What is UroLift?
UroLift is a prostatic urethral lift: under cystoscopic guidance, your urologist deploys small permanent implants across the lobes of the enlarged prostate. Each implant compresses the tissue outward and holds the urethra open. Nothing is cut, heated, or removed — the obstruction is simply retracted out of the way.
Because no tissue is destroyed, there's no healing cavity and no prolonged irritation phase. Most men go home without a catheter and feel noticeable improvement within two weeks — among the fastest symptom relief of any BPH procedure.
Who is a good candidate?
UroLift suits men with mild-to-moderate BPH and prostates under roughly 80–100 grams who put a premium on rapid recovery and zero sexual side effects. It is the only leading BPH procedure shown in clinical studies to cause no new erectile or ejaculatory dysfunction. Men with a large obstructing median lobe need individualized assessment — newer techniques can treat some median lobes, and we'll tell you plainly if yours isn't a fit.
The procedure and recovery
The procedure takes ten to twenty minutes under local anesthesia. Typically four to six implants are placed, depending on prostate length. Expect some burning, urgency, and light blood in the urine for a week or so; most men return to normal activity within days.
The implants are permanent but the procedure doesn't burn bridges: if your prostate keeps growing over the years, every other treatment — including PAE, Rezūm, or TURP — remains available.
What are the trade-offs?
Honesty matters here: because UroLift retracts tissue rather than removing or shrinking it, re-treatment rates over five years run higher than with tissue-ablating procedures — roughly 13–14% in published studies. The implants are also MRI-conditional, which we document for your records. For the right anatomy, the speed of relief and the untouched sexual function are hard to beat; for larger glands, a shrinking treatment usually serves better.
UroLift vs. PAE — the head-to-head
You asked the right question — here is the same comparison we draw on the whiteboard in our consultation room, line by line.
| UroLift | PAE | |
|---|---|---|
| What it does to the gland | Holds it open — tissue untouched | Shrinks it at the source |
| Permanent implant | Yes — 4–6 metal implants | None — only the medicine |
| Route into the body | Instrument through the urethra | Tiny groin access — urethra untouched |
| Prostate size treated | Under ~80–100 g | Virtually any size |
| Re-treatment at 5 years | ~13–14% | Lower — durable shrinkage |
| Sexual function | Preserved | Preserved |
Our verdict: UroLift's speed of relief is real — but it leaves permanent hardware in your body, can't touch larger glands, and retracts tissue that keeps growing. PAE shrinks the prostate itself, leaves nothing behind, and works at any size. If you're choosing between a brace and a cure-level reduction, we think the choice is clear.