Following prostate surgery, the recovery process is marked by a series of stages, with each patient experiencing them uniquely. Initially, your doctor will place a catheter, acting as a crucial tool to efficiently drain urine while the prostate undergoes its healing phase. To ensure your comfort, pain management becomes a top priority, with medications like Ibuprofen or Acetaminophen readily administered to counteract any discomfort. One common post-surgical occurrence is stress incontinence, a condition where actions like coughing, sneezing, or exercising can inadvertently result in urine leakage. Fortunately, this typically sees progressive improvement over time. Another critical concern for many is the ability to maintain erections post-surgery. The journey back to full erectile function can be slow and requires patience. Many wonder how soon after prostate surgery can you have sex. While erections may return progressively, it could span from months up to two years before they’re entirely regained. As such, understanding how to speed up nerve regeneration after prostate surgery can offer hope and strategies to optimize the recovery trajectory.
Pain
Following surgery can cause considerable pain; therefore it is wise to take strong painkillers as soon as possible. Failure to manage this discomfort could result in urinary infection or kidney damage, so be sure you have access to sufficient supplies of urinary pads at home should this arise – your nurse will show you how before discharge from hospital.
After your surgery, the catheter will be taken out. At this time it is important to follow all instructions given by your nurse, especially regarding daily chores at home if walking is difficult or you have trouble using stairs. Also make sure you drink enough fluids so as to avoid dehydration.
After surgery, you will receive routine follow-up visits beginning six weeks post discharge from hospital. Health professionals will use these checks to monitor for signs that your cancer has returned or spread and if additional treatment may be needed; your PSA level should have dropped below 0.1ng/ml by this time.
Urinary leakage and erectile dysfunction are among the major side effects associated with having a prostatectomy, but most individuals can manage them and get back to living their lives as usual. Full restoration of your erectile function could take two years.
At your surgery, a surgeon will extract both your prostate gland and surrounding tissue from its location, but will leave intact your seminal vesicles (two small glands that sit atop of the prostate). These contain nerve bundles which assist with having an erection; your surgeon may attempt to preserve these nerves if possible – often the resultant erection may be weak at first; with time many men are able to regain normal sexual functionality.
Urinary leakage
While the prostate gland encases your bladder and urethra, it also contains important muscle and nerve structures that control when and how often you urinate. By extracting or using radiation therapy to treat it, prostate removal (radical prostatectomy) or treatment with radiation can damage these structures causing urinary leakage (incontinence).
Radical prostatectomy surgery often leads to temporary loss of bladder control after surgery, with 46% of men needing absorbent pads six months post-surgery. But don’t despair: over time most men regain full bladder control within one year of surgery.
Your doctor can monitor your progress by placing a scope into your urethra and bladder (cystoscopy). An adjustable set of balloons may also be provided to keep urine from leaving through leakages; your doctor can adjust their size using a tube in your scrotum with pumping fluid into it. Anticholinergic drugs might also be given in order to keep the urethra closed or calm your bladder, helping reduce leakages; any medication has potential side effects so be sure to consult with your physician prior to beginning them.
Some men who undergo prostate removal surgery or radiotherapy can be more vulnerable to urinary leakage post-prostatectomy, especially if surgery or radiotherapy was conducted to their pelvis (radical) or spine (nerve decompression). Kegel exercises can help strengthen the muscles that control urination before and during recovery to increase chances of regaining bladder control.
If you are experiencing severe urinary leakage that prevents you from going to the toilet or needing to urinate, contact your GP immediately and book an appointment with a urologist immediately. They may recommend draining your bladder using a catheter while waiting for the issue to resolve itself.
Erectile dysfunction
Prostate cancer surgery can have multiple adverse side effects, including urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction. A prostatectomy involves surgical removal of part of the prostate gland as well as its tubes which deliver semen from testes – approximately equivalent to taking out half a tennis ball sized gland located deep within men’s groins that supplies seminal fluid that mixes with sperm to aid their travel and survival for reproduction purposes.
