Physical Therapy for Incontinence?

[lynntg044]

I'm eight weeks out from RP, and have good and bad days. I do Kegels as much as possible. A friend recommended his physical therapist. He is there for something else. Says the guy is certified for male incontinence. Anyone here have experience with PT for incontinence.

[BerkshireBear]

We have a local physical therapist who specializes in exactly that. He has spoken to our prostate cancer support group several times, and several of our members have had PT with him. Every one has reported positive results, some were almost immediate. Also from anecdotal evidence shared by the guys in the Restore Study the serious Kegel workouts that the study recommends are apparently effective. There is also anecdotal evidence that limiting certain drinks is useful for some men. Typically carbonated sodas, fruit juices, coffee, beer, wine, and alcohol are mentioned. It seems clear that each guy reacts differently to the fluids, whether one(s) may affect you is rather random. // This is a summary of wisdom gained through my years on the Malecare groups and in local support groups; I cannot speak personally as I have never experienced incontinence related to my PCa treatment.

[PCGeorge]

I have had PT from two different sources. The first was rather ill informed and half ass. I changed to Memorial Sloan Kettering (NYC) and was blown away at how well thought out and science backed their approach was. It did me a great deal of good.

[Cubbiesfan]

I had pelvic floor PT this Spring for 8 weeks. It is different from Kegels in that it exercises all the muscles in the pelvic floor. I call it “knee to navel” workouts. I advise finding a therapist who specializes in this. Here in Chicago that was easy. My therapist was a woman and she was great, but I do understand why you might want a male therapist. It didn’t cure the situation, but it did help out my incontinence a lot.

Unfortunately, despite warnings that I would have to keep doing the exercises forever, I eased up once I achieved peak success. It didn’t take long to backslide, so now I’m back to my routine.

Best of luck!!

[dadzone43]

Yes. The physical therapy department at Lifespan in Providence has an entire PT office dedicated to pelvic floor therapy and rehab. One of their therapists spoke at my prostate cancer support group. I keep an app on my phone that reminds me twice a day to do at array of Kegal exercises. It worked for me.

[Kislig1961]

My experience was very positive and am very glad I did it I have no issues now three years later !

[Ram17]

I would highly recommend getting physical therapy for incontinence. Find a facility that uses bio-feedback. It may be the weirdest thing you ever do but I think it really helped me gain control and 2.5 years later I feel very blessed with my outcome.

I too had a female therapist but she was very professional and very careful for my privacy issues. When she told me that I would be undressed from the waist down, I looked at my wife with a "what the Heck" look. The therapist gave me a sheet and a towel. As she left the room, she said to remove my pants and underwear, wrap up in the sheet and hold the towel out. When she returned and explained the treatments ahead, she asked if I was ready. Went with an "OK" . I was then instructed to place the towel over my private areas and lift my equipment up out of the way keeping it all nicely covered.

Seeing the contractions on a screen really helped me regulate. We started with full relax going to full tight and back to full relax. Then we went from full relax, to full tight, to half strength, to full relax. Then we did movement exercises while contracting the kegel muscles. I think I had about 6 or 7 treatments. I was basically dry in 30 days and gave up all pads at 45 days but your mileage may vary.

I really think it paid off and would recommend it to anyone who had prostate or other issues.

[lynntg044]

Thanks for all the feedback. I have started PT, which I think is the pelvic floor variety as opposed to Kegels. The therapist has me do "pelvic tilts" rather than squeezing... It seems to be working, but it could be that I work out 3 times/day with the Restore Study video for counting.