Male urinary incontinence: the solution that’s right for you

Male urinary incontinence:

finding the right solution

A common problem

Urinary incontinence can have a substantial impact on your wellbeing. If left untreated, it can interrupt your daily activities and make it difficult to keep up social activities. However, in the majority of cases there is a solution that will greatly improve your quality of life and make more things possible again.

This booklet will help you better understand male urinary incontinence and some of the possible solutions. As with any medical condition, it is important to see your doctor or a continence advisor for more information on the treatment and/or products that are best for you.

Urinary incontinence affects all different types of men from many walks of life. It becomes more common with increasing age but young people are often affected too.

A large survey was conducted in 2005, in which a total of 19,165 men and women in Canada, Germany, Italy, Sweden and the United Kingdom agreed to answer questions on urinary incontinence and other problems that affect the urinary system.

Of the people questioned, approximately 1 in 20 of the men aged 18 years and above said that they had symptoms of urinary incontinence and this figure raised to approximately 1 in 10 of the men aged 60 years and above.

The results of this survey show that although we don’t hear about it very often, many men are affected by urinary incontinence.

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Signs and symptoms

Urinary incontinence is the medical term for being unable to hold back or control the release of urine resulting in accidental leaks.

Some of the most common signs and symptoms are listed below; you may have one or more at the same time:

• Small or large amounts of urine leak without warning that you need to go to the toilet.

• Urine accidentally leaks when you sneeze, cough, laugh or exercise.

• You feel a sudden urge to rush to the toilet either before or when you leak urine.

• Urine sometimes escapes before you can get to a toilet.

• You need to get up to pass urine two or more times a night.

• You have recently wet the bed.

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1 Bladder – collects and stores urine.

2 Kidney – makes urine by removing waste and excess fluid from the blood.

3 Ureter – carries urine from the kidneys to the bladder.

4 Urethra – carries urine from the bladder to the outside of the body.

5 Sphincters – control the flow of urine out of the bladder and through the urethra.

6 Pelvic floor muscles – help to open and close the sphincters.

7 Prostate – helps to control urination and produces some of the components of semen.

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The urinary system is all the parts of the body that make and store urine. The diagram below shows the different parts and their role.

The male urinary system

Types of male urinary incontinence

Keeping up social activities

There are different types of male urinary incontinence, with different underlying causes.

Stress urinary incontinence• Occurs when the pelvic floor muscles are too weak

to hold the urethral sphincters closed under sudden pressure (stress) on the abdomen.

• You may notice an accidental leak of urine during everyday activities such as sneezing, coughing, laughing or exercising.

Urge urinary incontinence (unstable or overactive bladder)

• Is caused by involuntary, uncontrolled contractions of the muscle in the bladder.

• You may experience a sudden urge to go to the toilet and may accidentally leak urine before you are ready to do so.

Mixed urinary incontinence• Is a combination of stress urinary incontinence and

urge urinary incontinence.

• You may have symptoms of both.

Other less common types of male urinary incontinence are neuropathic incontinence, overflow incontinence and bedwetting (enuresis).

Incontinence shouldn’t stop you from doing the things you enjoy – whatever your age. If you find it difficult to get out and about, do every day activities, or spend quality time with your family and friends, discuss this with a healthcare professional who will help you to find a solution. The first point of contact is your doctor, but you may find that a specialist nurse or continence advisor is available to help.

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There are lots of urisheaths available from different manufacturers, each with a different design. One of the most advanced urisheaths available is called Conveen Optima.

Conveen Optima is made from a skin-friendly, soft and flexible silicone material, which makes it comfortable to wear. There is a special adhesive within the urisheath that gently but securely fixes it to your skin. A special ridged section at the tip of the urisheath stops kinks and protects against leaks.

Conveen Optima is discreetly packaged in a compact and lightweight box. The box is easy to open but still small enough to fit into your pocket.

Controlling incontinence

with urisheaths

Solutions for male urinary incontinence

There are different options available to help you control incontinence. These include pelvic floor exercises, bladder training, drug medication, and surgery. One popular solution is a urisheath collecting system, which is a discreet and reliable way to capture urine.

