A Dry Christmas (Accupuncture for Incontinence follow-up)

I started accupunture treatments for incontinence today.

Anyone have experience to share with this treatment?

I was talked into it by my partner, who is Chinese and has been a patient of this Chinese Medicine doctor for several years. I will report on the results, if any, of the treatment as it progresses. I'll be going twice a week.

One factor that may make judging the effectiveness less clear-cut is that, I was already noticing a marked improvement since last Saturday. It may be hard to tell if any future improvement is due to the accupuncture, or would have happened on its own with normal healing, kegels, and the passage of time.

As far as the accupuncture goes, I figured there is no risk or side effects, so why not try it. The accupuncturist directed me to lie down on the treatment table. He inserted two or three needles into my abdomen. They are supposed to be positioned on the midline, but he had to offset them slightly to avoid my surgical incision. He also inserted one or two into each leg. One of those smarted a little, as it felt like he hit a nerve. The others I could hardly feel at all. The needles are as thin as a human hair. They are disposable, so there's no risk of infection. And the tiny twinge of pain is a thousand times less than getting a shot, say, or having an IV inserted.

I'm no expert, so I won't try to explain accupuncture. Anyone can google it. I'll just say that it seems to me the Chinese notion of a network of "life energy" called Chi in the body is very likely a pre-scientific understanding of the bioelectric impulses of the central nervous system. My treatment, as it's explained to me, aims to stimulate the neural pathways leading to the nerves that control bladder function. Not so far-fetched when you consider that's how the Kegels are supposed to work, too.

Anyway, I don't want to make too much of this yet, but the wetting in my last pad today was VERY light, after going out for dinner followed by a longish walk. This evening at home I went without a pad altogether, which is a first. True, we just lounged around and watched a DVD, but I didn't spill a drop when getting up to go to the kitchen occasionally and later when getting ready for bed.

However, this condition does have its ups and downs. I have had days of heavy leaking following a day or two of apparent improvement. So I'm holding out for a consistent trend over several days before I get my hopes up. My next accupuncture session is on Friday.

Keep ya posted.

ldm

I just got a name of a accupuncturist today from my chiropractor. I am going to give it a try too. I figure it can't hurt! 14 Months Post Op and still using 4-6 FULL pads a day.
Just not ready to give in to the AUS at 44yrs just yet!!!

Good Luck Guys!!!
KW

The best Christmas gift at our house this year was my announcement on Christmas morning that my pads had been almost dry for the previous three days, and that I felt I could soon ditch them. This was at 13 weeks post-op. By the end of Week 14, I was pad-free, and remain so at the end of Week 15. Today, I also got the result of my first post-op PSA: Undetectable. As you may imagine, there is much joy in our home today. On New Years day I returned for the first time to my great passion in life: SAILING! My partner and I joined some friends on their yacht for a morning sail, and then brunch while at anchor, watching the annual Polar Bear Swim at English Bay Beach in Vancouver. We cheered as 2000 zany, freezing people took the plunge in 5-degree (C) water. As a precaution, I did wear a pad that day, anticipating the high level of physical activity might cause some leakage. The pad was a bit wet at the end of the day, enough that I'm glad I wore it. I also wore one when dressed up for the symphony or theater on a couple of occasions. But with my continued improvement, I don't think I would bother with that now. I would only wear a pad now if I expected to be very physically active: lifting things, pulling on ropes, climbing around (as on a sailboat). So, did the acupuncture help? Well, this dramatic improvement came during the third week of treatment, so maybe it did. I went from 2-4 pads daily to pad-free in the span of a week. Would this have happened anyway at this point in my recovery, without the acupuncture? There's simply no way to know, is there? From what I've heard, for many men who do regain control on their own, it tends to happen between 12-15 weeks post-op. A few notes on acupuncture: My partner urged me to stress that it's important to seek out a qualified practitioner. The one I go to has years of training in China, and is a licensed Chinese Medicine practitioner here in Canada. I don't know if such licensing exists in the states. When I started treatments, we decided I should go three times a week, instead of two. At each treatment, he has inserted needles at two points on each leg, and two in the abdomen. I've been paying $50 per treatment. He has also given Korean ginseng pills to take twice a day. If you're interested in contacting my acupuncturist with any questions, here's his number. (Though I warn you, his English isn't great.) Dr. Han-Chen Shih Vancouver, Canada ( edit )   Post edited …   masked phone #   contact Prostate Cancer Moderators   for information                                                                                              c lick on link Post Edited By Moderator (bluebird) : 1/9/2008 4:27:07 PM (GMT-7)

