Prostate massage is the massage or stimulation of the prostate gland for medical purposes or sexual stimulation.

The prostate participates in the sexual response cycle and is essential for the production of sperm. Due to its proximity to the anterior rectal wall, it can be stimulated from the anterior rectal wall or externally via the perineum.

Medical applications

Digital rectal examination
Prostate massage is part of the digital rectal examination (DRE) routinely given to men by urologists to look for prostate cancer nodules and to obtain an expressed prostatic secretion (EPS) specimen for microscopy and microbiologic culture to screen for prostatitis.

Therapy for prostatitis

In the late 1990s, a small number of physicians tried prostate massage in combination with antibiotics for the treatment of chronic bacterial prostatitis with uncertain results. However, recent studies have not shown that prostate massage improved outcomes compared to antibiotics alone. As a result of these findings, prostate massage is not now officially approved in medicine for the treatment of any medical condition. Prostate massage should never be performed on patients with acute prostatitis, as the infection can spread elsewhere in the body if massage is performed.

History

Once the most popular therapeutic maneuver used to treat prostatitis, it was abandoned as a primary therapy in the 1960s.

In the late 1990s, the ineffectiveness of drug treatments for chronic prostatitis led to a brief revival of interest in prostate massage. However, a recent study failed to demonstrate that prostate massage improved outcomes compared to antibiotics alone.

The practice is still used in some parts of China.

Risks

Vigorous prostate massage has been documented to have adverse effects: periprostatic bleeding, cellulitis, sepsis, possible disruption and metastasis of prostate cancer to other parts of the body, and hemorrhoidal flare-up and rectal fissures.

Electro-ejaculation

Electroejaculation is a procedure in which nerves are stimulated via an electrical probe, which is inserted into the rectum near the prostate. The stimulus voltage stimulates nearby nerves, resulting in contraction of the pelvic muscles and ejaculation. It is most commonly found in livestock farming to collect semen samples for testing or breeding. Some devices are used under general anesthesia in humans who have certain types of anejaculation. Electroejaculation can also be used for posthumous sperm collection in humans. Electroejaculation is a different procedure than manual prostate massage.