Last month, a retired civil servant, a senior citizen in his early 70s, visited me in Gregory University Specialist Hospital Uturu. He came all the way from the commercial capital of Abia State. That is Aba. He was reeking of urine. I subtly inquired. Then he broke down. Thank God he came in his private car, and he drove himself. I was then forced to discuss urinary incontinence in men. Shall we define it

You should note that urinary incontinence is the uncontrollable loss of urine. Urinary incontinence can, and does occur at any age, but the causes tend to be different among different age groups. The overall incidence of urinary incontinence increases progressively with age. As in my Aba visitor in his 70s.

I was also pushed to discuss urinary incontinence by the repeated complaints of my respondents. One man openly complained that he became alarmed, when he had to continually change his boxers and trousers, because he was regularly wetting them before reaching a toilet. His words “Doc, I am ashamed to complain, that I regularly urinate on my dross and trousers, before I could reach the toilet. Please help me doctor” How frustrating and quite embarrassing.

About 1 out of 3 older people has some problem with bladder control and women are twice as likely as men to be affected. This could be humiliating, embarrassing and depressing. According to the latest research as reported by WebMD, it should be noted that :

Urinary incontinence is common and treatable

About 3.5 million men in Nigeria have urinary incontinence right now. Despite what you may have heard, it is not a normal sign of aging. It is a treatable condition.

Types of incontinence

There are about 4 major types of incontinence

• Stress inconvenience – happens when activity such as bending, lifting or coughing puts pressure on the bladder and triggers leaks.

• Urge incontinence – caused by bladder contracting when it should not, this triggers a sudden and overwhelming need to urinate. The feeling is so intense that it is hard to make it to the bathroom on time.

• Mixed incontinence – this is a combination of stress and urge inconvenience.

• Overflow inconvenience – happens when you are unable to completely empty your bladder and you leak unexpectedly.

What causes male incontinence?

In men, incontinence can be brought on, by medical conditions like:

Enlarged prostate.

Diabetes.

Parkinson’s disease.

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After prostate surgery.

Over active bladder.

To get you the right treatment, you should help your doctor arrive at the actual cause of your incontinence.

How do you manage symptoms of incontinence?

• Some people have success by spacing out their fluid intake during the day, and cutting back on liquids a few hours before bed.

• I have a friend who refuses to take fluid any morning he is traveling out, especially if he is using a public transport, which is not under his control. He had always complained of urine dripping out to wet his trousers, even before reaching where to urinate.

• If abstention from early morning fluid, or two hours to bed could help, please stick to them.

• But, please do not overly deny or restrict yourself of fluid, that you could become dehydrated.

• Not taking enough fluids can lead to complications such as bladder infections, which can make urinary incontinence worse.

• Optimum treatment of urinary incontinence depends on careful analysis of the problem in each person, and varies with the specific nature of the problem. The majority of people with urinary incontinence can be either cured or helped considerably.

Treatment at times, often requires only taking some simple steps to change behavior. Many people can regain bladder control through behavioral modification techniques.

I. Urinating at regular intervals every 2 to 3 hours, to keep the bladder relatively empty.

II. Avoid bladder irritants, such as excess caffeine, beverages etc, take adequate amount of water to prevent urine from becoming concentrated which can irritate the bladder.

III. Alcohol is a diuretic – it makes you urinate more, which is the last thing you need.

IV. Cut back on tea, coffee, soda and alcohol, to see if that makes a difference for you

In all things be medically guided.

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