Condition

Prostate exam

Frequent urination, especially at night, a weaker stream, a feeling that the bladder is not empty, or a raised PSA in your blood. Here is what a prostate exam with a urologist looks like, what the ultrasound shows and what it costs.

Why does the prostate cause trouble with age?

The prostate is a gland below the bladder; the urethra passes through it. After forty, in most men it slowly grows. This is not a disease but part of ageing, yet an enlarged prostate presses on the urethra, so the bladder empties more slowly. That is why you urinate more often, the stream is weaker and you get up once or more during the night.

The same symptoms can have another cause: prostate inflammation, a narrowing of the urethra, a stone or changes in the bladder. Less often the cause is prostate cancer, which at first usually gives no symptoms at all. So the symptoms alone cannot tell what it is; the exam does.

When to come for an exam?

• You get up at night to urinate several times, and you did not before.
• The stream is weaker, urination starts slowly or stops and starts.
• After urinating you feel the bladder is not empty.
• Your blood test shows a raised PSA, or one that rises from year to year.
• You are over 50 and have never had a prostate exam. If a close relative had prostate cancer, the exam is recommended earlier, at around 45.

Go straight to the emergency department if you cannot urinate and your bladder is full and painful. That is urinary retention and it is relieved with a catheter the same day. After that, catheter changes can be done at the clinic.

What does a prostate exam look like?

The exam has two parts. First a conversation: what the symptoms are, how long they have lasted, which medicines you take and whether anyone in your family has had prostate disease. If you have a PSA result, bring it; if not, blood can be drawn at the clinic and sent to the laboratory.

Then the clinical exam. The prostate is examined with a finger through the rectum. It takes a few seconds and is uncomfortable, but it does not hurt; this is how the urologist feels the size, firmness and whether the surface is smooth. No special preparation is needed.

Depending on the findings, an ultrasound through the abdomen is done right away, in the same visit: it shows the size of the prostate, how much urine remains in the bladder after urinating, and the kidneys and bladder. The ultrasound cannot be felt. When the urethra and bladder need to be looked at from the inside, a urethrocystoscopy is done under local anaesthesia; that is arranged as a separate appointment.

You receive the findings at the exam, with an explanation of what they mean and what the next step is.

What can be done?

In most men an enlarged prostate is monitored and, when the symptoms are bothersome, treated with medicines that relax the urethra or slow the growth of the prostate. The urologist prescribes the treatment at the exam and follows how it works; check-ups are done at the clinic, every three months to once a year, depending on the findings.

Prostate inflammation is treated with medicines according to the findings. Surgery for an enlarged prostate and a biopsy when cancer is suspected are done in hospital; if the findings point that way, you are told where to go next and with which results, so that no time is lost.

Exams are paid privately; no referral is needed and the appointment is arranged directly. Prices are valid for 2026.

Specialist and team

Exams, diagnostics and urological procedures are led by a specialist in urology. Speciality: urology — exams, diagnostics and procedures. The exam and the ultrasound are done by the same doctor, in the same visit.

Frequently asked questions

How long does a prostate exam take? On average 20 to 30 minutes including the ultrasound. The conversation takes longer than the exam itself.

Does the finger exam hurt? No. It takes a few seconds and is uncomfortable, but it does not hurt. The ultrasound through the abdomen cannot be felt.

Do I need to prepare? No. For the ultrasound it helps if the bladder is moderately full, so drink a glass or two of water half an hour before the exam and do not urinate just before it.

What does a raised PSA mean? PSA is a protein the prostate releases into the blood. It rises with an enlarged prostate, with inflammation, after cycling or intercourse, not only with cancer. One raised result is not a diagnosis; the urologist interprets it together with the exam, the ultrasound and earlier values. If you already have a PSA result, bring it; if not, blood can be drawn at the clinic.

Can the ultrasound replace the finger exam? No. The ultrasound shows the size and the bladder, while the finger feels firmness and irregularities that an ultrasound through the abdomen cannot see. That is why they go together.

Do you do prostate surgery? No. The exam, ultrasound, monitoring and treatment with medicines are done at the clinic; surgery and biopsy are done in hospital, and from us you receive the findings and directions on where to go next.

Do I need a referral? No. The exam is paid privately and booked directly, without a referral and without waiting for your family doctor.

How often do I come for a check-up? The urologist sets the interval according to the findings: three months, six months or a year. Check-ups are done at the clinic.

How to choose a clinic and a doctor?

• The exam is led by a specialist in urology, not a doctor of another speciality.
• The ultrasound is done at the same exam, not at a second appointment.
• The price is published and you know what it includes.
• You receive the findings immediately, with an explanation.
• If a procedure the clinic does not perform is needed, you are told so openly and directed further.

Medical review: doctors of Poliklinika Barbel · October 2026.