Fortunately, this is rare, because most men are driven by their symptoms to seek medical attention long before serious complications occur. Obstructive symptoms include hesitancy, weak stream, intermittency, incomplete emptying, and terminal dribbling. Hesitancy is an increase in the period between when you initiate urination by relaxing your urethral sphincter and when the urine stream actually begins. You may recognize a weak stream not only by its being less forceful, but also by its being thinner than usual. Most men are aware of what is normal for them.
Intermittency is an interruption of the urinary stream in the middle of voiding.
Incomplete voiding is a desire to urinate immediately after you already have done so. Left untreated, that can lead to urinary tract infections or urinary retention, which we'll discuss later. Irritative symptoms include frequency, nocturia, urgency, urge incontinence, dysuria, hematuria, enuresis, urinary tract infection, and urinary retention. Frequency refers to abnormally frequent trips to the toilet, which usually means more than seven times a day or fewer than three hours between visits. Obviously, a lot depends upon your fluid intake, whether you've taken diuretics, and other factors.