Many men get nervous when talking about a male prostate exam and will not go to the doctor to take the necessary precautions to diagnose cancer early. The reason that they get nervous when going for a prostate exam is that another name for the exam is a rectal exam. When a man is over forty years of age, he should be getting prostate exam every year to make sure everything is still doing well with his prostate. When there are abnormalities, the man will need to get a more in depth exam so that the abnormalities can be checked to see if it is cancer. When the exam is done every year, if cancer develops during the year's interim, then it is usually still in the beginning stages so that it can be treated and cured rather than finding it when it is in the advanced stages.

What to Expect

The prostate exam is done by either a primary care physician or a specialist like a urologist. The exam is done by the physician who uses his finger to feel for any abnormalities in the body. The reason that the exam is done through the rectum is that the walls of the rectum are thin so that the prostate can be felt through the walls. The prostate has two lobes on it that are symmetrical in a healthy prostate. When the doctor feels for the prostate in the exam, he is checking to make sure that the lobes of the prostate are smooth and symmetrical and that both lobes should feel approximately the same.

If there are any abnormalities on the lobes then there may be a problem with the prostate. The prostate exam on a yearly basis is the best way to check for these abnormalities so that any problems can be found quickly and treated. In some cases, the abnormalities are from a surgery or an infection in the area rather than being cancer. These abnormalities are felt as nodules which make the prostate rough rather than having a smooth lobe.

If there is an abnormal area that is found it any of the lobes of the prostate during the exam, the doctor will need to run additional tests to see if the abnormalities are cancer or some other type of problem. PSA blood tests are usually the next step in the evaluation process after a prostate exam to see what the precise issues are in the prostate. These blood tests can help to detect cancer very quickly, especially in those areas where the prostate cannot be felt, such as on the back side.