The causes of incontinence in men mainly occur after illness, surgeries or advanced age and can be related to symptom or side effect of another medical condition. The most frequent cause of incontinence in men is prostate problems and treatments. After having prostate cancer most men experience having temporary incontinence.
It is possible to have one, two or sometimes three types of incontinence.
For the urinary system to be working correctly the muscles and nerves must be working together to hold urine and release it at the desired or correct time.
When the bladders sphincter muscle is too weak, contracts too slowly or the bladder is too full and not strong enough to hold back urine, incontinence occurs.
A simple urinary tract infection can cause temporary incontinence in males.
Some men experience bladder leakage after drinking alcohol. Various types of anti depressant medication can have a negative effect when it comes to bladder control.
- Diseases, injury and damaged nerves can lead to bladder problems. Men who have diabetes may develop nerve damage that can affect their bladder control. Conditions that affect the brain and nervous system are parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis or a stroke. An overactive bladder that squeezes at the wrong time can also be caused from having nerve problems where the patient may need to urinate frequently or have a strong urgency when needing to reach the bathroom.
- Urine is made all the time through the kidneys. The ureters (the tubes that run from the kidney to the bladder) are constantly passing a trickle of urine down these tubes. The bladder is a muscle that is also like a balloon as it fills with urine and expands. The pelvic floor muscles keep the urethra (the tube that runs from the bladder to outside) closed. As your bladder begins to fill up and expand you become aware that the bladder is getting full. A person would then go to the toilet to pass urine, which makes the bladder muscle contract and squeeze while the urethra and pelvic floor muscles relax. The brain, the bladder and the pelvic floor muscles all intercept complex nerve messages. The nerve messages being sent tell you when your bladder is full and the exact muscles that need to contract or relax at the right time