Did anyone who had prostate removal experience penis length shortening

Posted by patrickpyper @patrickpyper, Jun 20, 2023

I am scheduled for prostate removal on August 28th. I have heard that some men lose length in their penis due to the reattachment of the bladder and urethra which pulls the penis into where the prostate use to be. I have heard over time the bladder will drop into that space and you regain your length. I was hoping anyone who has experienced this could share their story. I also bought a pump hoping that post surgery that might help as well.

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I am at 8 months following my Radical Prostatectomy. My Continence is very close to normal or pre-surgical status. I am able to achieve about 60% of a normal erection. It’s just barely stiff enough to have penetrative sex with my wife. I definitely have lost some length and girth in my Penis. However, until I regain 100% of my full erection ability I won’t actually know for sure. I had a 7+ inch full erection before surgery. I can’t seem to get beyond engorging my Penis anymore than about 60% of normal. I recently purchased a Penis pump to help rehabilitate my Penis in addition to preparing my Penis for a full, hard erection for sexual intercourse. The pump works great for both. It definitely engorges my Penis with more blood than I can manage by self stimulation. It can also give me a hard and firm erection in just a few minutes which I can keep and maintain for 30 minutes. It’s recommended not to exceed 30 minutes of erection with the assistance of the Penis ring you slide on to the base of your Penis after obtaining the level of erection you want to keep for intercourse. Essentially, it prevents the blood from escaping from the base of your Penis in which case you would lose your erection. I use the pump about 20 minutes per day to engorge my penis with blood and then relax it back to a non erection status. I repeat this regime for several minutes at a time. So far, I am very pleased with the versatility and results. This should also eventually rehabilitate my Penis to regain the loss of length and girth I lost as a result of the surgery. It can take between 6-24 months following surgery to regain your normal ability to have full erections. Most men will require some kind of ED medication to assist them in their recovery process to experience normal sexual intercourse. However, every man is different. One can expect to resume the quality of erections they had prior to the surgery. Of course, this also assumes they had a successful “Nerve Sparing” surgery. Good luck and best wishes. It definitely takes time, work and commitment!

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Permanent unresponsive erectile dysfunction is all too common after RP. Muscle sparing cannot be guaranteed. Reduced penile length of 1-2 inches is the norm.

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I lost about 1.5 to 2 inches. I was also impotent, but not incontinent. I tried the pump, pill, and shots, but finally went with the implant, which is still good at 79 yrs old. The downsides to a short penis that eventually will be overcome are:
1. If not pushed downward while sitting on the toilet pee will squirt between the seat and porcelain - messy
2. Depending on clothing, the short member may be hard to aim correctly and results in missing the target by a wide margin.
As far as sex is concerned, the shorter length has never been a problem with my partner.
Our book “Making Love Again” covers the various options and experiences regarding impotence, but did not cover the implant which took place after publishing. If I were to do it again, I would have had the implant right away.
My decision tree was to rid the cancer based on medical evidence and recommendations. Length in my case was alarming at first, but was manageable in time.
Good luck

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Profile picture for klaken @klaken

I lost about 1.5 to 2 inches. I was also impotent, but not incontinent. I tried the pump, pill, and shots, but finally went with the implant, which is still good at 79 yrs old. The downsides to a short penis that eventually will be overcome are:
1. If not pushed downward while sitting on the toilet pee will squirt between the seat and porcelain - messy
2. Depending on clothing, the short member may be hard to aim correctly and results in missing the target by a wide margin.
As far as sex is concerned, the shorter length has never been a problem with my partner.
Our book “Making Love Again” covers the various options and experiences regarding impotence, but did not cover the implant which took place after publishing. If I were to do it again, I would have had the implant right away.
My decision tree was to rid the cancer based on medical evidence and recommendations. Length in my case was alarming at first, but was manageable in time.
Good luck

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@klaken Thanks for posting! I too have experienced a RP just 2 months ago and experienced a strange grieving emotion when my penis shrunk during my treatment with finestride to shrink my enlarged prostate. It seemed so weird to go from a large size to small and due to shrinkage, develop a foreskin when I was circumcised. These are the “ details they don’t tell you about! They also never mentioned that the RP surgery would shorten your penis by about 2cm. I learned that by researching before the surgery but hoped it wasn’t true! It was!
The smallest you get is about 10 days after the RP when they remove the catheter. I, unlike some, measured before and after the process. Before I was 6 inches soft, 3 inches after 1.5 years on finestride. As you can imagine imagism I was anxious to see what the surgery would reduce it to! On the 10th day after surgery I measured 2 inches! I read that doctors call this the final humiliation! After all you have gone thru then to find out I lost another inch of length when my prostate was removed!
On the positive side, I’m cancer free! I’m still dealing with innocence and impotence but hopping that changes with time.
I think there should be a “share group” of guy who have had RP and guys just beginning this experience to share the facts of what happens. I would have loved some foreknowledge.

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Has anyone had penis rehab? I’ve read about it but my doctor had not mentioned it. And, does it work?

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Profile picture for spino @spino

@jakedduck1 I heard about the restorex device about 6 weeks after RP and used it for about 12 mos. In hindsight, the explanation that the penis is traumatized and the device serves to maintain smooth muscle conditioning during the time it is avoiding further stress seems reasonable. Now out about 16 mos, I only use the device to assist me in administering shots, as the pills have not worked and had unpleasant side effects.
A family member talked about the "loss of length" before I had the RP, but at this point I do not think the loss of length is noticeable. I think there is a loss of engorgement, even with the shot, and perhaps it would be worse if I hadn't used the restorex device while the nerves (and autonomic brain) were recovering.
In any case, out about 16 months, generally my penis looks more like I remember it most of the time, but it still does shrink up under "trauma" or trauma trigger conditions, which include wet cold, chafing, and extended compression--aka swimming, hiking, biking :-).
[Physically, if a typical penis is 14 cm when erect and the loss of length is >1 cm, that is >7%, e.g. insignificant unless you're measuring meticulously, which is probably never a good idea apart from clinical research.]

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@spino please tell me about this restorex device! I’ve never heard of it but think I’m interested!

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Profile picture for ken1946 @ken1946

I did RP, radiation, and hormone treatments. The hormone was Lupron. All three of these worked together to shrink my penis and testicles. I am circumcised, but I now look like I was not. I have a pelvic therapist and a cancer masseuse who are both trying to help. So far, nothing.

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@ken1946 thanks for your post!
I’m 2 month out from my RP and have the same as you a much smaller penis that now looks uncircumcised! So strange and the doctors gave me no warning! Please tell me about this “ pelvic therapist” and cancer masseuse. I want help recovering!

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Profile picture for billybwbf2 @billybwbf2

Has anyone had penis rehab? I’ve read about it but my doctor had not mentioned it. And, does it work?

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@billybwbf2

My husband is about 5 mos post RP. He had rehab "prescribed" by his surgeon , inclooding an address of a pharmacy where pumps are sold. He also got prescription for Cialis immediately before surgery and stayed on it post RP.

Does it work 100% only time will tell but things are improving steadily and there is ZERO change in length, appearance or anything else. Rehab should start very soon post surgery. ED sometimes needs up to 2 years to resolve completely since nerves need time to regenerate , so be patient. In the meantime there are many methods that can help with achieving full erection.

Here is one link that you might want to watch : https://www.youtube.com/watch

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