After-Dribble in Men: What Post Micturition Dribble Is and What Helps
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You finish at the urinal, do everything you normally do, zip up, and three steps later you feel a warm patch. Those drops are urine that was already sitting in the tube. Continence Health Australia calls it after-dribble or post-micturition incontinence, and the International Continence Society's term is post-micturition leakage. Search for it and you'll also find post micturition dribble.
Continence Health Australia describes after-dribble as a small amount of urine that may leak once you have finished going to the toilet, and says it is more common in men. It is a different thing from leaking when you cough or lift, and a different thing from the sudden urgent need that has you looking for a toilet. Those have their own causes and their own answers.
This one is narrower. It also sits inside the bigger picture of living well with incontinence.
What is post micturition dribble?
The International Continence Society's term is post-micturition leakage, which it defines as a further involuntary passage of urine after you have finished passing urine. Continence Health Australia calls it after-dribble: a small amount of urine that may leak after you have finished going to the toilet. Post micturition dribble is one way people search for it.
The name shifts depending on who is writing it down. People also search for it as after dribble or post void dribble, or describe it more plainly as leaking urine after finishing, or a few drops of urine after urinating.
The distinction matters because it changes what helps. Stress leakage happens under pressure, when you cough, sneeze or lift something heavy. Urge leakage is a sudden, strong need to go that may lead to leaks before you reach the toilet.
After-dribble happens once the flow has stopped. In males, dribbling after urination can feel like a betrayal: you did nothing wrong, and it happened anyway.
Why after-dribble happens
The urethra is the tube that carries urine from the bladder out of the body. Continence Health Australia says after-dribble can happen when the bladder does not fully empty.
CHA says this may be linked to an enlarged prostate, weakened pelvic floor muscles, or other health issues. That last item is deliberately open on their part, so treat the list as a starting point rather than the full set of possible causes.
What can help reduce it
Continence Health Australia sets out two simple steps that may help, and neither needs a product or an appointment to try.
The first is to sit down to pass urine, which can help with emptying fully. It costs nothing to test at home.
The second is gentle pressure. After you have finished, place your fingers behind the scrotum where you can feel a soft area, and gently press upwards and forwards. That can help move any urine still sitting in the urethra along the tube.
Then shake or squeeze as you normally would.
Pelvic Floor First, the exercise programme run by Continence Health Australia, has the men's technique in full, including how to identify the right muscles and what a correct contraction should feel like. We are not going to re-teach it here in half a paragraph, because getting the technique right is the whole point. Our guide to pelvic floor exercises for continence walks through the Australian guidance in detail, and a continence physiotherapist or continence nurse can check you are doing it correctly if you are not sure.
Match the response to the pattern
A small amount of urine after you finish is a different problem to leaking through the day, and what helps depends on which you are dealing with:
- A small amount after you finish, and nothing else. Start with the two CHA steps above. If you want to talk through ways to manage it, a nurse continence specialist on the National Continence Helpline can help.
- After-dribble plus leakage during the day. Once you are also losing urine when you cough, lift, or move toward the toilet, our guide to sizing, fit and the product options for men covers how to choose between shapes, so we will not repeat it here. For sizing, see our sizing guide.
- Leakage overnight as well. Bed protection such as the Maxi Bed Mat is another option, and there is more on managing leakage overnight in that guide.
Why it is worth mentioning
The cost of not mentioning it is not the dribble. It is that the two steps above go untried, and that a symptom worth checking goes unchecked. Bladder changes in men can point at the prostate, and a mention at an appointment you were attending anyway is a low price for finding that out.
If saying it out loud to your own GP is the barrier, the National Continence Helpline is a free and confidential service staffed by nurse continence specialists.
When to see your GP
After-dribble alongside other bladder changes is worth having looked at.
One sign cannot wait for an appointment. If your bladder feels full but you cannot urinate (wee) at all, healthdirect advises seeing your doctor immediately or going to the emergency department.
Continence Health Australia advises speaking with a nurse continence specialist, pelvic health physiotherapist or GP if after-dribble comes with any of the following:
- difficulty starting to pass urine
- straining to empty your bladder
- a slow or weak urine stream
- a sudden, urgent need to go
- burning or discomfort when passing urine
- blood in the urine
- waking more than once during the night to go to the toilet
- changing your daily routine because of bladder or bowel concerns
That list is not there to alarm anyone. It is there because none of those signs are things to sit on.
If you would rather talk to someone before booking anything, the National Continence Helpline on 1800 33 00 66 is free and staffed by nurse continence specialists.
The short version
After-dribble has a name and two steps you can try. If it comes with any of the signs above, book the appointment. If your bladder feels full but you cannot urinate at all, see your doctor immediately or go to the emergency department.
If it carries on or gets worse without any of those signs, that is still worth raising. Call the National Continence Helpline on 1800 33 00 66 to talk it through with a nurse continence specialist, who may suggest you see a GP or a pelvic health physiotherapist.
Read more on Continence Health Australia. If bladder changes have moved past a few drops, you can see the shape of the everyday absorbent range, and if you are new to Comfort First you can request a free sample pack to try the fit at home before you commit to anything, and we will follow up by phone or email.