What To Wear After Prostate Surgery?

What To Wear After Prostate Surgery? While prostate surgery or prostatectomy in medical terms is a major operation performed to remove a part of the whole of your prostate gland, what to wear during or after the surgical process is a valid concern for you men. Of course, you will have stitches in your body that needs to heal, and you cannot wear something that may cause trouble to the incision site.

Sometimes, depending on the type of prostate surgery, the incision may be large or small. So choosing the appropriate clothes to wear post-prostatectomy shall largely depend on this!

Now, you must be wondering how to go for suitable clothing after your prostate surgery. So, do not hesitate to sit back and read this blog to learn how!

When Do Doctors Perform A Prostate Surgery?

Doctors perform prostate surgery to treat a wide range of male reproductive health, and they are –

• Prostate cancer,
• A non-cancerous (or benign) enlarged prostate, and
• Blockage in your urethra that, in turn, causes repeated episodes of urinary tract infections.

Your doctor may also conduct this operation to reduce symptoms like urination difficulties without removing the cancerous lump, the main problem in your prostate!

Herein, the main goal is not just to cure your health condition but also to –

• Maintain your erectile abilities,
• Minimize the pain associated with the underlying disease,
• Have your bladder in control and normal functioning, and
• Reduce side effects that may pop up due to this surgical process, like erectile dysfunction, sterility, change in the size of your penis, infections, and so forth!

Types of Prostate Surgery: Invasive and Minimally Invasive!

With the advances in medical science, the traditional open prostatectomy approach got added with another approach, which entails lesser invasion and, therefore, lesser risk. Let’s unfold both of them below!

Open Radical Prostate Surgery

As the name already suggests, an open radical prostate surgery involves an incision or cut into your lower abdominal area or between the anus and scrotum to reach your prostate gland and remove it or its surrounding tissues. This method lay used more in the case of cancers.

While the surgical process that involves cutting through your lower abdomen is most commonly used and called radical retropubic prostatectomy, the one constituting the invasion through the area between your anus and scrotum is less frequently used and known as radical perineal prostatectomy.

Laparoscopic Prostate Surgery

The minimally invasive surgical approach to treat your prostate condition is, what we call, laparoscopic prostate surgery.  This advanced technique has two modalities, namely –
1.  Laparoscopic Radical Prostatectomy, and 2. Robotic-assisted Laparoscopic Radical Prostate Surgery.

The former requires a few incisions or cuts in your abdomen. Whereas; the latter includes a mechanical interface, typically a robotic arm, to assist the surgical process. Both processes help you secure a faster recovery, lesser pain, lesser blood loss, and shorter hospital stay.

What to Expect After A Prostate Surgery?

After the operation, you certainly have to stay in the hospital for a few days, depending on what surgical type you undertook. Mostly, it takes around four to five for you to get discharged. However, in case of open surgery or arising complications, it may take a bit longer.

During this phase, the most fundamental care is pain management and evaluation of how you heal and whether or not there is any complication. Don’t worry; healthcare professionals shall take care of these!

Now, when it comes to the question of what to wear after prostate surgery, the healthcare centers provide gowns; and also; urinary bags, if necessary. In case the healthcare professionals do not provide you with clothing to wear during your hospital stay, make sure; you tell your family member to carry a pair of loose and clean shorts or pajamas.

Your doctor may ask you not to wear underwear to avoid infections, especially if you have a radical perineal prostatectomy. Yes. Underwears are not sterile and may increase the risk of post-surgical complications. So, you must follow as your doctor says! But since the wound stays covered, you can definitely use blankets or other comfortable pieces to topple the cold.

What To Wear After Prostate Surgery, and Why?

No doubt, getting discharged from the hospital after your prostate surgery does not mean you have recovered completely. That takes around three to four weeks, indeed!

Hence, during this time; too, you need to wear comfortable clothing and avoid tight jeans or pants. However, you may wear clean underwear and change them on a daily basis. In this regard, you need to be sure that the underwear is made of soft materials and does not create friction with the skin underneath and cause irritation, although your incision site remains dressed or covered.

Moreover, after your prostate surgery, you may experience urine leakage. Thus, changing your underwear and shorts or pants twice a day can help reduce the risk of subsequent infections. Experts suggest using boxers as an alternative to underwear for this period, but you may also opt for oversized sweatpants or comfortable casual cotton pants.

There’s no such obligation about what you wear to cover your upper body. You can way T-shirts, shirts, or any other clothing that suits you. But it is always better to avoid anything that stays tightly fit to your skin until your wounds heal completely, especially when you undergo a radical retropubic prostatectomy.

Bottom Line:

So, the bottom line is what to wear after prostate surgery includes anything that is loose and excludes anything that sticks to your skin. You must yet take advice from your healthcare providers and try following it. Your healthcare providers know better anytime!

They may also ask you not to use deodorants, creams, powders, and more during the incision-healing period, and you must carefully abide by it.

In case you have more doubts about post-prostatectomy care, feel free to message us at [email protected]. Or, you can simply write to us in the comments below!