Introduction

Male Urinary incontinence is more common that people think.  17% of men over 60 suffer from some form of incontinence.  Prostate problems and their treatments are the most common factors that affect the urinary tract .  However, male urinary symptoms and incontinence can arise from many different areas including the bladder, prostate, sphincter and urethra and therefore specialist consultations, investigations and treatments are often required.  Up to 30% of men who have had surgery to remove their prostate gland can experience some degree of urinary incontinence and this always requires specialist attention.  There are 2 main types of urinary incontinence, urge and stress incontinence and once the specialist investigations have diagnosed the type of incontinence there are many treatments available.  Manchester Urology are able to offer all of the specialist investigations and treatments available for all types of male urinary incontinence.

Detailed information

Male Urinary incontinence has 2 main types urge and stress incontinence.  Urge incontinence is leakage of urine associated with urgency and an inability to get to the toilet in time.  This is often accompanied by daytime frequency and also waking at night to pass urine.  Stress Incontinence is leakage associated with coughing, sneezing, exercise or anything else that causes straining and an increase in pressure on your bladder.  Although from the patients perspective both cause leakage the management of each type of incontinence is very different.  Most men develop urinary symptoms as they get older as a result of many different bladder and prostate disorders.  It is important to identify the cause of the symptoms before surgery is considered.

Investigations for Male incontinence 

All patients need an initial consultation and examination to try and identify the cause and the type of incontinence.  At this point conservative and medical treatments are often suggested to help. However if these treatments have not improved the incontinence or the incontinence is severe then additional tests including flexible cystoscopy and urodynamics will be required.  The flexible cystoscopy helps to visualize the urinary tract and the urodynamics is a functional test to see exactly how the bladder and sphincter function.  Please see the information sheets on both of these procedures.
Conservative treatments can include bladder retraining and pelvic floor exercises and Manchester Urology has access to Specialist Pelvic Floor Physiotherapists to help with these treatments.

There are various medications depending on the type of incontinence and the Manchester Urology Consultants can explain and prescribe the most appropriate medication if required.

Patient information: what to expect

All patients need an initial consultation and examination to try and identify the cause and the type of incontinence.  At this point conservative and medical treatments are often suggested to help. However, if these treatments have not improved the incontinence or the incontinence is severe then additional tests including flexible cystoscopy and urodynamics will be required.  The flexible cystoscopy helps to visualize the inside of the urinary tract and the urodynamics is a functional test to see exactly how the bladder, bladder neck and sphincter function.  Please see the information sheets on both of these procedures.
Conservative treatments can include bladder retraining and pelvic floor exercises and Manchester Urology has access to Specialist Pelvic Floor Physiotherapists to help with these treatments.

There are various medications depending on the type of incontinence and the Manchester Urology Consultants can explain and prescribe the most appropriate medication if required.

Again surgical treatments depend on the type of incontinence diagnosed.  For Urge incontinence the options range from botox into the bladder to formal reconstruction of the bladder.  For male stress Incontinence the options include the Artificial Urinary Sphincter and male sling procedures (including the Advance Male Sling).