Incontinence briefs

[BSCS]

I’m interested in finding the best incontinence briefs. I’m having robotic prostatectomy on January 11. Any suggestions?

[YostConner]

Depends Male Guards worked well for me. It goes inside your own underwear. If you want all in one briefs, I’ll defer to others.

[BSCS in reply to YostConner]

Thanks for the info!

[redbank in reply to BSCS]

Depends worked for me as well as the guards Yost mentioned

[tango65]

If the surgery is performed correctly and you do Kegel exercises ASAP you will not need incontinence briefs. Most probable you will manage with pads attached to your underwear, such as Tena Incontinence Guards For Men, or Depend Incontinence Guards for Men. With luck and work with the Kegel exercises you may not need anything.

I used for a while incontinence briefs when going to bed, and I found that Depend Real Fit Incontinence Underwear for Men, Maximum Absorbency were the best. You can buy all these thing in Amazon and some of them in Costco.

[BSCS in reply to tango65]

Did you robotic prostatectomy surgery and if so what was your Gleason?

[charlesmeyers1964]

what makes u need briefs?? i had radiation i would be the same with quick pee. just remember when u get the feeling to pee go do it now. any good briefs are out there. i always plan on my walking and traveling to see if its necessary for briefs.

[j-o-h-n]

If you should become 100% totally incontinent then you should look into men's Depends which you can buy online from Costco (best price and shipped in a plain unlabelled box).

DO YOUR KEGELS!!!

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Sunday 12/09/2018 1:00 AM EST

[Ibdcaptn]

I find the best results from TENA, using a jock strap.

[MichaelDD]

I was a Gleason 8. Did Kegel exercises long before I had cancer. Diagnosed G8. Not knowing what to expect I loaded up on about "one of everything!" 7 days after the surgery the catheter was pulled. My other half who is a RN I kept asking "when will I start dripping -when will I start peeing?" . As if she had the magic answer? From that pull I was no runs ,no drips ,no errors! DO THE Kegels. I'm a firm believer. Good luck.

[BSCS in reply to MichaelDD]

Thanks for the info! Good health and best wishes to you.

[BrentW]

I had a salvage laparoscopic radical prostatectomy in 2010 following failed brachytherapy in 2004. The result for me was 100% urinary incontinence. I used Depends for about 5 years, but they were not satisfactory. They worked fine, but limited my freedom, as I had to be at a toilet every four hours to change. That was not always possible, say, when taking students out doing fieldwork. My other half found a clamp called Dribblestop that has been amazing. incontinencechoice.co.uk/dr...

[E2-Guy]

Hopefully your "incontinence" concerns will be short lived! Many men on this forum (including myself) have had RPs and are not experiencing incontinence. I am a 'carbon dated', 75 year old buzzard, had a robotic RP 14 years ago and still seldom have any leakage problems. I had no bladder control for about a week after the catheter was removed, and all of a sudden, much to my suprise, I had awakened to find the pad almost dry...no problems after that. Just RECENTLY, I have an occasional drop or two while doing bench presses and other heavy weight exercises (probably not uncommon for people my age who haven't even had the surgery). I have found something about 35 years ago that works quite well for that occasional drop that may end up on your shorts after urinating and putting the 'little guy' back in your pants too quickly without making sure that you are totally dry. I have never wanted any stains on my shorts...embarrassing to subject your significant other (or whoever does your laundry) to dirty underwear! Tissues with aloe vera lotion such as 'Puffs Plus' or 'Kleenex Soothes' work great since they do not disintegrate and stick to your skin like regular tissues when you perspire...I have even gone swimming with them in my bathing suit and they are still intact hours later. If you wear boxer type shorts, you can keep the tissues in place by wrapping your 'appendage' and securing with a 'small' rubber band. (I have to use garter belts...LOL!) They are inexpensive, absorb well and hold up similar to other more expensive devices.

I believe the Kegel exercises have contributed to my success in addition to a very competent surgeon. I probably don't do the Kegel exercises as often as I should; however, I try not to urinate every time I feel the urge since I believe in 'training' my bladder rather than allowing it to train me. There are numerous times that I have left Bangkok with the urge to go, but have instead held it until I reached my home which is about two hours away. It seems that the more I have to fight to hold it, the less chance there is of having an accident...I believe that this may have similar effects to doing Kegel exercises.

Be positive, I believe you are going to be just fine. Wishing you the absolute best!

Ron

[BSCS in reply to E2-Guy]

Thank you Ron for the great info and insight. Getting mentally prepped for the RP and what follows has been pretty consuming this past several weeks. I am grateful to have found this forum for support. Best to you!

[E2-Guy in reply to BSCS]

I didn't mention anything about my RP experience in my reply, so here is a brief account of what it was like:

-Robotic surgery at U of CA, Irvine campus Tuesday afternoon, December 28, 2004

-Home the following afternoon

-Took one vicodin on Wednesday

-Drove myself down to San Diego Harbor on Saturday morning, January 1 to spend the weekend on my boat.

