Postby Quincy » Mon Sep 07, 2026 6:43 pm
Sorry you're having the trouble with cycling. I've heard from others here that it can be that way. At 6 weeks, it seems a little strange to me that you're having that much pain. Is the pain from activating the pump (squeezing the bulb) or just from being erect?
I cycled up for the first time just 8 days after surgery in my surgeon's office. He had told me to keep trying to feel the deflate button each day and to tug down on the bulb in my sack every time I had to pee. My sack was definitely swollen, and he'd left me at about 70% inflated. In his office that day he first had me show him that I could find the deflate button and had me press it. The button was hard to activate but do-able, and I deflated. Then he had me inflate to the maximum I though I could. It was definitely painful, but again, it seemed like I could do it. I put a bunch of pumps in - the bulb was very stiff - and got back at least to where it had been - and stopped. He asked if I though it was at max and I said, probably pretty close. He shook his head, reached in and put another 10 or so hard squeezes in and I got much more erect, and then said "That's at max."
It was definitely painful. I yelped and almost hit the ceiling. I wondered if I'd be able to do it at home. But over time it got easier, and I've had mine for over 8 years now. Wish I'd gotten it sooner, and I love having it.
For me, there were two sources of pain, my sack and my shaft. The sack hurt for a while just because it was bruised and tender. Pinching the skin hard between fingers to activate the pump didn't help at all. I did find that it was easier in hot water, and I even bought a hot tub when I got home. The heat made the pump easier to depress. The scrotal pain only lasted a couple of weeks.
The second pain was from just being erect for a period. My dick wasn't used to being that stretched, and it took a while for it to get over the pain of being fully stretched out. Other men I've chatted with have said the same, and some took a few months to get used to it. For me, it was a shorter period. Each day I could stay inflated a little longer. After 8 months or so I decided to see how long I could leave it inflated. I got a little over 9 hours and decided that was enough testing, I clearly could leave it as long as I wanted. I did have "blue ball" aches, but that wasn't from the implant itself.
My urologist wanted me to inflate every day, at least 4 times each day, and leave it up for 20 minutes each time. That was hard at first, but became the norm fairly quickly. I gained back over an inch in length over the first year of doing that regimen.
Like you, I wondered if I'd done the right thing, but it all worked out well. I'm very happy with it now.
Ice helped relieve the swelling, but just sitting in a tub of hot water helped even more, though I'm not sure why. I started taking hot baths a couple times a day on day 3 after surgery. He'd used surgical glue to seal my incisions and gave me permission to start then, so if anyone else reads this, don't start that early unless your doc says it's ok. The hot water just released some of the tension and pain, and it's part of why I bought the hot tub.
So, it does get better, just takes time. I was so anxious to use it that I got frustrated at how long it took, but it wasn't really as long as it seemed. Still, keep in contact with your surgeon. He needs to hear from you about your progress, and if something isn't right he should know.
Good luck with it. Hopefully it won't be too long before it all feels normal.
71, Boise area, Married
ED from type 2 diabetes and PCa radiation.
AMS LGX surgery 6/5/18 with Edward Karpman in Silicon Valley, 18cm+3RTE
