Pelvic floor physical therapy

[Cubbiesfan]

I had a prostatectomy in 2011 and salvage radiation in 2017. The urinary leaking has worsened over the last year. And I’m scheduled for pelvic floor therapy in 3 weeks. This is different from Kegel therapy.

Just curious, what should I expect?

[PCGeorge]

It depends on where you go. After my surgery I went to my surgeon's office for the therapy. It was useless. I say so from experience outcome and confirmation from Memorial Sloan Kettering therapist who questioned the approach. The first PT was solely an anal plug inserted into the rectum and an electric charge stimulated the area to contract. (I understand there is a similar practice used as bio-feedback but this was an uncomfortable electric shock aimed to contract these muscles.) After this failure I consulted an urologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering. She implanted an Artificial Urinary Sphincter (AUS) device surgically. I had some leakage after the surgery and she recommended PT which has cleared up most of the leaking issue. These therapist did a digital rectal massage and a series of exercises. They were fine tuning which muscles to use and strengthen. Surprisingly to me, the first set were to learn to relax the pelvic floor muscles (something I struggled with). Even as an ex-danseur I learned that I wasn't using the correct muscles. It truly was a positive experience at MSK. The floor exercises were pretty much what you would expect. The massage part was a surprise to me. I would suggest you look into an AUS device. The sling was a distant second option.