Congrats Loupdemer on the zero PSA and getting dry. If acupunture works then more power to all who try it. Any port in a storm...

Jim

Hey Loud, Glad things cleared up for you.
Berb, I'm at 15 months and was told basicly the same thing at 10 month by my incontenance Dr. But, I'm going to see a accpunctrue Dr. on Saturday for my first session. What do I have to loose at this point! If we ahve to go the AUS route....then that is what we have to do!

Hang in there Berb.

KW

I started acupuncture at 8 weeks (5-8 pads a day), and am 98% dry today at 12 weeks. Again, no real scientific proof...
Funny thing happened at my first appointment, though. I got up from the table after a half an hour of the needle therapy, went to the mens room, and...voila! Like a garden hose! It never really happened again after that, but for some reason I peed like I used to YEARS ago, before the enlarged prostate limited the flow.
I guess for now, I'm a believer.

I have used accupuncture in the past for tennis elbow and headaches with success. Hope you have a positive result.

Regards,
Bill

The only "acupuncture" I have seen here for ED uses needles loaded with Trimix or bimix and guys swear by it.
I looked at later posts for some of the guys mentioned here in 2007 and 2008 and see that at least a couple of them ended up having AUS installed.
Jeff

Arnie,
Sorry, I could not resist. It was just too perfect to let slide.

I did do some homework on the incontinence issue though. Two of the guys mentioned here who tried Accupuncture in early 2008 ended up getting AUS (I don't feel I have the right to say who - that is their option. )
Jeff

qjenxu said...
I do believe in Chinese medicine. however, it is very hard to find a really good chinese medicine doctor in USA here. many of them not nearly half good as the ones in China. if you need a good chinese medicine, go to China.

Just like taiji, i would laugh at those amician taiji teacher here because what they doing are totally wrong. I could tell the difference between real or fake taiji or kungfu.

As I have commented in the past, acupuncture and herbs can often have positive effect on many health problems.  My daughter is a graduate of OCOM (Oregon College of Oriental Medicine), she was tested and certified by the state of Oregon to practice 'Chinese Medicine', many of here fellow students are already MD's and other certified medical professionals. She and her fellow professionals have a strong commitment to better health.  Most states have stringent requirments for practioners and licensing. Look for the designation" LAc " after their name.  Licensed Acupuncturist.

I agree that the best practioners may be in China, (because there are so many of them),  but the US has it's share of excellent doctors too. Like any specialty, there are great good and not so good ( just like urologists).

Remember, that nothing works for everone so give it a try and hope for success.  However, if it doesn't work then keep trying other things.  Our bodies are all a little bit different and respond in different ways.

Although I am now continent (first full padless day!!), I am continuing to visit the acupuncturist to address the ED problem. My thought was that I would have no "luck" for at least a year, possibly two or more (I had ED issues for three years before surgery). I came to this conclusion mostly from reading many of the HW threads over the past few weeks, so it's certainly not very scientific. I will be sure to let you know how it goes.
My wife, although very supportive during the past few months, has informed me that she really doesn't care what the outcome is. She's trying to be helpful and not add any more pressure than there already is, but it really takes away some of the incentive! Conversely, I'm glad I don't have a partner with "needs" I can't fulfill, that would be much harder to deal with.