-I had just purchased a new waverunner that was on the boat's hydraulic swim platform, and my neighbor's 10 year old daughter was dying to go for a ride.

-So with the catheter and bag under my jeans we went jumping waves for about 30 minutes in the bay.

-And my life was back to normal!

I hope this gives you some encouragement!

[kenner in reply to E2-Guy]

I had a radical done in 2000. Five bladder operations and many urinary tract constrictions before that. I am still dribbling moderately when bending down or leaning back...that's after having a double artificial sphincter installed. But!!! I'm still alive after being diagnosed with a PSA of 37 Gleason 4+3 18 years ago.

[E2-Guy in reply to kenner]

I'm guessing that with a PSA of 37 and a G-7 your surgery involved removal of contiguous tissue/nerves/LN's...what was your staging?

[kenner in reply to E2-Guy]

The total lymph node count was 22. None of which showed any cancerous involvement.My recovery was not good.I suffered greatly.Psa is 0.27 at present. Psa velocity is very slow...not interested in any treatment at the present time as my quality of life is still quite good right now.The Staging? I really can't remember ..I'd have to go back through the surgery report.

[E2-Guy in reply to kenner]

They removed 22 LN's? Glad to hear that your current PSA and QOL are both "good".

[kenner in reply to kenner]

22 sounds right BUT I could be wrong. I was off work for 8 months & could hardly walk for 6 weeks. i lost 30 pounds in 3 months..165 down to 135. My left groin had residual edema for about 2 years.PS I was real lean when I went in for the operation. I believe that is very important.

[dress2544]

If the incontinence is mild you can use incontinence briefs. If you travel a lot, you can go for Men's liberty external catheter which will go inside your briefs. For short-time use you can buy penile clamps which I found very useful.

[Graham49]

I guess what you will need will depend on how nerve sparing the prostatectomy was. I had a non sparing radical prostatectomy about a month ago. I am doing Kegel exercises but not much improvement so far. I am still trying different types of briefs. The external Catheter looks quite a good concept. Has anybody got experience of using one of these?

[BSCS in reply to Graham49]

Good luck to you! Hope things improve! Haven’t heard about the external catheter.

[paulfreda]

I had Open RP and have had incontinence ever since. I am one pad per day sitting inside my briefs. I like Walmart's Certainty Pads. 52 count for $12. Pretty much identical to Depends.

[BSCS in reply to paulfreda]

Thanks! Hang in there.

[Xfire]

I used the Depends brand products. First the pull up then heavy pads then the light "drips and dribbles" pad, as time went on. Before my surgery I got samples of products that were available out there. Go on line and search depends samples for men, Tena samples for men, there is another one but I don't remember what it was. I wish you the absolute best.

[Litlerny]

Depend. Work as well as Tena at a lower price. More comfortable, slimmer profile under clothing. Readily available at Wal Mart and other stores.

[luchito_mijo]

I like Tena.

[HopingForTheBest1]

Had robotic laparoscopic prostectomy Nov 14 2018. Incontinence getting better every day. Bought underwear, but used only once as I just didn't need it. The guards work fine for me. I have tried two brands, one from CVS and one from Wal-Mart. The Wal-Mart brand is definitely the better choice, is more absorbent, has a better design, and is less expensive.

[BSCS in reply to HopingForTheBest1]

Thanks! Great info! Glad things went well and continue to go in a positive direction for you.

[Break60]

I had open RP in ‘13. Wore one Tena pad for 13 weeks but barely needed it after a couple weeks. Never seriously did kegels.

[Lovejoyevans]

My husband found a referral to a physical therapist who specializes in incontinence to be quite helpful. I am a physical therapist but have other specialties. However, I do find many people do not do the Kegels correctly. Ask your doctor for a referral.

[tkalaf]

I am now 6 mos. post RP. My observations/insights....

I started with Male Guards. I also use Depends and Tena. Each differs in size, comfort, and absorbency. Incontinence is (typically) worse in the beginning. I started with Male Guards and found them to be a good choice. They provided maximum coverage and performed well. Once my incontinence lessoned, I switched to Depends. They offered good absorbency during daytime with more comfort. At sleep time my incontinence is less. I found that the smaller Tena are most comfortable.

[BSCS in reply to tkalaf]

Thanks so much! Great info.

Good health to you!

[Hidden]

I prefer the Male Guard pads, a lot cheaper than the briefs but I suppose it depends on the degree of incontinence.

[Grumpyswife]

There are also some washable underwear that reduces waste. Plus, my husband prefers wearing them over diapers. The ones he has are Health Dri brand. He also has a clamp and a nursing home grade bed pad that he uses flat on the bed just in case.

[Graham49]

It's a bit like a condom to which a tube is fitted to a leg bag. I think it's probably only worth considering if Kegels etc don't work for you. They are available on Amazon.