Stricture's.....Which way to go???

I have done the ballon catheter thing twice and it always came back. I had also pain which never ever reduced. I suggest you should do it once and for all.

Do u have pain though??

I had regular dilation 20 years ago, and it was great for a few months, then came back worse. Month ago I had basically a single cut along the top inside through the structure. It's been free and clear since but that was only a month ago. Insist on keeping a catheter in for at least a week. It'll allow the cut to heal open and free flowing. That's what I missed the first time.

I am 70 years old male. I had my first urethrotomy when I was 25 years old. I had regular (annual) urethrotomies until I was 60 years old. I was then persuaded by my Urologist to undertake self dilation. This worked very well  such that I did not have to visit my Urologist for the next 10 years. I had another urethrotomy last year and am continuing with my self dilation (self catheterisation). I have no problems. The mistake I made the last time was that I was lazy about carrying out regular self catheterisation and hence the stricture came back. Self catheterisation is easy and painless. I do it about two to three times a week. It takes about five minutes to do and only requires a source of very clean (perhaps sterile) water.

I would be very careful about urethroplasty - especially as it is so close to the prostrate.

Hi Ken thanks for your message,

Your consultant would really be having to perform a cystoscopy prior to offering a solution. Until they have explored your urethra they cannot tell you what the problem is whether it is a stricture or not and what the size of it is and how large the narrowing is. I am based in the Midlands and from what I have learned from the Nottinghamshire area is that following a cystoscopy a dilatation at the same time can occur with a follow-up of self catheterisation. From what I have learned urethroplasty is the best fix for this problem and has a much higher success rate than anything else. The dilatation alone has very poor success rates I have just had a dilatation and urethrotomy which is the procedure wear a coat is made along the scar tissue inside the urethra. I am now a week down the line and my flow has slowed somewhat but is still at an acceptable level and I am having to self catheterise twice a day for eight weeks at that stage I will then have a follow-up appointment and a flow test. My consultant seems to think that a urethroplasty is the way forward and I am of the same mind .

I hope this information helps a little please do not hesitate to ask any more questions thanks

I have had two cystoscopies this year about 4 months apart because of strictures after my urethra was severely damaged when the medical instrument used during a TURP damaged the urethra as it was removed. (I am 61 years old. I had the cystoscopies when I was 60.)

In the second cystoscopy, the urologist created an opening the size of a 20 catheter. I use a 14 catheter when I self-cath twice a day.

As long as I self-cath twice daily, I am able to urinate without any problem, and the catheters are 100% covered by a minimal insurance policy (Ohio's expansion of Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act) since they are a medical necessity.

It took me a while to get accustomed to the idea of self-cathing twice daily, but once I got past that stigma in my head (thanks to a Roman Catholic upbringing), I have had absolutely no difficulty urinating.

Consider the self-catheterization process. It has worked extremely well for me.