Incontinence- An Unwelcome Side Effect of Prostate Cancer Treatment
Urinary incontinence is the fancy name for the inability to control your urine flow. After procedures like radical prostatectormy, radiation therapy, or cryotherapy, it is likely that some amount of urinary incontinence may occur.
The stigma of "wetting onself" is often much worse than the physical condition itself. Some men will stay at home away from everyone than risk the embarrassment of having an accident. Isolation will lead to depression, causing a withdrawal from social activities.
More often than not, urinary incontinence is a temporary problem that may disappear after weeks or a few months. But some suffer incontinence for several years, and may worsen over time for those who have had radiation therapy.
Urine flow is normally stopped by a set of muscles at the base of the bladder called the urinary sphincter muscles. Damage to these muscles or their innervation can cause those muscles to become weak, and allow leakage from the bladder at inopportune moments.
Types of Urinary Incontinence
Stress incontinence is the type most often suffered by men who have had prostate cancer treatments, and is described as an involuntary leakage when coughing, sneezing, laughing or straining to stand after sitting. For men who have had prostatectomies, over 95 percent regain complete control over just a few months. However, some can take as long as three years to recover.Urge incontinence is best described as not being able to make it to the bathroom in time, and is sometimes suffered by men after prostate surgery. The last type of incontinence is known as overflow incontinence and is caused because the bladder is never able to be fully emptied due to a urethral restriction. Accidents happen when the pressure in the bladder overcome the weakened muscle and squirt past the stricture.
Treating Urinary Incontinence
Modern medicine has many ways to treat urinary incontinence. There are more options than absorbent undergarments to help with urinary incontinence. There are medications, exercises, penile clamps, condom catheters, and male slings. There are also surgical techniques such as artificial urinary sphincters and collagen injections to control the flow. All of these options can help a man regain his confidence to come back out in the world.
