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After prostratectomy: What underwear and protection do you recommend?

Posted by djkurr @djkurr, Jun 27 1:43am

I am having prostatectomy surgery soon and am worried about incontinence and trying to find the right underwear. I also don't like wearing underwear and don't know what to do when I have a catheter in for 10 days. Do I or will I have to wear them? What are good boxer/briefs to buy to stop leaks?

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Prostate Cancer Support Group.

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ramblinman | @ramblinman | 1 hour ago

As you can tell from the responses, every person is different, from the amount of incontinence, whether or when it stopped, to which products they feel comfortable using. I'm 18 months post surgery, and still have quite a bit of leakage when I am active, so to play it safe, I have settled on wearing a Depend or Tena brief on days when I am mostly sitting down (work days, desk job), and then adding a pad during active days. It works; not what I would have hoped for, but it is the "new me." Good luck with your surgery and your journey.

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Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | 18 minutes ago
In reply to @djkurr "Hi. My surgery is Aug 7th and will be out for 6 weeks. I haven't gotten..." + (show)
Profile picture for djkurr @djkurr

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.

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@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. 🙂

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