If you are still here. . .
When I was a child growing up in Texas, women would speak in hushed tones about having "female trouble" or "female problems." Of course I had no idea what that meant. In fact most adult men had little more understanding than I did. In those days, even to speak of a woman having a "period" was to be greeted with snickers or giggles. Anything more was far beyond the comfort zone.
The idea of "male problems" was not even thought of. But here I am, at the ripe age of 74, having "male problems".
Of course "female trouble" covered a wide range of medical conditions but "male problems" could mostly refer to one thing, "benign prostate hyperplasia," or an enlarged prostate. In a design flaw that would cause a professor to fail any engineering student, the urethra (The tube which carries urine from the bladder to the outside) in men runs through the prostate gland. Now that might not be so bad except that the prostate gland has a tendency to become enlarged over the years, squeezing the urethra and limiting the flow of urine. About 8% of men 31-40 have an enlarged prostate; by 50, that percentage has reached 50% and by 80, it is 80%. (For those who believe in "Intelligent Design", I'm sorry, but this is one more piece of evidence that God flunked out of engineering school.)
In the last few years I've come to realize that I fall on the wrong side of those percentages.
Experiencing the symptoms of a weak urine stream and frequent urgency, I thought that I had no choice but to live with it. Then about two years ago, a friend of mine told me about the "green-light laser" procedure that he had undergone. He entered the doctor's office and under anesthesia, a tube with a laser was inserted in his urethra. The laser was used to "ablate" or cut out some of the prostate obstruction. He left the office with a catheter; returned the next day to have the catheter removed and within a few days was back at his normal routine.
For over a year, I considered this. Finally in November, my urologist performed the same procedure on me. And I expected the same results.
HA!
Now I'm not sharing my tale because of some exhibitionist tendency. I thought about this quite a while before writing, but decided that for the many men out there who might experience BPH, I should share my experience so that you know the possibilities.
I did return the next day to have the catheter removed. But by that night, I was unable to urinate and had to go to the Emergency Room to have a new one inserted. Several days later it too was removed. But that is not the end of my sad tale. I experienced various symptoms, irritation, difficult urination and much more. I developed a great deal of irritation in the urethra, a weakening of the sphincter muscles and just a very miserable time of it.
For the first time, I now am experiencing incontinence. No one warned me of this possibility. As I left the Y one day, after a workout, I found my pant legs soaking from the flow of urine. I began wearing "panty shields" designed for women to use during their flow to protect their panties. Even that was not enough. I discovered and began wearing special disposable underpants which capture the flow. Some days I had to change those three times. Still that was a lot better than having wet underpants and pants.
My doctor gave me a "penile clamp" which clamps around the penis and puts pressure on the urethra (Without also stopping the blood flow within--parts of the body that don't have good blood flow tend to develop gangrene. We wouldn't want that.)
My physician has instructed me to do specific exercises (Kegel exercises for males concentrate on the pubococcygeus muscle or the PC muscle. This muscle can easily be identified by the man by trying to stop the flow of urine half way.) to strengthen the muscles which will improve and eliminate my incontinence over time. He has also let me know that there are medications he may prescribe to help. So I have great hope that eventually I'll be free of this.
Since then I have searched the Internet and discovered a whole industry catering to those of us with incontinence. There are several varieties of penile clamps and different types of both disposable and washable underwear for this. While women don't get BPH, they also have a high occurance of incontinence for other reasons, so there are similar incontinence products for women. (The Skene gland is sometimes called the female prostate because it does secret a similar fluid, and while it can become problematic, it does not surround the urethra and cause the same symptoms.)
Here is the point of this posting. If you suffer from BPH, don't hesitate to get treatment. The green-light laser also known as TUVP was the treatment I received but your physician may have a reason to use another. And medicine keeps coming up with new treatments. BUT remember that the recovery seems to be very different. It has taken as much as four to six months on rare occasion. But, as with my friend, it has also been known to take just a few days. Don't be surprised. Be prepared. But if it takes longer, know that there are products on the market that help you maintain a normal life during the period. (I have a different penile clamp on order and hope that it will be a little less uncomfortable.)
We have been taught to be embarrassed about incontinence and, in fact, about any "male trouble." All that does is make things more difficult. You-I must take the mental position that it is no different than a sprained wrist. It is uncomfortable, inconvenient and a damned nuisance BUT THERE IS NO FAULT and should be no embarrassment. And there is a whole industry out there trying to make it less onerous. Take them up on it.
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