Penis rehab with pump...expectations

HI Pablozzz

Using a VED for usable erections is tricky - takes determination, patience and ability to put-up with some discomfort - no pain no gain - but it can be done. We have been using VEDs for the past thirteen years with great success. When you have posted and/or received six messages , I think, you can private message me with your email address and I can send you a 'live' video showing how it is possible to produce strong erections which can be maintained for 30 minutes (time allowed for the ring/s to be on the penis).

Good luck!

Hi Golfnut2

mine declined the option of pumping too!!

well I think with use I'm getting a little more confident with it. It seems to be stretching out a bit more but still floppy, I suppose its a case of progressing a bit each day. Im actually on holiday at the moment staying in a small cabin so there isn`t much privacy to use it which feels a bit weird!

Stopping the tadalafil has been night and day for me. At 5-6 weeks just before seeing the surgeon(who gave me the great news that there was no cancer spread and psa unreadable) my incontinence improved greatly and leakage on a fast 40 min hike became minimal and minimal when doing jobs at home, I was able to not wear a pad and just change boxers for comfort if they became a bit damp. As soon as I took tadalafil 5mg each day my incontinence came back with a vengence and I was leaking throughout the day and on short runs filling a pad.

I carried on for 12 days before putting 2 and 2 together and trying and experimental stop. The last 3 days have been really good. Yesterday I walked the dog for 5kms and then ran for 4 kms(with the dog pulling me in all directions which doesnt help focus on not leaking) then walked another 12kms in the afternoon. By that time I was pretty tired and felt like I was leaking but it was minimal and hardly noticeable in an ultralight thin pad. A great result as being dryish changes everything and you can feel normal.......well almost. Hopefully improvement will continue and in a few weeks I`ll try taladafil again as I think it helps and will see what happens. People`s reaction to this drug must be different each time but as well as helping with erections it  is also used to slacken bladder muscles to help urge incontinence.....the opposite of what I need right now! Sounds like you are going in the right direction with it and I'm sure exercise helps a lot and certainly helps your head deal with it. In the end I was weighing the pads too as it helped me realise that progress was occuring as I was desperate to see a bit of improvement.

Another thing that I feel helped was gentle running downhill. I came across an indian guy online who had really bad incontinence and he had put a lot of research in and found some info from an Australian physio that helped. Basically it involves just trotting down a hill/slope at the same time as tensing your pelvic floor muscles to what ever extent you can. I started running downhill for a minute and tensing them for 15 seconds and gradually increasing the time but not by much. I think the idea is that your pelvic floor is having to work hard in a real situation with all your insides bouncing around on them. I certainy feel its helped.

I saw a pelvic floor specialist before my op who was really good and confirmed I was doing them correctly and that they were very strong (didnt help with incontinence after the op though!!) I may go back to her if there is still leakage in a month.

There is a book by Vanita's Rehab that tells you to do the kegels by thinking that your rectum is a camera shutter that you squeeze closed and next think of your pelvic floor as a lift rising up. That helped me greatly after the op as I felt that I wasnt doing them correctly after the op as I had a real lack of sensation for a long time. 

Good luck and let me know how you get on

Thank you Pabloozzz for your great response. 

Firstly, it’s brilliant news that you’ve improved so much recently. Bravo! It gives me great hope as I see cracking the incontinence as a really major step in getting back to (some) form of normality at least. 

Interesting what you say about the Taladafil as well. I was put on this when the catheter came out so have been on it for 4 weeks now without break. 

I like the idea of the downhill bit too.  Makes sense that the pelvic floor acts as a shock absorber but I’m not sure I’m up for that quite yet.  It’s still a bit all over the place “down there”. I’ll see what the physio says tomorrow.  

Interestingly, I was having a reflexology session yesterday at our local Cancer Charity centre (Helen Rollinson) and I mentioned that I was thinking of going back to my sports massage lady as the all the recent activity had aggravated my piriformis, glutes and other pelvic muscles. She thought it was still too early yet following surgery for anything that intense. I’ll keep an eye out on that one as I start to play more golf. I think Pilates/yoga might be the answer but I’ll need to be drier first. 

Thank you Adrian56 for your response re the hole in one.  I must admit I’ve always taken too many “strokes”. And…. I’m not referring to playing golf either!!!