What incontinence products do you all advise?

I'm about 2 weeks post-op and am experiencing quite a bit of incontinence, although I do see some improvement.

Pants - after a trip to the emergency room, I came home with a pair of paper scrubs and wore those again and again, refreshed in the dryer. No idea how to get them or what they cost, but I really loved them, just saying this in case anyone has access. Otherwise, I wear flannel pajama pants almost all the time, wish I had more of these. Not too proud, even wear these when I go to the store or to walk around the block. Anything really that can be pulled up, no zipper or buttons/snaps is best, although yeah I do wear real pants when sleepwear is not acceptable. Found some old pants that are larger around the waist that better fit while I am recovering.

Underwear - bought lots of white briefs so I can use "male guard" pads, the pads don't work with boxers. Assume male guards also don't work with boxer briefs, but might give this a try someday.

Male guard pads - had Prevail, max absorbency, these were great. When Prevail ran out, switched to Assurance brand (guess that is a Walmart store brand, not sure), don't like those as well, once these run out I will switch back to Prevail.

Pull ups/diapers/disposable underwear (whatever you want to call them) - Always wear one of these over my brief/male guard when I sleep or go out. Use Assurance brand, I am a S/M but also have a L/XL for sleeping, will probably not get L/XL any longer. Came home with some from hospital and can say Assurance is much better, but don't have much else to compare it to.

"Premium underpads" (protection for chairs, beds) - I got one package of Assurance XL. I do keep one under me everywhere at home but really haven't needed it since catheter came out. But it is reassuring to have them, so don't regret getting at all. I got the 30-count package but could have gone with a much smaller count. I like the XL size, again just to be safe.

Other items that have made this bearable - air freshener, trash bags, cheap spray cologne, hydrocortisone cream (for irritation around briefs/diapers), flushable wipes, neosporin with lidocane (for tip of penis before catheter was removed), hair dryer (for drying off after shower), lots of wash cloths/hand towels for around the bathroom, grabber/reacher tool for picking things up off floor (only needed it for first week or so, but was super handy). Ibuprofen and Tylenol (your medical team will tell you what to do for pain, but I alternated these until no longer needed), digital thermometer (had a fever for a while, guess just a cold).

I keep an emergency backpack in the car with a change of clothes, haven't needed it but nice to have.

I stocked up on food I could eat anytime in small portions...cups of applesauce are the best...but also whatever I could eat, regardless of diet (crackers, cheese, lunchmeat, yogurt, pork-n-beans, herbal tea....food is so personal, these are things that worked for me).

I also had both miralax and milk of magnesia, only needed one dose of each, until everything started again in 3 days.

Most invaluable item for me is a super spouse of 40+ years! 🙂

Good luck guy, I'm sure you will get great advice here. Hope my rambling message will help you some.

I had RP at 70 on 6/2024. I was already retired so I tended to stay home with my feet up and I strictly followed all my post-op instructions from my doctor regarding diet, meds, and exercise. I bought a pair of velcro breakaway sweat pants from Amazon, which I found was handy so I could easily adjust the catheter tubing while laying around with my feet up for the 1 week the catheter was in. Not critical, but handy. I also used the leg bag infrequently (just when I took walks), so I found a cheap $1 plastic bucket handy to hold the larger bag I used around the house. Even though I was pretty continent as soon as the catheter came out, I also found bed pads useful for being able to relax when sleeping so I didn't worry about accidents at night. Also during the week of the catheter I turned over in my sleep one night and pulled the catheter tubing apart. The bed pad really minimized the cleanup time. BTW, someone else mentioned on this blog that their wife had found dog pads much cheaper than human ones, which I thought was pretty creative, although looking back I didn't actually need to replace the bed pads very often so cost for me ended up being minimal anyway. As far as pads and diapers, I bought both and ended up giving most of it away. Buy some, but don't buy too much until you see what you need. I did use Depends pads the week of the catheter just to catch any stray fluids, and for a few days after the catheter came out just to be safe. I did have some minor urine releases during the first several months as I figured out the new normal, but nothing too severe. I also had ED after surgery, but I followed a penile rehab program (eg. vacuum pump (although I never found it useful for sex), daily low dose cialis (generic) and on demand viagra (generic) when trying to have sex)) and I slowly progressed back to normal over 15 months. At 15 months I was completely back to normal in all areas, with my urination is now actually better than before (which was a benefit of losing my BPH prostate). If you look at my past comments you can read more details on my recovery process. Also don't hesitate to ask any further questions. Best wishes.

Don’t overdo purchasing stuff for incontinence. It does happen with a lot of people, but it doesn’t happen with everybody.

If you wear jockey shorts, you can have pads you can paste inside of them that work quite well. Buy a bag and You should have plenty of time to get more supplies if the problem continues.. You can’t do that with boxers.

I had no incontinence problems at all after a prostatectomy. A few other people in this forum have talked about their having that experience.

Many people do have incontinence problems, some for a long time.

For me, I bought small packages of pads and briefs first to see what I preferred and what worked best for me. Had my RARP at the beginning of Oct 2025. During the catheter and right after removal I used Depends briefs , as they were readily available. Wore the briefs with the catheter to catch leaks and they largely stopped the tube from moving around, which was uncomfortable. I wore max absorbent pads in briefs initially after the leaks slowed. I prefer the Tena brand. More comfortable and better shape. I order those on Amazon. Light pads now. Hard to find in stores. As was mentioned previously, we bought puppy pads after a recommendation on the forum. They worked great for putting down on the bed, easy chair, and car, as I was worried about leaks. Only used the puppy pads for about a month after surgery. I wore loose sweat pants home from the surgery and throughout recovery. Best in the new year.

@davederousseau
I’m puzzled. I never had any leaks from my catheter. Four days after surgery, I was at 3 clients offices, never had a problem. Seven days after I went to work full-time and I still have the catheter in for a full week. Never had any leakage. Did have to empty the bag.

I didn’t need to secure it. It was secured inside my clothes, at that time. I didn’t use any type of pad.

Is this a common problem others had?

@jeffmarc
I should have specified. My leaks were some blood leakage. Not much, but enough to warrant cover. Doc said it was normal for some folks, due to irritation. This continued in small amounts on and off for the entire 14 days; no pain though, just discomfort. I also had a slight infection. Did not want any of those on sheets or sweats. No urine.

@jeffmarc

Forgot to mention, Jeff, I was actually expecting some urine leakage with the catheter. Post-surgery paperwork said I might experience some leaks, but to let the doc know if I experienced persistent of larger leaks. So initially, it was a precaution to stop leaks, though none happened, outside of what I mentioned earlier.

@jeffmarc Yes, I had lots of leakage from the catheter.

A padded toidy seat for lots of sittng.

@jeff1963
I know they have different diameter catheters and I guess if somebody gets one that’s too small for them. It must leak around it. The one I had must’ve been big enough that it didn’t leak.