Penis length decrease after RP

I never really cared about the length of my penis. I am sure there are some more important things in life.   However, after my RP (end of november 2009):   1- my penis was minuscule (and the urethra hard...) for a long time after the surgery 2- It got "better" slowly 3- I am 90% sure it lost some length (eg. I can see that in the pump as I remember the measurement I made years ago...)   I would say 3/4 of an inch are gone (may be a bit more ?)   When I saw my urologist, I mentioned this to him. His answer was that this cannot really happen. The reasons he invoked were "geometrical" (something like: there is this membrane that separates this and that region, so this limits what can happen”) plus “we pull down the bladder”.   Now, I know that I should have measured it right before the surgery for the comparison to be acceptable but .... I trust doctors but I also trust my own eyes.   So my question is: am I alone to have experienced this? Is this common ?

Most doctors deny the possibility, but many, many guys who have had surgery report that it has happened to them. It happened to me, at least in the flaccid state. Erect is the same as before.

I had RRP 3 months ago had same experience as you post surgery and still to this day I am same size in the pump and after pump with constriction ring...but if i just "manually" bring it up ...at about 60-70% hardness is all i can get still yet but the size is 1 - 1.5 inches shorter about the same diameter i think... I am hopefull that as the firmness of the erection gets better the size will improve. My uro also denies that shortening happens but it does! You will recover all the loss the from my understanding

I don't care what the Uro reports. They need to do some measurements and then the would know what we have already discovered! It is shorter!!

Cajun Jeff

Cajun Jeff:

Actually, since my urostomy surgery, my flacid state is actually back to about what it was before my open surgery from 2 years ago. Makes sense, my bladder is now non-functioning, there is zero weight from fluid in it, so there is no in-put. In most cases, the urethra is not cut as in shortening, the bladder neck juncture is re-worked to fit the existing urethra, not the other way around.

david

Pete, reduction immediately after surgery, catheter, etc is an expected short-term side effect. Here's a link to a study's abstract which showed that after robotic prostatectomy (bilateral, nerve-sparing) the SPL (stretched penile length) returned (for this study group; 94 patients; all from one surgeon) after about 9 months time. Psychological preception may also play a role, although not discussed here.

http://www.urotoday.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view_ua&id=2233951

Guys being guys ... we worry about these things.

I didn't measure before or after my open RP, but darned if I can see a difference. Maybe my wife would disagree.

Jeff

In the Uro clinic where I also went for ED treatment, there was a poster by the elevator that had some comments for men after prostatectomy. One of the line item questions was "...why is my penis shorter after surgery?..."

I think Uros know well about it. One good explanation given to me was that the trauma from surgery (nerve sparing or not), interrupts the nocturnal wood and some muscle atrophy happens in the penis.

Mine is certainly much smaller. Maybe I can get that back, maybe not.

Mike

My uro warned me to expect about 1/2 inch loss. Think of the prostate as a push-up bra. Take it off and there ain't no push.

I had a 56 gram prostate - big but not super sized. Based on the density of water and my girth I calculate 3.4 cubic inches or about 1.5 inches in length loss.

We need to hear from some of the guys with really big prostates. A certain moderator was carrying a 106 cc bohemoth in his groin before his surgery. Significant loss, Sir? _{Oops, I see you might or might not have answered already.}

Jeff

Mel,
I trust your math. Did the loss correlate with the prostate size? You can figure 16.4 cc per cubic inch.
Not that it really matters. :)
Jeff