Common male urinary problems include difficulty passing urine, emptying the bladder or urine retention (a stoppage where you can’t pass urine). Men may also experience problems with the storage of urine such as multiple visits to the toilet during the night or day or the urgent need to pass urine. These are the sorts of symptoms we can help to sort out as they may be related to diseases of the prostate, bladder or urethra.
Urine infection
Male urine infections are common problems and can happen by chance or be a sign of an underlying illness. We often examine to see if there are signs of a bladder that is not emptying well or a kidney blockage; infections can also affect the prostate or testis.
Though the initial treatment with antibiotics may resolve a problem it may also be necessary to carry out further tests to prevent problems recurring.
Urine leakage
Whilst this is more common in women than men it may often occur, more commonly as men get older. It is often possible to make a diagnosis and offer tablet treatment and/or physiotherapy as treatments for urine leakage once a diagnosis has been made.
Cancer
Urine problems may also be a sign of prostate or bladder cancer, although for men who are under 40 this is less likely. Prostate patients may need a PSA blood test with further investigations such as MRI and or biopsies to clarify the situation.
Prostate UK has good background advice but we strongly suggest patients see a specialist to diagnose which prostate problems maybe affecting you and advice for treatment if necessary. We can provide state of the art template biopsies using MRI as a guide to decide if there are any suspicious areas in the prostate if appropriate.
Most problems which are not related to a cancer diagnosis can be sorted out with medication. If surgery is needed it is usually offered with a short stay of one night due to the availability of laser surgery such as HOLEP for the prostate.
See also:
Support information from the British Association of Urological Surgeons.