Prostate Gland Primer or What Can Go Wrong With a Man’s Plumbing

Every man has a prostate gland and is a source of pleasure and enjoyment during our late teens and 20’s and 30’s.  However, around age 50, for reasons not entirely known, the prostate gland increases in size and causes problems such as difficulty with urination, prostate infections, and prostate cancer which affects nearly 250,000 men each year and the cause of nearly 30,000 deaths in men in the U.S. annually.

Men with prostate gland problems often have symptoms of incontinence of urine which is a stressful and distressing situation as it is a source of embarrassment and often social seclusion.  Although incontinence is rarely talked about, urinary incontinence affects millions of men in the U.S.

Small leakages of urine when you cough or laugh is known as stress incontinence. It happens when the bladder opening cannot remain closed under physical stress such as coughing, sneezing, or physical exertion.

In men, removal of the prostate gland (prostatectomy) ‘is the principal cause for stress urinary leakage.  This is often only be temporary — though men may have to wear pads for a few weeks or months until he is able to gain control of his urination.

As men become older their bladder capacity decreases and as a result have to use the restroom more frequently.  Also, in New Orleans, men as well as women are consuming more fluids…usually water! and as a result have to go to the restroom more frequently.

Generally, needing the restroom more than eight times a day and more than once a night is likely to be a bladder issue and\or prostate problem.

Pelvic floor exercises or Kegel exercises, named after the doctor who identified that exercises can strengthen the muscles responsible for urinary continence, are very effective at helping to alleviate stress incontinence.

Men with stress incontinence after prostate surgery, which hasn’t improved after 18 months, can also opt for a surgical procedure, where a synthetic material is positioned against the urethra, the tube in the penis that transports urine from the bladder to the outside of the body, to give the urethra support.

About 80 per cent of men are able to stop using pads afterwards insertion of the synthetic material.

Bottom Line: Incontinence is a problem affecting millions of American men especially after prostate gland surgery.  You don’t have to suffer in silence and you don’t have to depend on Depends!