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incontinence following prostratectomy

Prostate Cancer | Last Active: 2 hours ago | Replies (31)

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@jervl

I had RARP including 18 lymph nodes removed (3 were positive for cancer), and was incontinent so much afterwards that I started to get really depressed. Threw myself into a Kegel regimen that included 4-5 sessions a day. I am retired so I had the time, no real excuse to not do it. Took about 6 weeks of dedicated effort, but I no longer wear any type of pad. Admittedly I have an oops once in a while, especially since I started proton radiation treatment last week, but overall the Kegels worked for me.

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Replies to "I had RARP including 18 lymph nodes removed (3 were positive for cancer), and was incontinent..."

Thanks so much jervl.

this really brings up another issue for me.
according to the research there is a significant lack of research and agreement on how many kegels to do a day (the only big meta-analysis specifically on male incontinence following RARP)
So I hear many recommendations to do three sets of as many as 20-30 slow contractions (kegels) One person recommended 10-15 every hour. My urologist recommended three sets of 30 long slow ones ( 15 seconds) I asked about quick ones as well and he did not think they were important
However,
1. many experts recommend slow and fast kegels ( either one or two second short ones followed by one or two second relaxation/rest, and then ten to 15 second long ones followed by ten or 15 second rest sessions) This really makes sense and the research seems to support it
2 I wish 'more were better' but I can definitely tell that my pelvic floor muscles get tired/sore/stiff over-used later in the day, sometimes they are tight for hours. The PT I am seeing has advised me to work on form and only do two sets a day.
3. I guess in years to come some agreed upon recommendations backed by research will be out there. I tend to think I need to be careful not to do too many. I wish I could do more 'work though the pain' ( no pain no gain" but I feel like that has already backfired on me a little I would love some more opinions on this however