September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. While getting screened and treatment is of the utmost importance, prostate cancer treatment is the primary cause of stress urinary incontinence in men.
Dr. LeRoy Jones, board-certified Urologist, says prostate cancer is very common, with new cases per year reaching almost 270,000. That means about 1 in 8 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Prostate cancer alone does not cause urinary incontinence. However, some of the surgical treatments for prostate can cause incontinence, affecting a patient’s quality of life, Jones said.
Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) occurs when physical movement or activity, such as coughing, laughing, sneezing, or heavy lifting, puts pressure or stress on the bladder.
SUI is not related to psychological stress. In men, the most common cause of stress urinary incontinence is the surgical removal of the prostate gland to treat prostate cancer. This procedure is called a prostatectomy.
There are treatment options for those with urinary incontinence. Some of those treatment options include minimally invasive outpatient surgeries.
“But you drastically change the quality of life where patients can get out, and kind of do their normal activities. Again, it can be very debilitating to leak and wear pads. Some patients wear 5-6 pads a day. So it’s very debilitating,” Jones said.
To learn more about stress urinary incontinence and how to treat it, visit www.FixIncontinence.com.