Try these techniques to relieve common urinary symptoms without medication - Harvard Health

TAGS:  after-dribble, urethra emptying

and these can be somewhat different from bladder issues...

https://www.health.harvard.edu/mens-health/try-these-techniques-to-relieve-common-urinary-symptoms-without-medication

Try these techniques to relieve common urinary symptoms without medication - Harvard Health

2013

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Do you have BPH?

IRRITATIVE SYMPTOMS (Problems with bladder function)

Frequent urination during the day or night Strong and sudden urge to urinate, sometimes with involuntary leaking of urine

OBSTRUCTIVE SYMPTOMS (Problems with the flow of urine)

Difficulty starting urination Straining to urinate Incomplete bladder emptying Weak or intermittent urine stream Dribbling after urinating

What is BPH?

In many men, the prostate gland may begin to grow larger over time. The urethra—the tube that conveys urine from the bladder to outside the body—passes right through the prostate, so it doesn't take much prostate growth to make urination difficult. As the bladder works against the restriction, its muscular walls thicken. This can cause problems like the need for more frequent visits to the bathroom and difficulty fully emptying the bladder.

For some men, the symptoms of BPH don't demand immediate treatment. The question that should drive that decision is this: How much do your symptoms bother you? "Whether it is getting in the way of doing the things you want to do should be the primary driver of treatment," Dr. Barry says.

How bothersome is it?

Doctors use the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) to measure how frequent a man's symptoms are. It's a seven-item questionnaire about typical BPH symptoms that provides a score from 0 to 35. You can see the questionnaire at health.harvard.edu/IPSS.

Typically, men who score 8 and above are more likely to think their condition needs treatment, but it varies from man to man. "Above a score of 8 there is actually a spectrum of bother," Dr. Barry says. "Two men can have the same symptom score, and one can tolerate it just fine but the other can't."

The IPSS test cuts through the subjectivity with this additional question: "If you were to spend the rest of your life with your urinary condition just the way it is now, how would you feel about that?" If the answer is, "I could live with it," then watchful waiting might be best for you.

But watchful waiting doesn't mean "do nothing." It should include strategies to lessen symptoms or make them easier to cope with. In one recent study, men who attended classes on such self-management techniques lowered their IPSS symptom scores by 6 points within three months. "Six points is a difference most men would perceive," Dr. Barry says.

Living with BPH: A toolbox for managing urinary symptoms BPH progresses slowly, so most men can decide for themselves if and when they would like to consider medication or surgery. Men with mild to moderate symptoms often find that the changes in fluid intake, medication use, and bladder habits listed below can noticeably relieve BPH's bothersome effects.

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Try urethral milking: To prevent post-void dribbling, gently squeeze the base of the penis after urinating and work your way outward to force urine out of the urethra.

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