They tend to be more associated with women who are about to give birth, but men who have frequent urination may benefit from pelvic floor exercises, a study shows.
Hundreds of thousands of men in Britain currently suffer from debilitating symptoms when going to the toilet, including hesitation, straining, frequent urges to urinate and problems emptying the bladder effectively.
Surgery is usually only advised for those with severe symptoms, while unpleasant side effects have been associated with the few medications available.
Now experts have found that the exercises, combined with behavioral therapy via a phone app, can lead to significant improvement in symptoms – and may even be more effective than current medical treatments.
Hundreds of thousands of men in Britain suffer debilitating symptoms when they go to the toilet, including hesitation, straining, frequent urges to urinate and problems emptying the bladder effectively (stock image)
A team from the University Hospital Freiburg in Germany recruited 237 men over the age of 18 who suffered from varying degrees of bladder emptying disorders.
However, only half were able to access an app-based therapy.
Participants were asked to keep a urine diary and complete questionnaires about the severity of their symptoms and their overall quality of life.
After twelve weeks, the study found a significant improvement in symptoms and quality of life in participants who received the app-based therapy, compared to those in the control group.
The study found that, crucially, the app-based therapy was more effective than medical therapy.
Professor Christian Gratzke, who co-led the trial, said: ‘Frequent urge to urinate and problems emptying the bladder are the most common urinary tract disorders we see in men after urinary tract infections.
‘Although some medications are available, they are usually ineffective, and so far there is little data available to support physiotherapy.
Experts have found that pelvic floor exercises, combined with behavioral therapy via a phone app, can lead to significant improvement in symptoms (stock image)
“We’re confident we now have that data, and making this form of therapy available digitally could be a game changer for the millions of men who struggle with bladder emptying problems every day.”
Bladder emptying disorders can occur from the age of 30 and usually affect a large proportion of men over the age of 50.
Jean-Nicolas Cornu, professor of urology at Charles Nicolle Hospital in France, said: ‘There is little to no evidence to support training men to better control their bladder, despite this being recommended in clinical guidelines.
‘This is the first randomized controlled trial of physiotherapy and behavioral therapy for bladder emptying disorders, and it shows a very positive effect compared to conventional drug treatment.
‘We now need a larger study into the long-term effect of this app-based therapy after twelve weeks for different forms of bladder emptying disorders. If widely offered, this treatment could dramatically change clinical practice and alleviate symptoms without exposing patients to drugs.
‘We could save many unnecessary prescriptions for medicines that are generally of little use.’
The results of the Bladder Emptying Disorder Therapy (BEST) study were presented at the European Association of Urology Congress in Paris.