Let me start by saying that I live in France and benefit from their awesome health system (at least in my region).
My post RARP PSA is on the rise and I may need salvage RT in the near future and so I had a consult with my urologist. During this consult she asked me how I was getting on with incontinence and I explained that RARP+9 months I was doing OK but coughing would catch me out with dribbles. Anyway, she gave me a prescription to get "Perineal Physiotherapy" - I had no idea what it was and after a bit of digging around, I found a local physio who could help me.
I had my first appointment today and wow, what an amazing procedure.
She explained that I would have about 12 appointments weekly for about 45 minutes. I had to go to the pharmacy to get my own Anal Sonar Probe which I take with me to each appointment.
I lay back on the bed and raise my knees and she hands me the lubed probe which I insert myself into my rectum. It has a flange that sets it to the correct depth. She then connects to a TENS electro stimulation device and it starts tingling - she only used the low settings for the first appointment. This stimulates the pelvic floor muscles.
After about 15 minutes, she disconnects the electro-stimulation and connects it to a bio-feedback input on what looks like a ipad tablet. This displays a series of graphs with orange lines and I have to get the pointer to follow the lines by tensing the pelvic floor muscles.
I was able to get the pointer to move up and down but trying to follow the areas where you need to hold a constant tension is very difficult but I can see with practice that it will get much easier.
So far I think that this a game changer for me - I can feel exactly what muscles to exercise and the electro stimulation is making them work.
I'll let you know how I get on over the next few weeks :)
Edited by member 23 Jan 2024 at 11:15
| Reason: Better heading