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Will I Ever Get Better After Prostate Surgery?

Many men suffer from prostate problems. Some of the problems require you to have a prostatectomy, the removal of the prostate gland. The removal of the prostate can have many effects on the body. It can affect your urination habits as well as your sexual performance. Because of all that can be affected by prostate surgery, many men want to know if they will get better after prostate surgery.

  1. Strength

    • Building your strength slowly after your surgery is important. If you try to do too much, too fast, it can result in a setback or even more damage. Build your strength by starting to walk a small distance at first, and build the distance and time slowly. According to surgeons at Florida Hospital, you should start off walking every hour for about ten minutes. Within that first week you should start to increase your distance so that by week six, you are walking 3 or more miles a day. This will help to build your strength, but in a gradual manner. They recommend walking outside first and not using equipment, such as a treadmill.

    Urination

    • According to Dr. William Catalona, Urologist, temporary incontinence is usually experienced in some form after prostate surgery. Regaining control should start after the catheter is removed; however, for some men, it can take from 6 to 18 months for full continence recovery.

      Incontinence is one of the biggest worries for men who have to undergo prostate surgery. It is hard to accept losing control. Some men may experience problems with incontinence for up to 18 months after surgery. Past that, you may have permanent incontinence problems.

      There are some predisposing factors that may help determine whether you will have permanent incontinence problems, with the main factor being age. The older you are when having prostate surgery, the better the chance that incontinence will be a long term problem for you. Also, if you had incontinence problems prior to surgery, you may also have permanent problems afterwards. If you are younger, however, and have not experienced incontinence problems, you have a greater chance of fully recuperating and not having to wear protection long term.

    Sex

    • Sex is an important part of most people's lives. If you have had a radical prostatectomy, there may be a chance that you will have trouble not only achieving an erection but maintaining one. This usually is caused by the nerves on either side of the prostate being destroyed or removed during the surgery. Many doctors, if they can, will try to spare the nerves on either side, or at least on one side of the prostate. This will help you be able to achieve an erection after surgery. It may take some time, but the ability to get an erection should return in weeks. However, according to Dr. David Samadi at Mount Sinai school of medicine, if both nerves must be cut, there is a technique to graft the nerves. Dr. Samadi says he uses nerves from the leg to graft the nerves responsible for erections, and in time, the ability to achieve erection should return.

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