine through a swollen prostate can damage the muscles of the bladder. It can also cause urine to back up into the kidneys, leading to kidney failure over time.

“It’s just like plumbing – if you have a clog in a pipe and you’re having to push against it, everything upstream is at risk of being damaged,” Dr. Cooley says.

The goal, Dr. Cooley says, is to tackle the problem before the situation becomes dire.

BPH is common. Half of men have symptoms by the age of 60, and 90 percent have it by the age of 85. For most men, the condition is primarily a quality-of-life issue.

“However, if the symptoms are ignored for too long, men may present unable to urinate at all,” Dr. Cooley says.

Treating BPH can range from medications that relax the prostate to surgical procedures designed to remove prostate tissue or widen the urethra where it passes through the prostate.

When it comes to BPH, men need to remember two words from Dr. Cooley: “It’s treatable.”