WHAT HAPPENS AFTER A PROSTATECTOMY?
Following prostatectomy or TURP (transurethral resection of prostate) the
pelvic floor musculature and nerve supply can be affected.Symptoms
- Urinary leakage during activities such as coughing, laughing, sneezing or during sporting activity
- Urinary leakage from sitting to standing
- Urge incontinence, an urgent need to pass urine, with leaking on the way to the toilet
- Post-micturition dribble (leakage of a few drops of urine after you have finished passing urine)
- Erectile dysfunction (difficulty achieving and maintaining an erection)
HOW CAN YOU STRENGTHEN YOUR PELVIC FLOOR?
Through Exercise
Pelvic floor exercises may help symptoms after interventions for prostate cancer but ideally
the exercises should be started before you have surgery and resumed after your operation, once the urinary catheter has been removed, NEVER while your catheter is still in place. However, these exercises are not to address pelvic pain. Refer to the
pelvic floor release section first for pelvic pain.
Strengthening Exercises
These exercises are routine exercises to be done for muscle strengthening after prostate surgery.You may benefit from going through the sections on our
Pelvic Physiotherapy website of first releasing the pelvic floor and then strengthening if you do not feel the pelvic floor muscles contract. These steps will help you to isolate the pelvic floor muscles better.
PF MUSCLE STRENGTHENING EXERCISE
RELAX
Before you start contracting the pelvic floor you must make sure it is first completely relaxed.Look at the diagram here and see the difference between relaxed here and contracted below.
CONTRACT
Breathe (sigh) out before you start making sure that your lungs are completely emptySqueeze the pelvic floor
- Drawing up the back passage
- Lifting up the scrotum
- Pulling the penis back and in
Make sure you don’t lift your chest
Don’t brace your stomach
Don’t force downwards
Don’t move your pelvis
Keep holding this for 5 secondsThen progress to breathing and holding for 10 secondsDo a set of fast contractions ie pull up and drop back down quickly 10 times
