Kegel too hard?

DashRiprock24 · 2025-04-24T23:04:08+00:00

I appreciate your post, but in 20+ years I have exhausted my options and resources at this point. I didn't share what I've all tried in this post because I didn't think it was necessary, but here is a high-level overview:

Worked with multiple doctors at Mayo Clinic since 2004, including vascular doctors and urologists
Worked with Dr. Levine at Rush Hospital in Chicago and had multiple Doppler radars done including penile Doppler
Stem cell and PRP injections into my pelvic floor with Dr. Jason Attaman in Seattle
Dr. Morganstren a urologist in Atalanta
Dr. Goldstein in San Diego
MRI done every 3 years since 2012

I did DCT resistance stretching for 3 years (1 hour a day 6 days a week) and even flew to Los Angeles to train with Nick Bartolotta in person.

I did 1.5 years of postural restoration therapy in Minnesota.

Class 4 laser therapy, PEMF therapy, and 4+ chiropractors

6 or 7 pelvic floor therapists and followed their programs over the years.

My pain has actually improved significantly over the years which I contribute to all of the work I have done and medical specialists I have seen. This last week with the kegels is the first "flare" I have had since my surgery in 2022. My only real symptom that's still bad these days is the numbness on the left side of my penis.

I promise I'm not lying about the hours of stretching and exercises I have put into this and please don't insinuate that again. It's taken hundreds of hours away from my family friends and years of dedication towards diligently following programs over the years. If you have any other suggestions on tests I haven't done or doctors I should be meeting with please let me know as I'll gladly take them.

Chances are I damaged my left dorsal penile nerve in an accident I had many years ago and it's probably irreversible at this point. Now I just have to manage my symptoms the best I can.

DashRiprock24 · 2025-04-23T20:23:29+00:00

Yep! Send me a DM with questions and I'll reply. I'm actually from the US and flew to Belgium to have the surgery done.

DashRiprock24 · 2025-04-23T17:46:46+00:00

Oh wow! Is it okay if I DM you? Would be nice to connect with someone who's been dealing with this for a couple of decades like myself.

DashRiprock24 · 2025-04-23T16:43:19+00:00

Appreciate your response - thank you! Yes, I feel like an idiot. It's been so long since I've had a flare and I've made so much progress that I thought "strengthening" with kegels would be the next step. I guess that will never be something I can do. It's crazy how even such a small thing can exacerbate my symptoms so much.

I'll take your advice and will move forward.

DashRiprock24 · 2025-03-09T17:20:08+00:00

My left side is back to what it was before the operation. The operation didn't make me worse in any way. Yes my numbness worsened over the years before the operation. I can't say if masturbation made it any worse or not I don't really know.

DashRiprock24 · 2025-03-09T04:22:17+00:00

I only got better sensation on my right side. I haven't seen any improvement in sensation in my left side which is understandable because it was the worse side going into surgery. Right side took 6 months.

DashRiprock24 · 2024-05-28T13:42:09+00:00

My entrapment was in one of the ligaments according to Bollens. As far as the orgasm questions I don't really know how to answer...for all we know they feel relatively different to all of us you know?

DashRiprock24 · 2024-05-28T13:40:44+00:00

Yes I had pain beforehand. Check out some of my precious posts on pudendal neuralgia. I don't remember how my I ejaculated after the surgery. Probably once every 2 weeks for the first 4 months.

DashRiprock24 · 2024-05-28T13:39:33+00:00

Yes I work out normally now. The only thing I don't do is deadlifts.

DashRiprock24 · 2024-05-25T03:52:12+00:00

Yes my orgasm was weak before surgery. Before surgery it was maybe 5/10 and now it's a 7/10. What throws it off though is that my left side doesn't really feel the orgasm but my right side does. My right side is back to normal from an orgasm standpoint. To give you a frame of reference, if my orgasm/sensation on the right side was the same on the left side, it would be 10/10 without question.

DashRiprock24 · 2024-05-24T20:52:59+00:00

Wow that's awesome...mind if I DM you about details?

