Aa
catheter irritation
slight redness and irritation on tip of penis where catheter enters
Best Answer
I'm really glad someone talked about motion of the catheter causing pain.
Actually I'm glad someone is talking about caths at all. It seems to freak out everyone from my experience. Maybe its shame from wetting the bed when you were 2 or what I don't know... Its medical. Its no big deal. Get over it I say.
My 2 cents is this....
Making sure the cath and the penis aren't ever allowed to go in different directions is the main issue I've learned. When that happens the very sensitive urethra gets pulled apart. OUCH... The gizmos that swivel the hose leading to the catheter are a horrible idea. Get some (A box... its cheap) of 3M medical tape and loop the foley taping the hose to the penis. Or tape the penis to the abdomen and tape the hose there as well. If you go the first way the two are never pulling you apart and that a good thing.
A good technique for holding the urine collection bag hosing to the thigh is to tape from the leg then up away from the leg a short distance looping the tape around the hose so the tape comes around the hose and the tape goes sticky side to sticky side (So the hose is a short distance away from the thigh. ) You want to stand off from the thigh just a short distance (Say... Less then 1/2 inch) then continue taping to the thigh. The tape to the thigh should be around 3 or 4 inches on either side (Tape is cheap) you can fold a short bit on one end to make it easier to remove. And... I always do it in more than one place. The tape to tape bit insures the hose can not slide up and down (It take a bit of force to pull the tape to tape bit apart.
Be sure the hose to the collection bag is not super tight give it just a big of slack to the Foley. At night maybe try going without underwear so nothing is pushing the Foley around. Loose underwear during the daytime is actually worse however. Remember that pain to the tip of the penis is often indication that its pulling the urethera open (And that hurts like hell) During the daytime when your moving around invest in a pair of Spanx mid thigh shorts. *Yes I know its embarrassing buying women's shape wear but trust me its worth your face turning red rather then you urethera. *Or bicycle shorts. This will keep everything pressed flat to you not allowing any movement of the foley where is enters the urethera. This is for physical pain issues. You also need to be sure you keep the foley and the penis clean. I strongly suggest not using anything to numb the penis because at least one of these things dried crusty and when it wore off it felt like the foley was barbed wire. Water soluble lubricants (Like the ones that hopefully were liberally used to insert the foley are good. This way whatever micro movement there is won't be rubbing you (or the patient) raw.
I wish to God someone had told me this stuff. The first time I wore a Foley (After prostectomy) was total misery. They may have told me or my wife some of this but... Its not often a patient is reading the release notes after getting home. It was a royal pain learning these tricks I hope this helps someone else.
I hope (Not in a mean way) that anyone who is prescribing or inserting Foleys into someone else try wearing one for 3 or 4 days. Seriously - give one a test run so you know first hand the issues. Nothing I've seen in training videos etc seems to even hint at how to minimize the pain these things can cause if allowed to turn and twist.
Actually I'm glad someone is talking about caths at all. It seems to freak out everyone from my experience. Maybe its shame from wetting the bed when you were 2 or what I don't know... Its medical. Its no big deal. Get over it I say.
My 2 cents is this....
Making sure the cath and the penis aren't ever allowed to go in different directions is the main issue I've learned. When that happens the very sensitive urethra gets pulled apart. OUCH... The gizmos that swivel the hose leading to the catheter are a horrible idea. Get some (A box... its cheap) of 3M medical tape and loop the foley taping the hose to the penis. Or tape the penis to the abdomen and tape the hose there as well. If you go the first way the two are never pulling you apart and that a good thing.
A good technique for holding the urine collection bag hosing to the thigh is to tape from the leg then up away from the leg a short distance looping the tape around the hose so the tape comes around the hose and the tape goes sticky side to sticky side (So the hose is a short distance away from the thigh. ) You want to stand off from the thigh just a short distance (Say... Less then 1/2 inch) then continue taping to the thigh. The tape to the thigh should be around 3 or 4 inches on either side (Tape is cheap) you can fold a short bit on one end to make it easier to remove. And... I always do it in more than one place. The tape to tape bit insures the hose can not slide up and down (It take a bit of force to pull the tape to tape bit apart.
Be sure the hose to the collection bag is not super tight give it just a big of slack to the Foley. At night maybe try going without underwear so nothing is pushing the Foley around. Loose underwear during the daytime is actually worse however. Remember that pain to the tip of the penis is often indication that its pulling the urethera open (And that hurts like hell) During the daytime when your moving around invest in a pair of Spanx mid thigh shorts. *Yes I know its embarrassing buying women's shape wear but trust me its worth your face turning red rather then you urethera. *Or bicycle shorts. This will keep everything pressed flat to you not allowing any movement of the foley where is enters the urethera. This is for physical pain issues. You also need to be sure you keep the foley and the penis clean. I strongly suggest not using anything to numb the penis because at least one of these things dried crusty and when it wore off it felt like the foley was barbed wire. Water soluble lubricants (Like the ones that hopefully were liberally used to insert the foley are good. This way whatever micro movement there is won't be rubbing you (or the patient) raw.
I wish to God someone had told me this stuff. The first time I wore a Foley (After prostectomy) was total misery. They may have told me or my wife some of this but... Its not often a patient is reading the release notes after getting home. It was a royal pain learning these tricks I hope this helps someone else.
I hope (Not in a mean way) that anyone who is prescribing or inserting Foleys into someone else try wearing one for 3 or 4 days. Seriously - give one a test run so you know first hand the issues. Nothing I've seen in training videos etc seems to even hint at how to minimize the pain these things can cause if allowed to turn and twist.
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I'm all to familiar with that. About 3.5 years ago I had a Foley in through the penis for just over a year. I got to be sore at times from the friction of the catheter inside the meatus.
There were a couple of things that I did that helped for me. Since the problem is due to motion, it is imprtant to imobilize the catheter and penis. I have made an elastic strap that holds the catheter to my thigh. I also used tight fitting underwear or an atlethic supporter.
To deal with direct treatment of the irritation, I had my doctor prescribe me Xylocaine jelly or cream. The jelly comes in a 2% strenght and the cream is 5%. I also used Bactotrim (not sure about the spelling) antibiotic cream to keep things from getting infected.
At evening around the house I wore a bathrobe which made less contact and movement of the catheter.
After about a year, the urologist suggested a temporary suprapubic catheter. This ended up not be as temporary as I had hoped. I might have to live the rest of my life with this condtion. Surgery was discussed but did not offer much in the form of relief. Had I known that the suprapubic was going to be long term or permanent, I never would have agreed to it. As much as I can live with it, due to cramping and spasms, I hate it. There really are not any options here as my case is complex.
If your urologist suggests something else, get yourself informed very well before agreeing to anything. I wish that I had done that, but I believed that the urologist knew best.
Should you also have a problem with bladder spasms, Buscopan works OK. For more severe pain, I use Morphine tabs.
All the best,
rmprdlr