Painful urination: How long does it last after radiation (RT)?

It peaked for me a year after RT (20 sessions of SBRT) and continued to be acute for about 6 months. It's still with me almost 3 years later, but it doesn't interfere with my life much any more.

My case is unusual, though. For most people, any side effects fade in a few weeks or months.

Thanks for the quick response. I'll be hopeful that mine doesn't last as long but who knows.

Here are some related discussions:
- Radiation causing constant urge to urinate and burning https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/radiation-causing-constant-urge-to-urinate-and-burning/
- Painful urination every 10 to 15 minutes at night during SBRT https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/painful-urination-every-10-to15-minutes-at-night-during-sbrt/
- Radiation for prostate cancer: Difficult urinating after sleeping https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/difficult-urinating-after-sleeping/

@bobv48, has the painful urination improved? How are you doing now? What tips might you share?

I'm now a little over 5 weeks past the conclusion of a 28-session EBRT regimen. Around the middle of my course of treatment, I started having urgency and frequency issues, along with some discomfort, especially when trying to get started urinating. I'm happy to report that these side effects have mostly disappeared now - there are ups and downs, but I feel like I'm mostly back to where I was before the start of treatments. I'm up once or twice a night to pee, and I'm okay with that.

Something that I found helpful while the side effects were more severe was, when I was trying to start urinating, I would "massage" my penis with sort of a reverse "milking" motion (I know that sounds a little weird, and you may not want to do it in a public restroom). It seemed to help me get the urine flowing, and it also seemed to reduce the burning/discomfort. No idea whether there is any scientific basis for this working - but if it works, it works!