What embarrassing health secret do teen athletes, guys in their 40s to 90s, midlife women and military parachute trainees share but rarely ‘fess up to? Bladder problems. We’re talking dribbles, sudden leaks, mad dashes to the bathroom and pad-soaking floods. Thanks to the billion-dollar absorbent-products industry — there are now even padded boxer shorts — it’s easier than ever to hide incontinence. But should you?

You may have heard that this wet-underwear issue is on the rise. More than half of women deal with it, and it’s increased 30 percent in men just since 2002. Aging, hormone changes, pregnancy, childbirth, physical stress (gymnastics to parachuting) all play roles, but so do new factors like the obesity-plus-diabetes epidemic and the increase in radiation and surgery for prostate cancer. About 156,000 men have potentially life-saving prostate cancer surgery each year; 80 percent leak for at least six months, and up to 65 percent still have incontinence issues after five years.