Private Prostate and Bladder Ultrasound Scan in London

A private prostate and bladder ultrasound scan at London Private Ultrasound is £219, all-inclusive, at both our Central London and St Albans clinics. That covers the appointment, every measurement (prostate volume, bladder assessment and post-void residual), your findings explained on the day, a written report with images within 24 hours and a referral letter to your GP or a urologist if a finding needs investigating.

Across the UK, private prostate ultrasound generally runs from around £150 to £400 at self-pay clinics, and from about £450 for consultant-led scans in the Harley Street area. When you compare prices, check whether bladder assessment, post-void residual measurement and a written report are included. Adding PSA, urine testing and a GP review takes it to £599 as the Prostate Health Check.

On the NHS the scan has no direct cost once your GP has referred you, but routine imaging waiting times vary by area. Booking privately buys the appointment time and the turnaround, not a different scan.

Most often for lower urinary tract symptoms. These are common from the mid-forties onward and are usually caused by benign prostate enlargement (BPH) rather than anything sinister. The scan provides measurements your clinician can interpret alongside your symptoms and other tests; it cannot determine the cause on its own.

Typical reasons are a weak or slow stream, getting up at night to pass urine, frequency and urgency, a feeling that you are not emptying fully, a raised or borderline PSA, and monitoring known BPH over time or before and after starting medication such as an alpha blocker or finasteride.

A large prostate can raise PSA on its own, so the measured volume lets your clinician calculate PSA density and put a borderline result in context. If your kidneys also need checking, for example because of suspected stones or reduced kidney function, the kidney, bladder and urinary tract scan covers the prostate plus both kidneys and the ureters in one appointment.

You lie on your back with a comfortably full bladder. Warm gel is applied to the lower abdomen and a handheld probe is moved over the skin above the pubic bone to image the prostate and bladder. Your sonographer records prostate dimensions, bladder volume and bladder wall appearance.

You then empty your bladder and return for a brief re-scan so the remaining volume can be measured. Nothing is inserted at any point and the whole appointment takes 20 to 30 minutes.

A transabdominal prostate ultrasound is not painful. The gel is warmed and the probe rests lightly on the skin above the pubic bone. There are no needles and nothing is inserted.

The only discomfort most men report is holding a full bladder for the first part of the scan, which is over within about ten minutes. If you are struggling, tell your sonographer and they will prioritise the measurements that need a full bladder.

No. This is a transabdominal scan, performed entirely from the outside over the lower abdomen. Nothing is inserted and no bowel preparation is needed.

Transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) places a slim probe in the rectum for a closer view of the prostate zones and for real-time needle guidance. It is mainly used to guide a prostate biopsy under urology care, and UK guidance now favours MRI before biopsy, so TRUS is used more selectively than it once was.

A transabdominal scan is the usual first-line test for urinary symptoms and suspected prostate enlargement, which is why it is the £219 scan on this page. If your results suggest further investigation is needed, your report contains the measurements and findings a urologist would want.

No. You can self-refer and book directly online or by calling 020 7101 3377. If you already have a GP referral letter, previous PSA results or earlier scan reports, bring them, as they give your sonographer useful clinical context and make the report more valuable.

In younger adult men the prostate is generally around 20 to 30 mL. Volumes above roughly 30 mL are usually described as enlarged. Enlargement is extremely common with age and is not in itself a sign of cancer.

Thresholds vary between guidelines, and volume only means something alongside your symptoms, examination and PSA. Your report gives your measured figure and your GP or urologist interprets it in context.

Small residual volumes are normal, and figures under about 50 mL are generally considered insignificant. Persistently higher residuals suggest the bladder is not emptying completely and are usually a trigger for urology review.

A single measurement can be affected by how full your bladder was and how relaxed you felt, so a borderline result is often repeated rather than acted on immediately.

Not reliably, and it cannot rule it out. Ultrasound measures size and shows visible structural change, but diagnosing prostate cancer requires PSA testing, clinical assessment, multiparametric MRI and usually a biopsy.

This scan is a urinary function and structure test, not a cancer screening test. If your history or measurements raise concern, that is stated in your report along with advice on onward referral.

A larger prostate produces more PSA, so a big gland can push PSA above the usual reference range without anything sinister going on. Dividing PSA by prostate volume gives PSA density, which helps your clinician judge whether a borderline PSA is explained by size or warrants investigating further.

That calculation needs both numbers, which is why many men book this scan and a PSA test together, or choose the Prostate Health Check.

They answer different questions. Ultrasound answers “how big is the prostate and is my bladder coping”. A PSA blood test measures a chemical marker made by prostate tissue, which rises with enlargement, inflammation, infection and cancer alike, and is most informative alongside prostate volume. Multiparametric MRI detects and localises suspicious areas within the prostate and is used when prostate cancer is suspected, normally after PSA and clinical assessment.

Most men with urinary symptoms start with ultrasound and PSA. MRI is done in a hospital imaging department and is not part of this scan. PSA is available as a private blood test.

No. Ultrasound uses sound waves. There is no ionising radiation, no injection and no contrast dye, so the scan is safe to repeat as often as clinically needed, which makes it well suited to monitoring prostate volume and residual urine over time.

The scanning itself takes about 10 to 15 minutes, and you should allow 20 to 30 minutes for the full appointment including your history, the post-void re-scan and the discussion of findings.

Your sonographer explains the main findings before you leave, and a written report with key images is emailed within 24 hours, together with a referral letter if anything needs onward investigation.

Yes, for the first part of the scan. Drink 2 to 4 glasses of water about an hour beforehand and arrive with a comfortably full bladder. A full bladder pushes the bowel out of the way and gives a clear window onto the prostate. Do not increase fluids if a clinician has told you to restrict them.

You then empty your bladder and return for a short re-scan. If your bladder becomes uncomfortably full before your appointment, tell the team and we will bring you in sooner. No fasting, medication changes or bowel preparation are needed.

Do not book a routine scan if you have visible blood in your urine, even once, complete inability to pass urine, painful retention, fever with flank pain, severe lower abdominal pain, new leg weakness or numbness, loss of bladder or bowel control, or unexplained weight loss with persistent bone or back pain.

These need same-day assessment through your GP, NHS 111 or A&E.

London Private Ultrasound has two clinics. Central London is at 27 Welbeck Street, W1G 8EN, in the Harley Street Medical District, a short walk from Bond Street, Oxford Circus and Marylebone. St Albans is at 54 to 56 Victoria Street, AL1 3HZ.

Both offer the prostate and bladder ultrasound seven days a week, 9am to 7pm, subject to availability.