Read press release Urinary problems after prostate cancer
This page tells you about urinary problems after prostate cancer treatment, including incontinence. You can find information about
Urinary problems after prostate cancer
You may have urinary problems before and after prostate cancer treatment.
Before treatment, you may have had trouble passing water because your prostate was larger than normal. Some men find they have trouble getting started. Some men have problems with dribbling urine. A few find they suddenly can't go at all and have to go into hospital as an emergency.
After treatment, the problems are different. Unfortunately, after either surgery or radiotherapy, many men find they don't have complete control over their bladder. This covers a range of situations, from occasional dribbling or leaking of urine to complete loss of control.
There are many ways of managing the problem. Discuss any worries with your doctor or nurse. They may be able to refer you to a continence adviser at the hospital or in the community. The community continence adviser will be able to visit you at home.
You can also get helpful information from the Bladder and Bowel Foundation.
You can view and print the quick guides for all the pages in the Living with prostate cancer section.
Urinary problems are common both before and after treatment for prostate cancer. Before treatment, you may have had trouble passing water because your prostate was larger than normal. Some men find they have trouble getting the urine flow started. Some men have problems with dribbling urine. A few find they suddenly can't go at all and have to go into hospital as an emergency.
After treatment, the problems are different. The effects may last for a few weeks for most people and may include
- Needing to pass urine often often and at night
- Poor flow of urine
- Blood in the urine
- Urinary incontinence
Radiotherapy may also cause
- A burning sensation when passing urine
- Bladder irritation (like cystitis)
There is information about short term problems such as bladder irritation in our section about pelvic radiotherapy side effects.
Unfortunately, after either surgery or radiotherapy, some men find that long term they don't have complete control over their bladder. Incontinence is the medical term for losing control of your bladder. This covers a range of situations, from occasional dribbling or leaking of urine to complete loss of control.
Causes of urinary problems
Incontinence may be caused by
- Your prostate cancer
- Surgery
- Radiotherapy
Sometimes men have temporary incontinence after prostate surgery or radiotherapy. So the problem may get better with time. There is a lot you can do to manage it in the meantime.
Permanent incontinence after radiotherapy is quite rare these days, but it can happen. It is more common to have problems passing urine because of a narrowing of the tube carrying urine from the bladder (a stricture). Up to 1 in 12 men (8%) need a short operation to stretch this narrowing after radiotherapy treatment for prostate cancer.
Permanent incontinence may happen after radical prostatectomy. About 1 in 5 men (20%) have minor long term problems with incontinence after this type of surgery. About 1 in 20 men (5%) have more serious long term incontinence problems.
Recently there has been a lot of progress in dealing with incontinence. There are many ways of managing the problem. Discuss any worries you have with your doctor or nurse. They can refer you to a continence adviser at the hospital or in the community. The community continence adviser is usually a district nurse with specialist knowledge of incontinence problems who will be able to visit you at home.
You can also get helpful information from the Bladder and Bowel Foundation.
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