The muscles that need exercise after removal of the prostate are located around the rectum and the base of the penis. Exercise will improve the condition of these muscles by increasing both tone and strength. After many years these muscles may be weak, and exercise could help.
There are two groups of muscles on which to concentrate your exercise. These two groups are to be tightened one right after the other. The first muscle is around the rectum. This is the muscle you tighten when you suddenly want to stop a bowel movement or suddenly want to stop the flow of urine. The second muscle is around the base of the penis. This is the muscle you use to expel the final drops or urine at the end of urination. The same muscle is the muscle you keep tightening repetitively to ejaculate semen out the urethra at the time or orgasm. By pretending to ejaculate and holding it, you will contract all the right sets of muscles. When you tighten these muscles you may have the sensation that the penis is being pulled closer to the body.
In order to perform the exercise correctly, tighten first the set of muscles around the rectum and hold this muscle tight while you tighten the second set of muscles. Try to hold both sets of muscles as tight as possible for a count of “10”. Repeat these six times, resting one minute between each exercise.
One convenient way to do exercises is to sit on the commode (toilet seat) and relax. Tighten the muscles in the sequence as described and hold the muscles very tight for the count of “10”. Then relax prior to the next set of exercises.
These exercises can start in the hospital or with the Foley catheter in place. The best time to do the exercise is before bed so that the muscles can then rest during the night. You also will want to hold these muscles tight when rising from a sitting to standing position during the day, or when you are attempting to lift something.
Once achieving satisfactory urinary control by performing these exercises, it is important to continue to keep the muscles of the pelvic floor in good condition, so from time to time it is good to continue to do the exercises. Every once in a while a patient finds that if he stops performing the exercises, urinary control is not as good and that by resuming the exercise, urinary control improves.