Every Chinese New Year marks a challenging time for the prostate. During the holiday, men often indulge their bodies after a year of hard work—drinking, playing mahjong, and surfing the internet all place heavy burdens on the prostate.
While festive gatherings inevitably involve drinking, the prostate suffers as a result. In previous years, post-holiday visits for prostatitis surged by 20-30% compared to normal times, primarily due to excessive alcohol consumption during the holiday period.Professor Sun Zixue from the Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine Reproductive Center at Henan Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine notes that he frequently encounters patients who drank heavily during the holidays only to seek treatment for urinary difficulties afterward. Some are young men who, suffering from the discomfort of holding their urine, worry they might have kidney problems when they come in for help."When alcohol enters the body, it is rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream. Under this stimulation, the prostate's capillaries dilate and become congested, causing cellular edema and gradual enlargement." During the Spring Festival, many people attend consecutive banquets and consume large amounts of alcohol. As a result, the prostate gradually becomes "intoxicated" and increasingly "swollen," eventually occupying space in the urethra and causing symptoms like a split or weakened urine stream.The swollen prostate can also compress and stretch the nerve endings surrounding it, causing a heavy, aching sensation in the lower abdomen and perineum, as well as testicular pain. If a man already has prostatitis or benign prostatic hyperplasia, he is more likely to experience frequent urination, urgency, lower back pain, fatigue, and even difficulty urinating.While a person recovers from intoxication within hours, the prostate remains "intoxicated" as long as the leaked tissue fluid persists. Experts note that it typically takes three to five days for the prostate to "sober up." Consequently, many individuals experience persistent urinary difficulties long after their hangover subsides, with some enduring months of discomfort.