Why should I track my urine flow rate?
Although common knowledge says that as we age our urine stream weakens, this process is not, in most cases, caused by your bladder weakening over time. Rather, a weakening stream is often caused by enlargement of the prostate.
The prostate is the semen-producing gland located around the urethra where it attaches to your bladder. Right around your mid-twenties, your prostate will begin to grow naturally in a process called benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). This process is non-cancerous and is not correlated with prostate cancer as far as we know.
Symptoms
Because of its location, your prostate can grow to a large enough size that it begins to affect your urination, and this is most commonly the source of a weakening urine stream as your body ages. More than half of men with BPH may never show symptoms, but BPH can produce symptoms that negatively affect your daily routine and cause discomfort or even misery due to interruptions of your sleep cycle.
Symptoms of BPH can include:
A hesitant and/or interrupted urine stream
A more urgent need to pee
Leaking or dribbling before you get to the bathroom
A sense that your bladder is not empty after you pee
Frequent urination that wakes you up in the night.
Contact your doctor if you experience any of the above symptoms. Your doctor may prescribe medication to shrink your prostate down to a more reasonable size. If this does not alleviate symptoms, your doctor may recommend surgery to remove excess prostate tissue.
Getting ahead of the curve
Keeping tabs on your urine stream means being aware of your BPH before the symptoms affect your everyday life and cause you grief. There’s no better way to keep tabs on your stream than proudP.
Using deep-learning technology validated in multiple clinical studies and internal lab tests, proudP can tell if your stream is weakening before you notice anything. Weakening of your urine stream is gradual, meaning that without more severe symptoms of BPH you may not notice any change until it’s too late.
Because it is precise, using acoustics and uroflowmetry to measure the strength of your urine stream, proudP will pick up on even a tiny change and notify you if it feels you should contact a urologist. Use proudP to keep in touch with your body, so you can seek care fast and get on with your life.