A urisheath is a soft, flexible sleeve that fits onto your penis. When you urinate, the urine is funnelled through a tube to a bag, which safely stores the urine until you are ready to empty it into a toilet. The bag is strapped to your leg, out of the way and hidden by your trousers so no-one needs to know you are wearing it.

Alternatively, it is also common for men and women to wear pads or diapers to absorb any leaked urine. Both pads and diapers need to be changed frequently to avoid problems with odour and skin rashes.

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Part of your daily routine

An effective solution you

can trust

How to use Conveen

Optima

Urisheaths are worn for up to 24 hours between changes meaning they can be changed just once a day in the morning. Between changes, you simply drain the urine from the collecting bag into a toilet. After use, you disconnect the urisheath from the collecting tube, roll it off, and dispose of it in the bin.

As long as you follow the instructions, a urisheath collecting system is a very reliable and effective way of controlling incontinence. Urisheaths are specially designed for men, to be comfortable and discreet and to give you more freedom to get on with your life.

Every man is different so Conveen Optima comes in 4−5 different sizes and 2 different lengths to ensure the perfect fit. A cardboard cut-out measuring guide is used to select the correct size for you.

Conveen Optima is easy to put on; you simply hold the urisheath against the tip of your penis (with the narrow end of the funnel pointing away from you) and pull the double grip-strip towards you to unroll. When using a Conveen Optima urisheath, there is no need to apply extra adhesive; you just gently squeeze the unrolled urisheath around your penis to ensure it makes good contact with your skin and then connect the urine collecting bag.

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A solution designed

for men

Continuing an active social life with confidence

Your masculinity and dignity are of utmost importance, so it’s important to use a continence solution designed with these in mind. Your solution needs to be discreet, comfortable, reliable and easy to fit into your daily routine. With control of incontinence, you will be able to enjoy spending time with the people you care about, worry-free. Your family, friends and, importantly, your spouse will all benefit from your new found confidence and ability to enjoy life to the full.

It’s a huge relief not having to worry about incontinence any more. I tried a different type of urisheath for about two months and that also had a guide strip. But the new one (Conveen Optima) has a double guide strip and that makes it easier to get the urisheath on. The packaging is great. If I’m out on a longer outing, then I just pop an extra one in my pocket. It’s an enormous relief. Now I have no or almost no incontinence episodes. You don’t notice that you have a bag or tubes down your leg at all.

Erik, 78, incontinent after prostate surgery.

I think that urisheaths are a good thing. I think they make life easier, especially with our social activities. For me, there’s no problem; on the contrary, it (Conveen Optima) has helped and we’re more relaxed because of it.

Wife of Erik, 78

When wearing a urisheath, you can spend time with friends and family without fear of any accidents. You can also keep up any hobbies or interests such as walking, fishing or playing golf.

I have incontinence and it’s a huge problem for me, partly because I worry a lot that I go around smelling of urine. That’s what my wife tells me in any case − that I smell. My children and their partners have mentioned it too. That’s why I really wanted to use a urisheath instead of a diaper. The urisheath (Conveen Optima) is smart and fitted with a small guide strip, which ensures it rolls on smoothly. That’s ingenious! You can use the guide strip to pull the urisheath on and when you’re finished, the guide comes off. You can clearly see someone’s thought this through. I’m impressed! It’s smart and well designed. The packaging is also smart − it’s a really smart little thing.

Per, 75, incontinent after prostate surgery

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Sources of further

support and advice

Although you may feel reluctant to do so, it’s important to tell your doctor if you are experiencing urinary incontinence. He or she will be able to check for any treatable underlying causes. You may be referred to see a urologist (a doctor that specialises in the urinary system), a nurse, or a continence advisor for further advice.

If you are dealing with incontinence, it can also help to tell the people you are close to so that they can provide you with extra moral support.

Don’t forget that incontinence is very common and there are many solutions. So make sure that you ask for and receive the solution that’s right for you.

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Do you have further questions?

Contact your Coloplast office or visit www.coloplast.com

Coloplast A/SHoltedam 13050 HumlebækDenmark

www.coloplast.com

Coloplast develops products and services that make life easier for people with very personal and private medical conditions. Working closely with the people who use our products, we create solutions that are sensitive to their special needs. We call this intimate healthcare. Our business includes ostomy care, urology and continence care and wound and skin care. We operate globally and employ more than 7,000 people.

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