But hard bladders might be whipped into shape. The first step is a careful assessment of what triggers these difficult moments. Often your doctor can prescribe helpful strategies and possibly medication to enhance urinary control.
How does male urinary incontinence work?
Urinary incontinence is the accidental or involuntary lack of urine from the bladder. In many cases a slight “dribbling” is involved. The commonest types are urge incontinence and stress incontinence. Common causes of urge incontinence in men are involuntary contractions of the overactive bladder. This is typically related to long-term obstruction from an enlarged prostate. “You feel the urge to go, but you start leaking before you make it,” says Dr. Das. “It could be a few drops, or it could be a large amount if you don't get to the bathroom in time.” Many men find that certain stimuli relieve their libido, corresponding to hearing running water, entering a cool room, getting up after sitting down, or just putting a key within the lock of your front door.
Stress incontinence refers to leakage of urine that happens during coughing, sneezing, lifting heavy objects, or other activity. In men, it's often attributable to problems with the muscle rings, or sphincters, that squeeze to shut the bladder.
“If they are weak or damaged, coughing, sneezing, running, or jumping can cause leakage,” says Dr. Das. In men, probably the most common reason for stress incontinence is damage to the sphincter after prostate surgery. Radiation treatment for prostate cancer may also cause it. The doctor will ask questions to search out out what the issue could be and the way severe it's. You could also be asked to go home and keep a voiding diary, which is a careful record of how often you have to urinate and the situations or triggers that cause leakage.
Here's what you may do.
Depending on the character of the issue, the next behavior changes and techniques may help:
Avoid alcoholic beverages.. In some men, the bladder becomes very sensitive to certain beverages. The obvious solution: drink less of anything that suppresses cravings, whether it's coffee, tea, soft drinks or alcohol.
Go to the schedule.. Keeping yourself on an everyday schedule to urinate may also relieve stress. A standard schedule is to urinate every two to 4 hours.
Lose weight if needed.. Being obese can put extra pressure on the bladder and urinary system and make things worse. Losing some weight can reduce urinary urgency.
Use safety precautions.. For each urge and stress incontinence, it will possibly help to strategically tighten the pelvic floor muscles with a regimen of Kegel exercises (these aren't just for ladies). A urologist can instruct you on do them accurately or refer you to a physical therapist for temporary training. For stress incontinence, doing Kegel exercises can enable you to hold urine whenever you sneeze or cough. For urgent incontinence, it retrains the brain to weaken sudden, strong urges to urinate. “It sends a message to the brain that it's not the right time to go,” says Dr. Das. “If done on a regular basis, it's often helpful for a certain percentage of men.”
Medicines?
There is not any FDA-approved medication to treat stress incontinence. However, there at the moment are several options available for urge incontinence. These drugs goal overactive bladder muscles. “The bladder can hold more urine, and you have more time to go to the bathroom,” says Dr. Das.
But urge incontinence medications ought to be used with caution, as they will have many negative effects. You need enough in your system but not an excessive amount of, or it might prevent you from urinating in any respect. This event, called urinary retention, is a medical emergency and requires immediate medical attention. If the underlying problem is the prostate gland — also referred to as benign prostatic hyperplasia or BPH — standard medications for the condition might help quickly.