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Kegel exercises are very effective if you actually do them, but they can also be boring to do and hard to repeat often enough. I found a great urinary incontinence treatment exercise program that incorporates kegels but is quick and easy to do and you don't have to repeat it several times each day. It uses the The Feldenkrais Method and was developed by physical therapist Dr. Deborah Bowes.
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I had Robotic Prostatectomy on 14 March 09. 10 days later had my catheter removed. Presently when I go to washroom at night I can pass urine. But during daytime while standing walking or bending it leaks. I do Kegel about 3 times a day. What are chances of recovering. When I pass urine at night I can hold it in midstream.
Can't answer your question, but I had a RP a week and a half ago, and had my Foley removed last week. Same problems; when i am at rest I do not leak, and can get up and make it to the bathroom ok, but when I am on my feet a lot I leak uncontrollably. I do my kegelsl, but I do not understand the link between strengthening the pelvic floor muscles and restoring proper, automatic functioning of the urinary sphincter. Can anyone explain this, please?
I also cannot answer the question. This is my experience after robotic surgery. I had my catheter removed 4 days after surgery. I could not urinate and had to have the catheter reinserted. 3 days later they again removed the catheter after filling the bladder. I was then able to urinate and emptied the bladder. Later I was not able to urinate and had to have the catheter reinserted. Then following 4 days the catheter was removed and now I am experiencing almost constant leakage. It seems as though the bladder never gets full. I have a small urge to urinate occasionally and can urinate in spurts after 2 days without the catheter. No stream. The Doctor claims I will gain full control in about 6 weeks. I have not told him about the inability to hold urine in the bladder.
I posted the first reply above last summer. Keep doing the Kegel exercises! The improvement is so slight that you may not notice it at first. The road to recovering continence is long, slow, and torturingly frustrating but don't give up. I was completely incontinent at first, but after 3 months I was using one thin pad per day, and after about 4 months I stopped using any pads whatsoever. I was 65 when I had my surgery, so I am not so young, but I was in good physical shape. Do as much walking and light exercise as you can; it helps get you back to normal sooner. Good luck, and don't give up hope.
This spring I had to undergo adjuvant radiation therapy. After that I would occasionally leak a drop or two if I sneezed or passed wind, but not enough to bother wearing any protection. I can live with that, even if it doesn't go away.
I am a 59 year old man who had my robotic prostate surgery in October, 09. I was told to do the Keagle exercises, but I was lax and didn't do them. As a result, here I am 7 months later and I still wear a poise pad. Whenever my bladder is half full or more and I pass gas I leak.....often times, when my bladder is full, I leak a little before I can find a mens' room. It's very frustrating, however, I blame myself for not following my doctors orders. Today I do the Keagles as often as I can. However, I do not see any improvement. But you know what? It doesn't matter.....I don't have cancer. I can live with the poise pads!!
You MUST do the Kegel exercises, or your urinary sphincter will NOT come back to normal. It's not too late to continue them, tho it may take longer now. True, some men never recover, but the harder you try the better chance you have. You should be able to wean yourself off the pads, but it will take time and willpower.
I had my prostate removed in May 2009 and have been incontinent ever since. I am able to hold it at night but leak continually during the day. I had the robotic procedure which I regret. I now have a urologist in Boston who does an open method with almost complete sucess regarding incontinence. I had a sling put on in July 2010 but remain inc. I am thinking of doing this again with more aggressive measures. My PCP thinks I should have the artificial urinary sphincter but I am quite turned off with the thought of a mechanical button. I am thankful to be cancer free but if I had known how much this would affect my life I would have had second thoughts about it.