After having your prostate removed, sexual activity will still bring orgasms but no semen will ejaculate because your prostate drains it off. Therefore, working with someone who understands and accepts any changes may arise after having had your prostate out is essential to keeping things comfortable for both parties involved.
Urinary incontinence is another potential side effect of prostate removal surgery and may develop several weeks or months post-op. You may notice yourself dribbling urine when laughing, coughing, sneezing or feeling an urge to urinate suddenly; your doctor can assist in managing this issue through lifestyle modifications, exercise and weight loss strategies.
Having trouble getting an erection after prostate surgery? This could be caused by nerve damage in the penis. These nerves send signals which assist you with attaining and maintaining an erection; when injured during surgery or from swelling or low blood flow to that area, erection problems may arise. Other factors could also play a part, including age or the type of prostate cancer they had.
Some doctors offer a procedure called “nerve-sparing prostatectomy,” which involves keeping both of the nerve bundles that regulate erections intact in order to decrease severity of ED symptoms. Unfortunately, not everyone can undergo this kind of surgery, however. If an erection can’t form then your doctor may prescribe low dose ED medications which relax muscles and relieve nerve pressure in order to increase blood flow to your penis and ease pressure on nerves.
Blood clots
Blood clots in your bladder or urethra may cause discomfort, yet typically aren’t as serious as prostate cancer. Still, they do exist and treatment may be required if one develops.
Your doctor will advise when it is safe for you to return to normal activities, although it is wise to avoid exercises that put pressure on the abdomen and perineum (the area between your scrotum and anus). This means no sit-ups, heavy lifting or vigorous cardiovascular exercise before your catheter has been removed for approximately four weeks – this means no sit-ups, heavy lifting or vigorous cardiovascular exercise either! Some patients may require longer off work.
At the start of an operation, your surgeon will administer general anaesthesia before making several small incisions on your lower belly and one larger incision just above your belly button in order to remove your prostate gland. The surgery typically lasts two to four hours. Your surgeon may also remove seminal vesicles attached to the prostate that store some of its fluid as semen – an essential source for producing sperm.
Surgeons will try their best to protect the bundle of nerves responsible for providing men with erections – known as nerve preservation – as part of surgery, which increases its chances of success with younger patients or those experiencing limited erections prior to surgery.
After their surgery, most patients experience better than expected results and can return home within days. We will remove the drain before you leave and your nurse will show you how to use your catheter at home. In addition to providing medication to manage pain relief and antibiotics to avoid infections, they’ll also provide medication and antibiotics to avoid potential infection issues.
Your doctor will want to recheck your PSA levels after surgery to see whether they have decreased and that all prostate tissue has been completely removed. He or she may also perform a cystoscopy test using a scope to look inside of your bladder and urethra (cystoscopy).
Side effects
After prostate surgery, side effects may include urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction; these issues should usually resolve themselves within several weeks with medication and lifestyle modifications. It’s important to be aware of potential side effects so you can discuss them with your physician during recovery.
Radical prostatectomy is the primary means of prostate removal. Under this operation, your surgeon cuts through your skin and extracts your gland under either spinal anesthesia or general anesthesia, using a catheter placed into urethra/bladder system in order to drain urine until healing has taken place – usually seven-10 days post op.
After surgery, you may experience discomfort and urinary issues for the first few weeks. If over-the-counter pain medications aren’t helping enough, speak to your physician for additional solutions. Furthermore, your scrotum may swell initially; in order to reduce swelling you can try elevating it on a rolled-up washcloth when sitting or lying down – elevating may reduce this swelling significantly.
Urinary incontinence is a common side effect of prostate removal for older men, usually manifesting itself when the valve controlling urine flow becomes damaged and causes leakage when laughing, coughing or sneezing occurs. With time however, most individuals develop normal bladder control again and return to regularity in terms of bladder management.
Exercise regularly and maintaining a healthy weight are effective ways of improving erectile function, along with medications like Viagra that increase blood flow to the penis. After prostate removal surgery however, regaining full erection function could take six months or longer due to nerves controlling erections being located within its walls.
