Male Urinary Incontinence - Causes, Treatment And Exercise

2024 Author: Josephine Shorter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-11 07:35

Urinary incontinence in men

Urinary incontinence in men is otherwise called enuresis and is characterized by involuntary emptying of the bladder. This can happen both during the day and at night. Daytime incontinence is a less common phenomenon than nighttime incontinence, and is observed mainly when a person suffers severe psychological trauma, which negatively affects the functioning of the nervous system.

Normally, enuresis resolves on its own in boys when they reach the age of 6 years. However, it also happens that urinary incontinence bothers a teenager, young man and even a mature man. If we look at the statistics, then 1 in 200 adults periodically loses control of their own bladder, and it involuntarily empties during sleep. On average, 1% of the total population over 18 years old suffers from enuresis. In old age, urinary incontinence is much less common in men than in women.

A variety of specialists are involved in the treatment of this disease, including neurologists, endocrinologists, urologists, nephrologists, psychiatrists, homeopaths, and physiotherapists. There are about 300 techniques that are designed to relieve an adult man of enuresis. Among the methods of treatment are sometimes very exotic, for example, acupuncture or hypnosis.

Content:

• Causes of urinary incontinence in men
• Treatment of urinary incontinence in men
• Penile clamps for urinary incontinence in men
• Kegel exercises for men

Causes of urinary incontinence in men

The causes of urinary incontinence in men can be roughly divided into two groups. The first is related to childhood: from an early age, a person has not developed the necessary reflex, which normally makes us wake up if the bladder is full. The second group is associated with various disorders that occur in men already in adulthood.

So, the causes of urinary incontinence can be as follows:

• The presence of a tumor. If a person has a benign or malignant neoplasm that interferes with the normal transmission of nerve impulses from the bladder to the brain, then urinary incontinence will be observed.
• Congenital pathologies of the development of the organs of the urinary system. Among such anomalies are: insufficient size of the bladder, an excessively thick organ wall or its inelasticity.
• Age-related changes that cause the pelvic floor muscles to weaken.
• Aging of the cerebral cortex and natural wear and tear of the spinal cord. The older a person gets, the worse the signals are transmitted between his nerve cells. As a result, the impulse from the bladder to the cerebral cortex arrives either late, or has insufficient strength. This leads to the fact that a man periodically or permanently experiences urinary incontinence.
• Weakness of the sphincter of the bladder. The sphincter is a circular muscle, which is normally closed, blocks the lumen of the bladder and prevents the accumulated fluid from flowing out. When a person visits the toilet, he relaxes this muscle with an effort of will and urinates. With age, the sphincter weakens, and as the bladder fills, it becomes unable to contain urine, which is especially true at night.

Treatment of urinary incontinence in men

Schedule

Often, a person himself becomes the culprit of his own problems with urination. Sometimes it is enough to reconsider established habits, and urinary incontinence will cease to bother you. For example, you can try drinking smaller amounts of fluids after 2:00 pm. At the same time, it is impossible to limit the flow of water into the body. It just needs to be taken most of it before lunch.

Foods that have a diuretic effect should be excluded from the menu, such as watermelons and strawberries. The same rule applies to such drinks as coffee, beer, tea, cranberry juice, herbal infusions (on birch buds, on corn silk).

The Krasnogorsky diet is useful for enuresis, the basic rules of which are represented by the following provisions:

• In the afternoon, you should eat meals that do not contain a lot of water.
• After 15:00, it is necessary to reduce the amount of fluid consumed by 3 times.
• Before going to bed, you need to eat a sandwich with salted fish, or just a salted piece of bread. You need 1/2 glass of water to drink this snack. The salt will help keep fluid in the body, but not accumulate in the bladder.
• You need to give up water no later than 4 hours before bedtime.

It is necessary to properly organize your own sleeping place. If you have bedwetting, choose a firm mattress for sleeping. The spine will be supported, which means that signals from the bladder to the brain will travel better. Thanks to this technique, a person can wake up when the organ is full.

You can set an alarm so that it goes off 2-3 hours after falling asleep, and go to the toilet. The wake-up time needs to be changed every few days, then the body will not get used to waking up at night at the same time.

Stressful situations should be avoided whenever possible. The more balanced and calmer a person is, the easier it is for him to exercise control over his own body.

Application of psychotherapeutic techniques

One of the methods of psychotherapy is hypnosis. During the session, the person is taught that he will definitely feel when the bladder is full. This will make him wake up and go to the toilet. With the help of hypnosis, a reflex is formed in the cerebral cortex, which allows you to forget about the problem of bedwetting forever.

Behavioral techniques can have a positive effect. In the event that a person managed to wake up on his own, he himself encourages himself with some kind of present.

You can treat urinary incontinence with affirmations. To do this, you need to take a comfortable position in the evening, relax as much as possible, and for several minutes say out loud the following phrase: “My bladder is under my control. I will wake up when it is full. Such a technique of self-hypnosis will definitely give the desired result, the main thing is not to doubt your own strengths.

Of course, not all people are suggestible. In this case, rational psychotherapy can come to the rescue. However, you will need the help of a specialist who will provide the person with complete information about the capabilities of his body, as well as about the existing problem. By building a conversation on the laws of logic, the professional will convince the patient that urinary incontinence is a disease that can be dealt with.

