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Getting ready for prostate tests: why, the exam and the PSA, a biopsy, and after
For anyone with a prostate who has prostate tests coming up, was told a PSA number was high, or was sent for a biopsy. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK, part of the NIH) says prostate tests can show if your prostate is enlarged, if it is causing bladder problems, or if there are signs of cancer. This page passes on, by name, what NIDDK says: why the tests are done and what comes first; the digital rectal exam; the PSA blood test, and why it can be hard to read; the prostate health index; the kinds of biopsy; the other tests; how to get ready; and what is normal after, the results, the risks, and when to call right away. It builds the words to say and the questions to ask, and prints a card for the fridge.
Right now
- Trouble breathing, chest pain, or fainting? Call 911 (ours).
- After a prostate test: severe discomfort, pain when urinating, cloudy urine, you cannot urinate, blood in your urine or ejaculate or from the rectum, or a fever or chills? NIDDK says call or see a health care professional right away. If you cannot pee at all and cannot reach your team, go to the emergency room (ours).
- Having a biopsy and you take a blood thinner or any daily medicine? Tell whoever does the biopsy, and ask the doctor who prescribed it. Do not stop or change a prescribed medicine on your own (ours).
- Scared of what the results may say, or thinking of ending your life? Call or text 988, any hour (ours).
More help
- The kidneys, bladder and prostate, on this site: Enlarged prostate · Getting ready for urodynamic testing · Getting ready for a cystoscopy or ureteroscopy · Bladder infection (UTI) · Blood in the urine · Kidneys, bladder and urine: find the right page.
- If the word is cancer: When the doctor says cancer.
- Getting ready: Symptom diary · My medicines list · Get ready for your appointment · Rides to care.
- Care and costs: When you need a doctor and can’t pay · Medical bills.
- In a crisis: Help right now (988, 911). All our free tools.
Kidneys, bladder or urine, and not sure this is the right page? The pages on this site for bladder infections, kidney stones, blood in the urine, bladder pain, bladder leaks, the prostate, kidney disease and bedwetting, on one list.
This page and its wording were written with AI (Claude) for Scarlet Beast (our AI policy). No doctor or nurse has reviewed it. The facts were read on October 17, 2026 on NIDDK’s Prostate Tests page (NIH) and its Spanish version, both last reviewed in March 2023 and saying the same things; the cards also point to NIDDK’s Urodynamic Testing, Cystoscopy & Ureteroscopy and Bladder Infection (UTI) in Adults pages. NIDDK speaks of “males”; we say “anyone with a prostate”. The numbers (a rectal exam from age 50, for some from 40; the PSA test may be recommended to consider from 55 to 69, and is not usually recommended from 70; the two extra blood tests of the prostate health index if the PSA score is between 4 and 10; two to three glasses of water about an hour before some ultrasounds or urodynamic tests; results in several days to weeks) are NIDDK’s. Ours: 911 for trouble breathing, chest pain, or fainting; the emergency room if you cannot pee at all and cannot reach your team; telling the team every medicine you take, blood thinners above all, before a biopsy, and never stopping one on your own; asking which tests and why; asking what a PSA number means for you and whether to repeat it; asking which kind of biopsy; asking who gives the results; that it is fine to say an exam makes you nervous; the card; 988 when it is too much; health centers when money is tight; and the order of the steps. What we left out: medicine names, doses, cancer treatment, NIDDK’s two journal references, and clinical pages for providers. This page saves nothing and loads no trackers.