Do kagels really work?

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I feel like I am doing an exercise in futility to do kagel exercises. I pee more when I do them, than when I don’t.

 

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They helped me. I’m a female with Neurogenic Bladder. I fell down a cliff and destroyed my bladder nerves.

 

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How long have you been doing Kagel exercises? I had my prostate removed on February 25th. I hear that it may take 9 months to a year to strengthen the nerves so that I am no longer in continent.

 

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Yes, Kegels work. Don’t give up. I am 6 months out from prostate removal. I do Kegels religiously. No leaks, but I need to be careful when I sneeze.

 

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I am so happy to hear that kagel exercises have worked after only 6 months. I long for the day when I will be back to where I was prior to my prostate removal surgery

 

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If you're post prostatectomy the short answer is "It Depends" ( pun intended). They say a very high percentage become normal within a year. Then there's the rest of us.
Your age, cancer location, proficiency of your doc and more are all players.
They usually tell you to wait a year and a couple of million kegals before the next step. Personally
I saw no improvement in 6 mo, may have even gotten worse. Im 80 and didn't want to waste another 2 years marinating, waiting, many dr visits, scheduling surgery etc.
I went for an AUS a year + ago, it worked.

 

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I had my prostate removal surgery only 4 weeks ago and had my post surgery followup 2 days ago with my Urologist. He advised that his experience is that 75% of his patients are seeing significant improvement in continence by around 6 months after catheter removal and 97% are fully continent by 12 months. He did stress the Kegels need to be done religiously and referred me to a physiotherapist that specialises in pelvic floor to ensure I am doing the exercises correctly and on the correct muscles.

 

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Here's a really important thing to understand when a Urologist says that XX% of patients become "fully" continent within say XX (9?) months. Generally speaking "fully" to them means not having to use more than one pad a day. It specifically does NOT mean 100% continent like you were before surgery. Ask your surgeon his definition of "fully" continent, you may be surprised what he says.

 

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never did me any good

 

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I think its personal whether it works or not. I have tried them but depending on the day it may cause spasms and pain, so its very hit or miss.

 

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I have done them for 18 months and they haven’t helped me at all.

 

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One of the first questions I am inclined to ask is, “Can you stop your urine stream when you are intentionally urinating?” If you cannot, it may mean a)your muscles are too weak, b) there may have been damage to nerves that needs more time to heal, and/or 3) a combination of a and b. They kinda tell us not to stop the urine stream, but that is really the only simple way you can tell if everything has a chance of working correctly again. If others on here find this response to be totally off the wall you are welcome to your opinion.

 

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I believe that choice #3 is the one that I believe is correct.

 

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New member here. I'm about 9 weeks post op from a radical prostatectomy and didn't realize the 6-12 month timeframe that people talk about for "improvement" in continence. Good to have a better idea on a possible timeframe, and to realize it doesn't always work for everyone. So far at night while sleeping, no bad leaking. The big issue is when I go to work and have uniform and a tight belt on and get in an out of a vehicle numerous times. It puts pressure on the bladder and makes it impossible to keep it in. The only thing that helps is visiting the restroom every 30-45 minutes, (which is not always possible). Does this sound reminiscent of others experiences here? Thanks for any info.

 

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Wearing looser fitting clothing can help, especially if the belt is rubbing against the bladder area but I am not sure how realistic that is for you.

 

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Both the specialist prostate nurse from the hospital and the physiotherapist advised me that losing a bit of weight can help a lot as the stomach pushes down on the bladder

 

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Thanks guys. Will keep working on the weight. Unfortunately the tight belt is not an option. I did notice it helps a little to consciously hold it, like a kegel movement, when getting in and out of a car or bending over to pick things up.

 

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I did my kegels religiously after my prostate removal. It took about 6 months to see improvement and now 14 months post surgery I use just one minimal pad per 24 hours to catch a few stray squirts. Because of the extent of my surgery (PT3b stage) my urologist tells me that's about the best I can expect. I found I can go long periods without a pad - for instance wearing swim trunks without any problems.

So, yes, they worked for me and I still do at least 20 of them a day to maintain muscle tone.

 

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One of the first questions I am inclined to ask is, “Can you stop your urine stream when you are intentionally urinating?” If you cannot, it may mean a)your muscles are too weak, b) there may have been damage to nerves that needs more time to heal, and/or 3) a combination of a and b. They kinda tell us not to stop the urine stream, but that is really the only simple way you can tell if everything has a chance of working correctly again. If others on here find this response to be totally off the wall you are welcome to your opinion.

 

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I am three years post radical prostatectomy.
My incontinence did get 80% better after 18 months of doing kegels.
Three months after radiation treatment for recurrence it got worse to immediate post op status and is severe now.
Can kegels still help this late that is three years after surgery