Exercise therapy and urinary incontinence

Specially selected exercises strengthen the internal pelvic floor muscles and the bladder sphincter. This will make it possible to control urination and get rid of the problem. There are special simulators for muscle training, but if you wish, you can do therapeutic exercises without any additional devices.

To understand which muscles need training, you need to try to delay the flow of flowing urine while emptying the bladder, and then strain and relax these muscles during the day, sitting or lying down.

Physiotherapy treatment methods

Physical therapists are also committed to helping people with urinary incontinence. There are special devices, the action of which is based on the passage of weak discharges of electric current through the body. Thanks to this treatment, the nerve impulse is transmitted from the bladder to the cerebral cortex much faster and easier.

Treatment of bedwetting with such devices is absolutely safe and painless, so doctors recommend that their patients undergo the following procedures:

• Electric sleep. This technique is aimed at stabilizing the nervous system and is excellent in helping to cope with urinary incontinence for those people whose disease is caused by neurological disorders.
• Darsonval on the bladder area. This procedure strengthens the muscle that blocks the entrance to the bladder (sphincter).
• Magnetotherapy. This technique relaxes the walls of the bladder and reduces the urge to urinate.
• Electrophoresis. The procedure is aimed at normalizing the functioning of the nervous system.

Not all physiotherapy treatments for urinary incontinence are based on the passage of electrical impulses through the body. There are also methods that are aimed at preparing the nerves for signal transmission. As a result, a person develops sentry reflexes.

Accordingly, these techniques have the general name "reflexology":

• Treatment with warm paraffin, ozokerite or mud. All these substances are applied to the lumbar region. The result that can be achieved: improving blood circulation in the treatment area, eliminating inflammatory processes, relieving spasm, normalizing the functioning of nerve fibers.
• Water treatment. For this purpose, a rain shower and a circular shower are used, patients are prescribed coniferous, nitrogen, pearl, and salt baths.
• Needle treatment. Thin and long needles are inserted into certain points of the body, which allows to normalize the nervous system, improve emotional mood, and regulate the quality of night rest.
• Art healing. In this case, we are talking about art therapy and music therapy. These techniques are aimed at normalizing the mental state of a person.
• Animal therapy. Communication with horses and dolphins is very effective in treating mental disorders. Although, if a person's mood improves from communication with cats and dogs, then they can also be attracted for treatment.

Medicines

• Table of Essential Medicines for Urinary Incontinence
• Minirin
• Driptan
• Picamilon
• Duloxetine
• Melipramine
• Pantocalcin
• Pantogam

Operation

As a surgical treatment of enuresis, men are offered implantation of an artificial sphincter of the urinary bladder

Read more: implantation of an artificial bladder sphincter

Penile clamps for urinary incontinence in men

Penile clamps for urinary incontinence in men are special devices that allow you to quickly and comfortably solve an existing problem.

Modern clamps are a plastic or metal hinge brace lined with a pair of pads inside and equipped with a retainer. These pads are designed to provide maximum comfort for the man while wearing the product.

The penis is placed between the clamp brackets and secured with a side clasp. The latch has several compression stages. The optimum pressure force can be found when the clamp is closed.

The principle of operation of the pencil case is quite simple. It relies on gentle compression of the urethra to prevent involuntary urination. In this case, the blood vessels supplying the penis will not be pinched. In order to empty the bladder, you just need to unfasten the clamp. Thus, you can achieve control over the process of urination during the day.

While wearing the clip, there should be no swelling of the penis, a properly selected device does not violate the integrity of the skin. If you feel discomfort, pain, pressure sores or other undesirable phenomena, you should consult your doctor.

You cannot use pencil clips if a person has a urinary catheter or penile prostheses. Do not wear the clip for more than 4 hours continuously. Also, you should not limit fluid intake, unless otherwise recommended by your doctor.

Modern pencil cases are small and invisible under clothing. They are intended to improve a man's quality of life, but should not be used to decrease urinary frequency. You should go to the bathroom and relieve yourself regularly.

Kegel exercises for men

Kegel exercises are aimed at training the muscles of the perineum. They allow not only to cope with urinary incontinence, but also to achieve an improvement in erection by increasing blood circulation in the corresponding zone. In addition, with the help of Kegel exercises, you can control the ejaculation process.

The simplest and most effective exercises are the following:

• Tighten and relax the muscles in your perineum while doing your daily activities. Voltage time - 5 seconds. To do the exercise correctly, you need to imagine the process of urination and how to try to stop it. Approaches should be about 20-30 per day.
• When the penis is in a state of erection, they hang a towel on it and try to lift it with the effort of the muscles of the perineum.

Regular exercise allows you to train the muscles of the perineum and improve the innervation of this area.

Author of the article: Lebedev Andrey Sergeevich | Urologist

Education: Diploma in the specialty "Andrology" received after completing residency at the Department of Endoscopic Urology of the Russian Medical Academy of Postgraduate Education in the urological center of the Central Clinical Hospital No. 1 of JSC Russian Railways (2007). Postgraduate studies were completed here by 2010.