Overflow incontinence is the name given to urinary leakage caused by an overfull bladder.
In normal health, the bladder is emptied completely at micturition, but certain factors can cause the bladder to retain some urine, which can lead to leakage. Also, other factors can affect the normal need to urinate, and the bladder becomes overfull, leakage being the overflow incontinence.
This type of incontinence is, in fact, more common in men than women. It can be brought about by several causes:
- an enlarged prostate, which might be due to a benign or malignant tumour
- the muscles that squeeze the bladder becoming weak
- blockage of the urethra (the tube from the bladder to the outside) by tumour, kidney stones, infection of the urethra or bladder causing swelling, scarring from use of catheters, or (particularly in the overweight) the urethra being kinked by the bladder dropping from its normal place in the abdomen.
- Nerve damage to the bladder, for example in a spinal injury, or spina bifida
- Nerve damage to the bladder from diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis, Diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, and alcoholism
- Medications that affect the nerve signals to the bladder, such as some anti-convulsants and some anti-depressants.
Anyone experiencing ‘dribbling’ of urine should see their doctor, as many causes may be remedied by, for example:
- A change in medication
- Treatment of infection
- Prostatectomy (removal of prostate) which can be done via the urethra
- Ultrasonic treatment to remove kidney stones
- Losing weight
- Kegel exercises to strengthen the muscles
Doctors will do several types of tests to determine the cause before recommending a treatment. These may include:
- urine tests for infection
- catheterisation after emptying of the bladder to see if there is retained urine
- making the patient cough to see if the incontinence occurs, when it may be deemed to be stress incontinence
- ultrasound examination of the urinary tract system
- cystoscopy, where a fiber optic scope is passed through the urethra to examine the bladder
Any incontinence is socially unacceptable, and there are many ways of handling this. There are small pads that may be put inside pants, if the dribbling is small, moving up to full size pull-up pants that are made to absorb a bladder-full of urine. It is, of course, important to change these as frequently as necessary to avoid odour and chafing on the sensitive skin. It is also advisable to go to the toilet every 2 hours, whether or not one feels the need, in order to keep the bladder from overfilling and thus obviate the overflow incontinence.