CONSULTANT urologist Wasim Mahmalji has become the first surgeon in the county to perform a procedure called Rezum.

It came as Nuffield Health Hereford Hospital announced a new treatment for prostate enlargement, also known as Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH).

Rezum uses water vapour to treat extra prostate tissue, which affects around 50% of men over the age of 50, 70% of those over 70, and up to 90% of men over 80.

Mr Mahmalji said: “Benign enlargement of the prostate is very common as men age, and it is often associated with a reduced urinary stream, frequent or urgent visits to the toilet and a feeling of incomplete emptying.

“These symptoms occur as the results of enlargement of the prostate, which narrows the prostatic urethra – the pipe that allows urine to be expelled.”

The treatment takes just five minutes. It applies radiofrequency energy to a few drops of water to create vapour and injects a small amount of steam into the prostate.

This leads to shrinkage of the prostate, which can relieve men of urinary symptoms.