Text transcript of the video : A silent struggle for many men

Dr. Dean Elterman, Urologist at the University Health Network and Associate Professor of Urology at the University of Toronto

Overactive bladder is a condition that many people suffer from. 

We often associate overactive bladder is a woman's problem or female problem, whereas men suffer from an enlarged prostate. But this is not necessarily true. Men also suffer from overactive bladder.

What are the main symptoms?

It is characterized by urinary urgency. You have to rush to the bathroom with very little warning. The second symptom is urinary frequency. You have to go to the bathroom many times during the day. In addition to this, some patients will experience leakage of urine called urgency incontinence. 

As well, some patients will actually be woken from their sleep with the urge to urinate and we call this nocturia.

These are really bothersome symptoms for men. But additionally, because men have a prostate, about half of men will also suffer from prostate enlargement symptoms, such as a slow urinary stream having to push or strain to push out urine, or not emptying their bladder completely.

What keeps men from talking about it?

For men who suffer from overactive bladder, there are a number of barriers. For sure, number one, is going to be embarrassment about having to go to the bathroom too often and even having leakage of urine. The other issue men have in terms of a barrier is that they're often misdiagnosed.

In my experience, in my clinical practice, I've seen all too many times patients suffering in silence being embarrassed of having accidents, not wanting to tell their wives and really keeping it a secret.

And they really delayed coming to speak about it with a doctor for far too long.

What should men do in case of symptoms?

So, if you're a man suffering from the symptoms of overactive bladder, such as urgency, frequency and nocturia, and you come into your doctor's office, someone like me.

We're going to talk about your symptoms. We're going to understand whether you have bladder related symptoms, frequency and urgency, whether or not you have any prostate symptoms like a slow flow or incomplete emptying. 

We're going to talk about how much it impacts your life. And then we'll also talk about ways that we can improve your symptoms. We'll either talk about how to decrease some of the fluids you're having caffeine, alcohol, overall water consumption. We'll talk about the different medications. Perhaps I'll give you one medicine for your bladder or one medicine for your prostate.

Or sometimes we give a combination of medicines for both the prostate and the bladder. And last but not least, we'll talk about a follow up so that you'll come back to see me in a few months, and we'll discuss how you did with the improvements in your symptoms based upon our recommendations.

Don't be embarrassed. Don't be shy. It is really important to speak to a doctor.