Smaller penis after prostatectomy??

OMG what have they done to us?OK no pity party here-we are alive?

but you guys are shorter when erect?

amazing that you're doing fine without having had nerve bundles spared.

I don't know what to say about the shortening, not exactly a great scenario. Although some can probably afford it more than others. I think there are many with no shortening as I've read about some and am sure I'm not the exception. I wonder what causes the differences. I can only think or urethra length which varies in men from 17-21 cm and frequent use/stimulation as early as possible out of surgery.

David:

I suspect you are the exception. Most of us have lost length and girth

Mel

I have not noticed any significant shortening (when flaccid). (Thank goodness for that, too. Because I didn't have much to give up beforehand anyway).

Do not have data on erection yet.

Ya Fairwind-erection?what erection?My sentiments exactly
Nick

I still have the same working theory: those who had no ED and maintained nighttime erections, etc. likely lost very little length (erect), and those that have had sustained ED have lost significant length (erect). Of course there are exceptions to that rule, but I'll bet this is more than statistically significant.

Mike too many men without loss of size for it to be a myth. I don't know if Im-Patient is right, but maybe he's on to something.

This myth is debunked! Flaccid state is ridiculous ....seems it thinks its submerged in 32 agree water no matter the temperature. Urinating requires unearthing the lil ******. Erections only with trimix are ok but shorter and only fill 2 of 3 chambers. corpus spongiosum which follows the urethrea and fills the glans (head) are not affected by trimix so i lose some girth and head size. After a 6 hour erection i know have distal peyronies which keeps the distal 1/3 of the penis in a near flaccid state even if the rest is all plumped up and ready. Im quite discouraged , embarrassed ,about this. Injections are painful , intercourse is a joke. An implant at some point may be the best i can do. sterile, impotent, partially incontinent, significant penis deformity and now with likely HT looming on my horizon.........the sexually part of my life feels bleak at 41

BOSTON, Aug. 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Erectile dysfunction after surgery to remove the prostate (radical prostatectomy) has traditionally been attributed to nerve damage that theoretically should heal over time. But it can take as long as two years for the nerves to recover enough for a man to have an erection without the aid of drugs or devices. By that time, other damage may have occurred, according to an article in the latest issue of Perspectives on Prostate Disease.

The Harvard Medical School bulletin notes that when the penis is flaccid for long periods of time, it is deprived of a lot of oxygen-rich blood. Recent research suggests that this low oxygen level causes some muscle cells in the penis's erectile tissue to lose their flexibility. The tissue gradually becomes more like scar tissue, interfering with the penis's ability to expand when it's filled with blood.

Therefore, the traditional advice given to men -- to wait for erectile function to return on its own -- may not be adequate. Simply put, erections seem to work on a use-it-or-lose-it basis. To prevent the secondary damage that may occur if the penis goes too long without erections, researchers now think it's better to restore erectile function soon after prostate removal. Treatment options include using a vacuum pump device or taking erectile dysfunction drugs by mouth or by injection into the penis.

According to Dr. Marc Garnick, editor in chief of Perspectives on Prostate Disease and a Harvard oncologist, "Although the evidence supporting this 'penile rehabilitation' isn't perfect, you may want to ask your doctor about the options. Such early intervention may help increase the odds that you will regain erectile function."




I also just browsed franktalk.org on threads abut penis shortening and regain length and the users there seem to make a direct correlation with size loss and ED. So perhaps that is a valid point to make here, those that do not suffer from ED post treatment and who "use it" often don't lose size while those that struggle with ED do lose some size.

Post Edited (davidg) : 5/1/2012 6:34:06 AM (GMT-6)

My uro explained the loss of length by drawing two lines on a diagram of the prostate/penis/bladder region to show where the urethra was cut above and below the prostate.
It was thus he said a case of attaching the lower cut end to the upper cut end. And, as it was a scale drawing, it was clear that by joining the two ends together that the total length of the urethra was going to be about an inch shorter, and that to compensate for this either the bladder was going to have to move down to accommodate this or the penis was going to have to move up.
Well the bladder it pretty well attached to a lot of things including the ureters, kidneys, etc so in most people the bladder is likely to be the bit that stays where it was originally, while the penis (especially the flaccid penis) is going to have to move (After all you only need to fiddle about with a penis for a short time to work put that it can move about a fair bit)

In passing I have a feeling that some of the pain I experience during sex is perhaps down to my bladder and penis still jockeying for position and perhaps a muscle flexes and tries to pull soemthing into a position for which there is not enough space anymore.

As for shortness and its relationship to ED etc, I was wondering if we could be looking at this from the wrong end.
What if there is some kind of direct link between penis length and ED, what if if somehow some minor variation in surgical technique that causes one also causes the other. eg where they cut the urethra, or how they sew it together, or perhaops some guys have an important nerve running close by and other don't?
Alf

Slightly off the subject, but since my RALP when I use Trimix for erections and my penis gets full length, it seems like it is attached to a swinging gate. That is it moves sideways, back and forth with no resistance. Is this due to not having any support for the penis from the prostate or that the part of the penis inside the body is not effected by the injection?

I will have to say since I started the URO prescribed  trimix and frequent self stimulation  last July my penis length has improved from the early post surgery time. And now the self stimulation is producing a small maybe 40% erection with no drugs or injections, which I hope is a sign my nerves are healing.

Terry

It now appears that even the skeptic on this thread agrees that this is not a myth. Now we can only hope that uro-surgeons will be honest with their patients pre-surgery and tell them that this is a possibility and, better yet, tell them how to deal with it.

Tudpock (Jim)