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EXTERNAL-BEAM THERAPY: WHAT HAPPENS
30 March 2009
by
admin
Filed under
Men's Health-Erectile Dysfunction
Radiation treatment means going to the hospital on a daily or near-daily basis and lying flat on your back or stomach on a table for a few minutes as a big X-ray machine (similar to, but larger than, ones you’ve seen at the dentist’s office) moves in an arc or circle over the targeted fields. That’s it. Then you go home. Most radiation treatment takes seven to eight weeks and is done during weekdays, leaving weekends free.
What If I’ve Had a TUR Procedure for BPH?
Your predicament is just the same as that of men who have a radical prostatectomy—you’ve got to wait for the swelling and inflammation to go down, generally about eight to twelve weeks, before you can undergo any new treatment. This waiting period, though it may seem agonizingly slow, is critical—it helps minimize your risk of becoming incontinent or developing scar tissue around the urethra from radiation damage to not-yet-healed tissue. (Some men who have undergone a TUR procedure may be more likely to develop a urethral stricture, which is easily treatable).
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