Two men. Same week of surgery. Maybe even the same surgeon.
Six weeks later, one is pad-free and back to his routine. The other is still carrying spare pads in his car and quietly wondering what he did wrong.
If you are the second man, you are not alone, and you are probably not doing anything wrong. New research helps explain why.
Researchers Sorted Men Into Recovery Profiles
In a 2025 study published in PLOS ONE, researchers followed 182 men through prostatectomy and pelvic floor rehab. Instead of looking at one factor at a time, they used a statistical method to group men by many factors at once: leakage at the start, surgery type, cancer findings, age and more. [1]
Three profiles emerged. Among men who were leaking when rehab began, here is how many were fully dry at each visit:
| Profile | Dry at about 3 months | Dry at about 6 months |
|---|---|---|
| Milder leakage, more favorable findings | 69% | 88% |
| Middle profile | 55% | 78% |
| Heavier leakage, more advanced cancer | 35% | 60% |
Times are counted from catheter removal.
What This Tells You
The early gap was real. At three months, the fastest group was nearly twice as likely to be dry as the slowest.
Every group kept improving. The slowest group went from 35% to 60% dry in the next three months, the biggest jump of all.
Speed isn’t the whole story. The researchers concluded that a man’s profile predicted the pace of recovery better than the final result. Their statistics on the final gap were mixed, and some men in every group were still leaking at six months. But a slow first three months clearly did not mean the story was over.
They also tried to build a model that could predict, from baseline information alone, who would recover early. It did not work well. In other words, nobody can look at your chart on day one and tell you exactly how your recovery will go.
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What Tends to Slow Recovery
Across this group of studies, a slower pace was linked with: [1,2]
- Heavier leakage when rehab began
- Waiting longer after surgery to start supervised rehab
- More advanced cancer findings at surgery
And men who recovered earlier were more often those who had trained before surgery.
You cannot change your pathology report. You can change when you start and how well you train.
Why One-Size-Fits-All Advice Fails Slower Recoverers
Most men leave the hospital with a handout that says “do your Kegels.” That might be enough for a man in the fastest group. It is rarely enough for a man in the slowest.
Men who are recovering more slowly usually need three things:
- Technique checks. Small errors, like squeezing the buttocks or holding your breath, add up over months.
- Progression. Exercises that worked in month one should not look the same in month four.
- Perspective. Knowing that slow is common keeps you from quitting during the stretch when results feel invisible.
When to Talk With Your Urologist If your leakage is not improving over several months, let your urologist know. Other treatment options exist when training alone is not enough.
Get Support That Matches Your Pace
Our post-surgery program is built in stages, because recovery happens in stages. Each live class is small (8 men maximum), grouped by recovery stage, and you leave each one with an updated home program.