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After prostratectomy: What underwear and protection do you recommend?
Prostate Cancer | Last Active: Jul 13 11:07am | Replies (38)Comment receiving replies
Hi. My surgery is Aug 7th and will be out for 6 weeks. I haven't gotten underwear yet but the research I have done has me leaning towards the men vault. They claim it holds 12oz. That is my concern, being incontinent and working retail I don't want it showing. The Dr said this is the best route to have surgery at such a young age. Being incontinent at a young age will make me feel old.
Replies to "Hi. My surgery is Aug 7th and will be out for 6 weeks. I haven't gotten..."
@djkurr, in addition to the link that @jeffmarc posted for you, here are a few more:
@retireddoc, @spino and others talk about worrying about incontinence and things you can do to help prevent or improve it.
- Improving Incontinence Post Therapy https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/improving-incontinence-post-therapy/
- Washable incontinence underwear https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/washable-incontinence-underwear/
- Incontinence Improvement with Pelvic PT https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/disappoints-incontinence-improvement-with-pelvic-pt/
There are many discussions about Kegel and pelvic floor exercises. Use the group search and keywords to find more answers:
Kegel discussions: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/prostate-cancer/
Surgery and recovery https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/prostate-cancer/
Keep asking questions. 🙂
@djkurr A good plan for the early phase of incontinence is to use a quality pullup brief and then insert pads in the front and just change those as needed. You can keep one pad in your back pocket while at work and then switch it out and not change the brief. The brief is there for insurance if there are leaks.
Nobody will know that you're wearing them. It makes no sound and they are compact enough that if you wear standard pants, it's complete unnoticeable.
For me, I got away from pullups within a couple of weeks post catheter and just went with pads. Once again, just keep a pad in your back pocket and switch when needed.
For pullup briefs, I used: "Tena Men Maximum Incontinence Underwear, Grey"
Those worked great.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DPR5BZPZ
For pads, I used: TENA Men Maximum Guards. Also have worked great.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072JC8RQT
For post surgery, I used these protectors on my recliner and bed and car seat....but candidly, they were only necessary for me twice when my pad had slipped while sleeping.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0037VRWE6
So, to keep pads from slipping around, I wore a jock strap. I used these because they are cheap. They run small, so definitely, order a size up from your normal underwear size.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07WN3SQHJ
Everyone is different, but these all worked great for me.
I'm close to moving to lighter pads....but the Tena maximums are great for some confidence during longer stretches.
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@djkurr
you should read this review by somebody who actually used those underwear.
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/menvault-incontinence-briefs-review/
Jockey shorts with a Tena pad work really well. You may have to change the pad after a couple hours, but you can just go to the bathroom and swap it out, They are very absorbent.