Incontinence Treatment for Men

If you’ve tried everything under the sun to stay dry and you still depend on your incontinence pads, it’s time to reach out to a pelvic health professional. They can both evaluate and treat the cause of your incontinence.

Incontinence can stem from the urethra or the rectum, meaning you can lose control of your bladder and/or your bowels. 

Men can experience two types of incontinence: 

1. Urinary incontinence: involuntary loss of urine
2. Fecal incontinence: involuntary loss of stool

Neither type of incontinence is normal and both are treatable.

Urinary incontinence is the complaint of involuntary loss of urine. Or, in other words, your pee escapes your body without your permission. 

The most common types of urinary incontinence are:

• Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI): spontaneous urine loss due to physical exertion like laughing, lifting, running, jumping, coughing, or sneezing.
• Urge Urinary Incontinence (UUI): urine loss due to a sudden need and the desire to empty your bladder. Urge sensations are signals your brain receives to begin the bladder emptying process. A turn of a key, water sounds, or a picture of the commode can trigger an intense desire to relieve yourself. If a drop of urine leaks out due to extreme urgency, you have urge incontinence.
• Mixed Urinary Incontinence (MUI): a combination of stress and urge urinary incontinence. Having both types of urinary incontinence is entirely possible.

Fecal incontinence is the involuntary loss of solid or liquid stool. Uncontrolled flatulence or passing gas unexpectedly is also considered incontinence. 

Anal mucoid seepage occurs with normal pelvic floor function, so it is essential to know the difference between discharge and leakage. A physical therapist with additional training in pelvic health can help you determine the difference.

There are a multitude of factors that could cause incontinence, including:

• Injury 
• Back pain
• Abdominal weakness
• Joint stiffness
• Enlarged prostate
• Nerve injury
• Lack of body awareness
• Poor breathing strategy

Remember, incontinence is not normal, and it is treatable. There are no “normal” accidents. 

Leakage can often be reduced and addressed by:

• Lifestyle changes
• Bladder retraining
• Pelvic floor muscle exercises

Prescribed exercises can help you become more aware of your pelvic floor muscles or reduce your sense of urgency. A coordinated group of core muscles can significantly help to eliminate incontinence.

If your symptoms do not improve on their own over time, you should contact a pelvic floor physical therapist.

The risk of letting your incontinence go untreated can lead to worsening symptoms, depression, anxiety, and isolation. Social stigma drives people to suffer in silence. Our therapists are here to help!

A pelvic health physical therapist will complete an examination which includes assessing the pelvic floor muscles. The assessment can be done internally (through your anus) or externally, by touch or sight. Our physical therapists will then provide you with training programs and education to help you stop your accidents. 

Treatment may include the use of internal or external techniques and tools such as:

• Prescribed Exercises
• Manual Therapy
• Biofeedback Therapy
• Electrical Stimulation

Your treatment program will also focus on:

• Home exercises 
• Proper amounts of fluid-in and fluid-out 
• Timing goals to hold, or refrain, from urinating
• Resisting going to the bathroom upon initial sensation to void
• Education on appropriate diets to decrease urge sensations 
• How to regulate the frequency of voiding
• Keeping a voiding diary
• Joining support groups

It’s never too late to start pelvic floor rehabilitation! Don’t wait and suffer alone. Our friendly staff is knowledgeable and trained in pelvic floor recovery. Contact us and schedule a solution today!