Bladder Control & Prostate

Following prostatectomy or TURP (transurethral resection of prostate) the pelvic floor musculature and nerve supply can be affected.

• Urinary leakage during activities such as coughing, laughing, sneezing or during sporting activity.
• Urinary leakage from sitting to standing.
• Urge incontinence, an urgent need to pass urine, with leaking on the way to the toilet
• Anal incontinence which is leakage of stool (faeces) or difficulty in controlling wind.
• Post-micturition dribble (leakage of a few drops of urine after you have finished passing urine).
• Erectile dysfunction (difficulty achieving and maintaining an erection).

Pelvic floor exercises may help symptoms after interventions for prostate cancer but ideally the exercises should be started before you have surgery and resumed after your operation, once the urinary catheter has been removed, NEVER while your catheter is still in place.

Refer to the pelvic floor release section first if you have pelvic pain.

These exercises are routine exercises to be done for muscle strengthening after prostate surgery.

You may benefit from going through the sections on this website of first releasing the pelvic floor and then strengthening if you do not feel the pelvic floor muscles contract. These steps will help you to isolate the pelvic floor muscles better.