Q: I am 84 and I have problems with my waterworks. I have to go to the bathroom on average every two hours, and more so at night. I get pain on the end of my penis, which sometimes keeps me awake at night. I have to take an extra strength Tylenol. Sometimes, after I go to the bathroom, the pain goes away. I hope you can help.
A: Frequency of urination is a common symptom of an infection of the urinary tract, either in the bladder or in the kidneys. I think if the kidneys were infected you would be much sicker and would likely have a fever. A bladder infection can make you feel quite miserable. This would also lead to a burning sensation on urinating.
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When you state that the pain can go away after you visit the bathroom, this is a little confusing. Do you mean that the pain goes after you have had a bowel movement? This can sometimes be a sign of prostate gland enlargement. If you still have your prostate, it is almost inevitable that by your age it is going to start causing problems. Hopefully, it is just a benign enlargement and not prostate cancer, but even if it is the latter, the prognosis is not so bad at this age. I do not expect that it would shorten your life at all.
If you have an enlarged prostate, it can cause the urethra, which is the tube through the penis, to become partially blocked. Sometimes the blockage is complete and requires a trip to the emergency department for a catheter to be inserted to empty the bladder. This is painful, so do not wait too long to get things checked out.
It may simply be an infection of the prostate known as prostatitis. This can be caused by common bacteria, but can be painful. It responds well to antibiotics. You may also need to be on an antibiotic to control what sounds like a urinary tract infection.
One reason older folk need to urinate more at night is that the blood flow to the kidneys works better when lying down and resting, so more urine is actually being produced. It isn’t just a matter of having a smaller bladder. Restricting fluids for a few hours before going to bed can help.
You did not mention any discharge, so I assume that you are not suffering from any type of sexually transmitted disease.
