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A person experiences urinary hesitancy or difficulty starting and maintaining urination when they have problems with urination involving starting or maintaining a stream of urine. Specifically, while older males most commonly experience this due to an enlarged prostate, anyone of any age can have it.

Furthermore, anyone who experiences on going symptoms of difficulty urination should speak with a doctor, who can rule out any underlying causes.

Moreover, without treatment, urinary hesitancy may lead to urinary retention. Consequently, a person cannot void their bladder completely when they have difficulty urination. Ultimately, it constitutes a medical emergency.

Causes

Several possible causes of urinary hesitancy exist. Specifically, some can affect anyone, while others only affect one sex.

In fact, some of the most common causes include:

• A cancerous tumor causing a blockage
• Sexually transmitted infections
• Enlarged prostate
• Anesthetics from surgery
• Kidney or bladder stones
• Voiding dysfunction
• Medications, such as decongestants
• Nerve damage from an accident, a stroke, diabetes, or brain damage
• Psychological conditions
• Surgery on any part of the urinary tract
• Urinary tract infections

Moreover, a person may experience urinary hesitancy on its own or, alternatively, as part of a wider under-active bladder under-active bladder symptom complex. However, medical professionals have yet to define this.

Furthermore multiple sclerosis may also cause bladder dysfunction, including urinal hesitancy.

Urinary Hesitancy Causes in Females

During pregnancy and after childbirth, females may experience difficulty in  urination.

Urinary Hesitancy Causes in Males

A benign enlarged prostate commonly causes urinary hesitancy in males. In fact, although older males most commonly experience this cause, an enlarged prostate can also affect younger males. Specifically, by age 60, as many as 50% of males experience symptoms of an enlarged prostate.

Furthermore, the prostate, a gland unique to males, surrounds the urethra. Consequently, the urethra transports urine out of the body. As a result, as the prostate enlarges over time, it pressures the urethra. Thus, this increasing pressure may make it difficult for a male to start or maintain a urine stream.”

Several remedies exist that a person can try at home to potentially alleviate urinary hesitancy. Furthermore, these steps often require minimal effort and complement medical care.

Nevertheless, it is essential to note that these remedies remain purely anecdotal and lack medical proof for alleviating urinary hesitancy.

In addition, some potential home remedies for urinary hesitancy include:

• For example, taking a warm bath or shower
• Alternatively, using a hot water bottle or heating pad on the abdomen
• Also, massaging the bladder area
• Moreover, keeping a record of urination patterns to identify triggers
• Similarly, doing Kegel exercises
• Additionally, limiting fluid intake
• Finally, bladder training

The main symptom of urinary hesitancy involves difficulty starting or maintaining a urine stream.

Moreover, people may develop urinary hesitation slowly over time. Consequently, the slow onset can make it difficult to identify the condition until they lose the ability to empty their bladder.

Furthermore, over time, individuals may experience urinary hesitancy that develops into urinary retention. This, in turn, can cause swelling and discomfort in the bladder and presents a medical emergency.

Therefore, anyone with urine hesitancy should seek immediate attention if they experience any of the following:

• An inability to urinate at all
• A fever
• Chills
• Shaking
• Lower back pain
• Vomiting

Even in non-severe cases, people who ignore a weak urine flow or difficulty starting urination, consequently, allow the condition to worsen. Eventually, this may lead to urinary retention, which, in turn, may require surgery.

Furthermore, the underlying causes of the condition and current guidelines will determine the type of surgery a person undergoes.

Additionally, acute urinary retention, or the sudden and complete inability to urinate, is a severe condition that, therefore, demands immediate medical attention. Without treatment, it can, ultimately, cause serious health problems.

Urinary hesitancy describes a situation in which, specifically, a person has difficulty starting or maintaining a stream of urine. Moreover, older males predominantly experience urinary hesitancy; however, it can affect people of all ages and sexes.

Additionally, many potential causes lead to urinary hesitancy, including, for instance, bladder obstructions, an enlarged prostate, and complications related to childbirth.

Consequently, if someone consistently experiences urinary hesitancy, they should contact a doctor. Furthermore, doctors call the inability to pass urine at all urinary retention, and, as a result, it is considered a medical emergency.