Though it’s often under reported, some adults wet their bed unintentionally throughout their lives and are too scared or ashamed to even tell their doctors. Bed wetting, usually associated with children, could be a sign of a more serious condition in adults.

Adults who involuntarily wet themselves during sleep often feel embarrassed and afraid to mention their problem to anyone, even their own doctor. This is an unfortunate mistake.

Adult bed wetting, or adult nocturnal enuresis, is a condition which plagues many men and women of all ages and from all economic classes. Strictly speaking adult bed wetting occurs when an adult cannot control his or her bladder during sleep and ends up urinating in the bed. This loss of bladder control in bed may or may not actually wake the person from sleep.

There are two distinct kinds of adult bed wetters. They are loosely broken into people who have wet their beds all their lives and people who have only begun wetting their beds after a long period of dryness.

Adults who wet their beds over their lifetimes are said to suffer from primary nocturnal enuresis, which is often considered the more difficult kind of enuresis to treat. It often leads to psychological problems and low-self esteem.

Adult onset enuresis, or secondary nocturnal enuresis, is a type of bed wetting which adults are said to suffer from when they develop their habits later in life and have not spent their entire lives suffering.

There are lots of different causes of adult bed wetting, and a qualified medical professional can properly diagnose your condition. Certain medicines, internal injuries, emotional anxiety and even bladder cancer can all cause an otherwise healthy adult to wet the bed.

Talking to your doctor about your bed wetting issues is one way ensure your health. Treatment could be as simple as a few behavioral changes, or you could undergo tests for a more serious condition.

It is estimated that over 4 million American adults suffer from bed wetting. Adult bed wetting can often be the sign of a more dangerous underlying medical condition such as bladder cancer or diabetes, so it is not something to be ignored or treated lightly.