Men – Do you Dribble and Leak
Are you embarrassed about the wet patches on your trousers and pants after peeing? Are you avoiding social gatherings because of this? Then this article is for you!
- Officially called Post-Micturition Dribble (PMD) or Post-Void Dribble (PVD)
- Is the name given to the problem when men experience an involuntary loss of urine immediately after they have finished passing urine – usually after leaving the toilet.
- It is not caused by stress from exertion or due to a problem with the bladder
- In fact, most men with PMD urinate normally.
- However, PMD is likely to occur when the main flow has finished, and clothes are being rearranged after a visit to the toilet.
- Trousers and clothes can end up getting wet, causing frustration and embarrassment.
- Few men admit to having this problem, but a great many suffer from it and are often badly embarrassed by it.
- BTW – we women know you’re having problems as we’re the ones washing your pants.
PVD – The After Dribble
- In men there are two muscles, called sphincter muscles
- These sphincters keep urine from leaking out from the bladder
- the external sphincter at the tip of the prostate
- the internal sphincter exists between the prostate and bladder.
- When the bladder fills both sphincter muscles squeeze to keep the urine inside the bladder.
- During urination both sphincter muscles relax, allowing your bladder to empty before the sphincter muscles close again
- In the case of PVD the external sphincter closes before all of the urine had made its way out, causing pee to get trapped inside.
- Shortly after finishing urination, that muscle then relaxes, so that trapped urine leaks (dribbles) out.
- Older men experience PVD the most, but it can happen in younger men as well.
- It can also occur in those with strong pelvic floor muscles who have a hard time relaxing their external sphincter.
Treatments
- Think – how to get this trapped urine out – while still in the toilet
- Kegel exercises for better pelvic muscle control.
- Remove the trapped pee – milk it out and shake it out
- Milk it out – apply pressure to your peritoneum with a finger and move the finger upward toward the base of the scrotum.
- Shake it out – well I guess you know how to do this.
- May take up to 3 to 4 months, but consistently completing these exercises should manage post-void dribbling.
Causes
- Weak pelvic floor due to
- Operations for an enlarged prostate
- Continual straining to empty the bowels ie. constipation
- Constant coughing, fx a smoker’s cough
- Being overweight
- Neurological damage
- Persistent heavy lifting
Treatments
- Pelvic floor exercises
- Push the last few drops of urine from the urethra with the fingers before the final shake
How to exercise the Pelvic Floor – The Squeeze and Lift technique
- Stand naked in front of a mirror.
- Squeeze the muscles around the back passage, as if you’re trying to stop yourself from passing wind.
- While you hold this squeeze, try to tighten your muscles in such a way as you would if you were trying to stop yourself from passing urine.
- You should feel a “squeeze and lift” inside.
- You should see the base of your penis dip down (pull back) and your scrotum lift up – “testicles to spectacles”
- This is the exercise – Squeeze and Lift
- After each “squeeze and lift”, make sure to fully relax the muscles
- Work up to squeezing for 10 seconds – note any loss of strength.
- Repeat 10 times – 4 second breaks in between
- Consider fast squeezes – one squeeze per second x 10.
- Remember – if you have any concerns about your pelvic floor, your best bet is to contact a pelvic health physiotherapist for a personalised assessment.
