Light Incontinence: An Alternative Option to Men’s Incontinence Underwear
The term incontinence has a connotation that makes it seem like you cannot control your bladder. But the reality is that many men experience just light incontinence — a few drips and dribbles here and there.
If you only have light urine loss, you probably don’t need to wear those big, bulky adult underwear. More discreet solutions can get the job done just as well. Let’s take a look at some alternatives to incontinence underwear.
What Is Light Incontinence?
Incontinence is the loss of bladder control that typically becomes common with age. It can occur after or during a strenuous activity like sneezing or playing sports, or it can happen throughout the day as part of a complete inability to control urination.
Incontinence can be ranked as mild, moderate, and severe. By definition, mild incontinence, or light incontinence, is urine loss between 1.3 and 20 grams. Moderate incontinence is urine loss between 21g and 74g, while severe urine loss is anything over 75g loss within 24 hours.
Increasing severity is usually associated with age, as older adults tend to see an increase in their inability to hold their urine.
Light incontinence is just some general drips and dribbles here and there. Typically, men see spotting after activities like golfing, lifting, or running. In most of these scenarios, incontinence is mild.
What Is Adult Incontinence Underwear Used For?
Many men think that the only option for urinary incontinence is adult underwear. Here’s the thing — you don’t need to start wearing diapers for just a little bit of urine here and there.
Adult underwear is for severe urinary and fecal incontinence (the inability to control bowel movements). Adult incontinence underwear is extra absorbent and completely replaces the need for wearing boxers or briefs.
They’re often a little uncomfortable and hard to move around in, so they’re not totally versatile when getting you back to the activities you love most. The good news is that you don’t need to wear adult diapers to help fight back against the embarrassment of slight urine loss.
What Can I Use for Light Incontinence?
You probably don’t need or want adult diapers when you only lose a little bit of pee throughout the day. That’s why MDP is the go-to for light urine incontinence.
MDP is a lot less like underwear and a lot more like a sleeve for your penis. It absorbs up to two ounces of urine, about the same as what could fit inside your favorite shot glass. Plus, it’s small and discreet enough that it allows you to keep wearing your typical boxers or briefs without a problem.
It’s also a one-size-fits-all solution. So instead of figuring out which size adult diapers you even need, you tighten the proprietary straps as you see fit. You can even tighten and loosen the straps throughout the day.
The material is soft and comfortable. You might even want to keep wearing it even when incontinence is no longer bothering you. Bigger isn’t always best, and when it comes to urine incontinence, don’t fork over the money on giant adult diapers when you don’t need to.
How Can I Alleviate Light Incontinence?
The good news about slight incontinence is that you can usually work to fix it. You might even reach a point where you no longer need to use incontinence products. If you’re currently wearing adult incontinence underwear and hoping to get to a point where you can upgrade to something small like MDP, here are some tips.
Stop Smoking
Smoking can cause a whole slew of issues for your health, but that’s not really news. What is news is that smoking can make it harder for you to control your bladder.
Smoking makes you more prone to coughing attacks, which weaken your pelvic muscles and make you more accident-prone. We’re not saying you must completely give up your Saturday night cigars on the back porch.
But just be mindful of your smoking habits, especially if you’re trying to cut back on urine loss.
Avoid Lifting Too Heavy
Lifting heavy weights can also strain your pelvic floor muscles and make it harder to hold your bladder. So try to avoid lifting heavy objects if you have trouble with incontinence.
Of course, you shouldn’t need to say no to picking up your grandchild or grabbing those shopping bags off the floor for your partner. When you do life, tighten your pelvic floor muscles to reduce the risk of leaking.
You can also practice pelvic floor exercises to strengthen your bladder muscles and prevent incontinence during strenuous lifting. Something as simple as tightening your pelvic floor for a few seconds during 15 minutes can go a long way. Check with your doctor before starting any pelvic floor exercise.
Drink More Water
We know it sounds crazy to drink more water when you’re trying to dribble less, but drinking less water to stop incontinence can decrease your bladder capacity and actually make the condition worse. So aim to drink around six to eight glasses of water a day to help train your bladder to hold more for longer.
In Conclusion
Adult incontinence underwear is definitely not something that most people want to wear, but if you struggle with moderate to severe incontinence, you might need to. Just know that if your incontinence is just a few drips here and there, you don’t need to start wearing adult diapers.
MDP is a solution for slight incontinence that is form-fitting to most penis sizes and allows you to get back to what you love most without sacrificing comfort. It’s discreet, easy to put on, and even easier to adjust. Try it out today to see the difference MDP can make.
Sources:
Definition of mild, moderate and severe incontinence on the 24-hour pad test | NCBI.
Fecal incontinence - Symptoms and causes | The Mayo Clinic.
Pelvic floor muscle training exercises | MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia