Urinary incontinence is the accidental release of urine. This can happen for different reason and at different times of your life. There are three main types of male incontinence. Stress incontinence occurs when you suddenly stress your bladder by sneezing, coughing, laughing, lifting heavy objects or performing other tasks that put pressure on your bladder. Urge incontinence is often a sudden urge to urinate. Sometimes this urge is so strong you cannot control your bladder until you reach a bathroom. This sudden urge is brought on by the abrupt contraction of your bladder when it shouldn’t. This can even happen if you only have a small amount of urine in your bladder, but other times when your bladder is full you might leak urine when you are not intending to do so. Overflow incontinence happens when the bladder does not empty properly and leakage can occur. When the bladder fails to empty it is often due to a blockage or weak bladder muscles contractions. Oftentimes an obstruction is caused by prostatitis (inflamed prostate), benign prostatic hyperplasia (enlarged prostate), or a narrowing of the urethra. If the bladder becomes too full because a person can neither fully empty their bladder or an obstruction is causing urination to be a problem, leaking of urine can occur to the high pressure built up in the bladder which causes the bladder sphincter to open and urine to flow freely.

Male incontinence can be an embarrassing issue which leads men to become reluctant to talk about or seek treatment for this issue. However, once you speak with a urologist you will find there are a variety of treatments available depending on the type of male incontinence you are experiencing, how it is affecting your life, and how aggressive you would like to be about the issue. Most men don’t require surgery to treat their symptoms and have found success with use of medicine, specific exercises, or other specific treatment plans designed by their doctor.

If you are experiencing symptoms of male incontinence contact Dr. Allen’s office to set up an appointment for a consultation and to discuss your treatment options.