The following treatments may cause urinary problems:
• Surgery to remove to the prostate gland (radical prostatectomy)
• External beam radiotherapy
• Brachytherapy
• High intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU)
• Cryotherapy

If you are considering treatment for prostate cancer you should discuss the possible side effects with your doctor. You may also like to read our treatment choices pages.

Making some changes may help you to manage your urinary problems. These include:
• Maintaining a healthy weight and level of fitness
• Stopping smoking as this can cause coughing, which may irritate your bladder
• Avoiding constipation, for example by eating a healthy diet that is high in fibre
• Drinking enough liquid (two litres or three to four pints per day), but avoiding or reducing liquids that may irritate the bladder such as fizzy drinks, caffeine based drinks (tea, coffee and cola), and alcohol

If you are leaking urine after your prostate cancer treatment, there are a number of things that may help.

Finding a treatment that is right for you will depend on how much urine you are leaking and the amount of time since you had treatment.

Treatments for leaking urine include:

• Pelvic floor muscle exercises
• An artificial urinary sphincter
• An internal sling
• Bulking agents

You can read more about these treatments in our online Tool Kit fact sheet.

Losing a few drops of urine after you have finished passing urine is common in men of all ages. Many men find that even after waiting and shaking the penis, a very small amount of urine will leak out afterwards. This may happen if the urethra (the tube which you pass urine through) has not emptied completely and a small pool of urine gets left behind.

After you have finished passing urine try tightening your pelvic floor muscles. This will push the urine out of the urethra and help to stop the dribbling.

Alternatively, after you have finished passing urine, wait a few seconds and then use your fingertips to press gently behind the scrotum. Move your fingers forward toward the base of the penis under the scrotum and keep pressing gently. This should push the urine further along the urethra. You can then shake the last few drops out.

You can read more about this in our urinary problems information.

Some men find that they need to pass urine more often and that they have a sudden urge to go to the toilet. Sometimes they may leak before they get there.

There are a number of things you can do to relieve your symptoms:
• Avoid drinks that might irritate the bladder such as fizzy drinks, caffeine and alcohol.
• Keep drinking enough liquid (two litres or three to four pints per day). Do not reduce your fluid intake as this can make symptoms worse.
• Pelvic floor muscle exercises may help.
• Bladder retraining.
• Drug treatment and surgery although these are less common.

If you need to urinate frequently and notice that your urine is cloudy, smells or stings, you may have a urine infection and should go and see your GP.

You can read more about this in our urinary problems information.

If you have to get up to go to the toilet a lot at night, try cutting down on any drinks in the last two hours before you go to bed, particularly any alcohol, coffee or tea.

Bladder retraining may help, but you will need to train your bladder in the daytime before you work on any problems with urinating at night.

If you have swollen legs, you may find that you pass more urine at night. Try putting your legs up whenever you can during the day.

You can read more about this in our urinary problems information.

You may not be able to empty your bladder because your urethra (the tube which you pass urine through) is very narrow. Prostate cancer, treatments for prostate cancer or other prostate problems such as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) can cause narrowing of the urethra.

Some men may be able to pass some urine but leave increasingly large amounts of urine behind in the bladder. Signs of this include:
• leaking urine
• wetting the bed
• an expanding waistline
• more urine infections
• your bladder may still feel full after passing urine
• a weak stream

Some men get a sudden and painful inability to pass urine. If this happens, you will need treatment straight away, and should contact your specialist team as soon as possible.

Treatments to help if your bladder is not emptying properly include:
• Tablets called alpha-blockers which can help to relax the muscles around the prostate or the neck of the bladder.
• A small operation to stretch the urethra or by remove excess prostate tissue.
• Self-catheterisation, where you are shown how to pass a fine tube (catheter) up through the penis into the bladder to drain the urine.

You can read more about this in our urinary problems information.

Your GP will be able to offer advice and put you in touch with your local NHS continence service. Alternatively, you can usually refer yourself to your continence service. Continence services are run by specialist nurses and physiotherapists. They will be able to advise you on treatment options and provide support. You can find out about continence services in your area from The Bladder and Bowel Foundation.

There are a variety of products that can help you deal with incontinence:
• Absorbent pads and pants
• Penile sheaths
• Catheters
• Other products such as reusable bedpads and urinals are also available.

Talk to your continence advisor or contact organisations such as the Bladder and Bowel Foundation or PromoCon for more information.

Urinary problems can affect your self-esteem, your dignity and your independence. If you are having difficulty managing your urinary problems, talk to your specialist team or contact your continence service for help and advice. If you would like to speak to someone with personal experience of urinary problems, we can put you in touch with someone through our one-to-one support service.

• Is the treatment I am having for prostate cancer likely to cause any urinary problems?
• What type of urinary problems might I have?
• If I can not pass urine what should I do?
• Will my urinary problems get better?
• What treatment is available?
• What else can I do to help myself?
• What are the risks and side effects of treatments for

You can find a full list of references used to produce this page in our online fact sheet.