Anyone experience urethral stricture after prostatectomy?

Radiation induced stricture here near the bladder neck. Took over 3 minutes to urinate. Surgery to repair is dicey. I’ve had a balloon procedure using Optilume drug-coated balloon which allegedly resists reoccurrence better than a non-medicated procedure.
Been 4 years, still good.

FYI: I have a theory about why the urethra might be staying dilated. I wear an incontinence clamp. That means there is fluid trapped in the urethra all day which acts as constant dilation, like water in a balloon.

Same here. RP in 2015. Stricture in 2022&23 which was dilated and came back but, never any leakage.
Stricture surgery in May 2024 and 100% incontinent since then. Caveat : Surgeon cut out the stricture, took a piece of my cheek inside mouth and placed fish scales to repair cheek (buccal mucosa graft (BMG)) and placed cheek tissue on urethra to repair stricture cut-out.
Two years later and still have bump inside mouth where the graft was (keep biting it), stricture came back and as an added bonus 100% incontinent. Now looking at AUS.

@jimchs I’ve read - and have been told by my urologist - that the true corrective surgery for this is not an easy one.
It involves a very prolonged catheterization - 6 months or more - and the surgery itself is complicated; even he did not do it, and he’s the head of urinary surgical oncology at NYU.
The buccal mucosa graft is newer than the medieval one that works, but who really wants it? Tough decision…
Phil

@jimchs Sorry to hear your stricture was not an easy fix, nor was mine. I punted on it the stricture surgery. My surgeon said installing an AUS after the stricture I had was a bit dicey because if the urethra ever needed further work done, the AUS would have to be removed then put back in. There may be different ways to proceed depending on the integrity of the urethra after surgery. I’ve been dilated with an “Optilume” balloon and wear an incontinence clamp instead with no compromises to QOL

@lsk1000
Been wearing a clamp for two years now. Mostly forget it's there but, every so often gets raw and hurts for no reason. Forget about living without it. It's the only way I could go back to work and have some QOL

@jimchs
Are you taking it off every two or three hours and moving it to a different spot? That’s About the maximum amount of time they’re made to be worn. They can cause infections if you don’t watch out.

The only other options are getting a repair job. The Mayo clinic neurologist did a video on that today. You can have a sling, Or the ProACT device if you’ve not had radiation. They’ll require some recovery from surgery. If you have a radiation Then the AUS (Artificial urinary sphincter) is the only solution.

If you can’t have those put in then you need to find some good wide pads like the Tena.

Thanks.
I have had a couple of infections 1.5 years ago but then started to take off every few hours so, no problem since then. Over a year ago you mentioned radiation and ProAct complications. Talked to 3 doctors and they confirmed AUS is the only option with radiation so, thanks for that also.

@jimchs Try using hand cream or something like Vaseline or silicone gel if the skin gets raw.

I use bag balm and baby powder.