Frequent Urination and Urinary Incontinence in Men: An Overview

As the prostate increases in size, it increases the amount of resistance in the urethra to abnormal levels. The bladder needs to work extra hard to squeeze urine out. The bladder itself is a muscle, and if it has to work harder during urination, well, it’s like a work-out for the bladder, and it gets “pumped up.” It will get thicker and stronger, and often begins to get a mind of it’s own and will contract unpredictably. This is called detrusor instability or overactive bladder. Women can have this too, but for different reasons. The concern for men is that when there is increased pressure in the bladder forcing urine out the urethra, it can also put back pressure on the kidneys. If left untreated over time, it could ultimately result in kidney failure. It also over time can cause the bladder to lose all of it’s function as well, and that is a whole other situation to be discussed another time.

On the same lines as defunctionalized bladder, an obstructive prostate can keep the bladder from emptying completely, and we can get what is called overflow incontinence. The bladder is almost completely full at a resting level and the urine has no choice but to leak out in order to protect the kidneys.

These are situations when medical treatment should be sought. It doesn’t mean you are going to need surgery. Many of the treatments are with medications or other therapies.

There is much more information I could discuss about these causes of incontinence, but this was to be an overview and summary. There are many other causes of incontinence in men that need to be approached from a neurologic standpoint, but that topic is beyond the scope of this current blog. I would love to answer any more specific questions in upcoming blogs. Please email them to me at this site, and I will answer what I can.