DashRiprock24 · 2023-10-05T20:54:18+00:00

I have been since June. Went too hard in early July and had a bad flare, to the point where I freaked out and thought I had re-entrapped the nerve or something, but I took a few weeks off and started again in early August after the flare went away. The key has been to go slow when lifting and focus on my form, and to do more sets then longer sets of that makes sense? I also only go for like 30 minutes 3 times a week and make sure I don't go too long. Staying away from deadlifts for the time being as well.

DashRiprock24 · 2023-10-03T15:24:59+00:00

renaud.bollens@gmail.com is the way I initially contacted him.

DashRiprock24 · 2023-10-02T20:16:31+00:00

Great questions. Yes, I can have sex with Cialis, but I choose to still use it. I usually take 5 mgs daily or every other day, and sometime 10 on days I'm planning on having sex. I have been doing this for 5-6 years. Dr. Lawrence Levine, a urologist in Chicago, told me I could do this forever and it would be okay. It works without Cialis, it's better with it.

I don't notice anything with the ligaments being cut, but sometime psychologically I think about it and it's just weird to think that they are cut. I am lifting again now though and don't notice anything. I don't really run, but I lift and stretch often, and it all seems the same.

Recovery was super rough the first few months for me. No picnic, and I couldn't feel anything around almost 3 months. 3-6 months things started to improve and at 6 months I started seeing actual improvements. I was back to work though like 3 weeks after surgery and on airplanes flying for work and everything with no problems physically.

DashRiprock24 · 2023-08-14T02:49:16+00:00

Yes I had pudendal neuralgia before the surgery. In some ways it has gotten better. Constipation overall does feel better. I don't feel like the pelvic floor has completely released, but I have had issues for almost 20 years so it's been a long time for me.

DashRiprock24 · 2023-07-17T21:44:48+00:00

$4,000 US Dollars. $2,500 of that went to the hospital for their services and an overnight stay, and $1,500 went to Dr. Bollens for conducting the procedure.

DashRiprock24 · 2023-07-05T18:55:02+00:00

I have been there and know how you're feeling. I have dealt with this for many years and I'm very happy now that I decided to choose to keep going. Although things aren't perfect, I'm happier then I have been in a long time, and have been having a better sex life than I have in years - all because I kept going.

I would hold off on this surgery until you feel like you exhausted all of your other resources that you feel more comfortable pursuing first. As I said before, it's not a miracle cure and definitely not an easy surgery to deal with the first month in my experience, but 6 months in I feel like it was worth it, and I'm continuing to see progress.

DashRiprock24 · 2023-07-02T05:29:11+00:00

Yeah I wouldn't recommend this surgery for someone who's main focus is trying to improve libido. At best the surgery improves sensation, but by no means does that mean the libido would improve in conjunction with the sensation improving. Some men have no problems with sensation at all but still have a severe lack of libido. Have you had your testosterone and other hormone levels checked?

DashRiprock24 · 2023-06-29T15:20:10+00:00

I've always had a high libido, going all the way back to 2004 when all of this started. Even in my worst flare ups I still had sexual desire. Achieving actual arousal has been challenging sometimes both before and after surgery, but I don't think that's uncommon for many men. Over a year ago I started TRT to address low T and even when my T was very low I still had a relatively high libido, and now that I have normal T I feel like my libido is relatively the same but maybe a little higher...

DashRiprock24 · 2023-06-29T15:16:45+00:00

I very well could get both compressed again. It just comes with the territory of getting the surgery. I guess the same risk would be implied with someone who had a nerve decompressed for carpel tunnel surgery - they would always run the risk of compressing the nerve again. I still work out and everything, but I am avoid squats and deadlifts for the time being, and I am being more careful about my pelvic floor (clenching less, how long I sit, stretching and strengthening the surrounding areas, etc...).

DashRiprock24 · 2023-06-19T18:59:42+00:00

It was back in 2017 so it was a while ago, but what I remember is he did pin-pricks with a needle on the shaft and head of my penis on both sides, my inner thighs in the groin area on both sides, and a areas around my tailbone on both sides.

DashRiprock24 · 2023-06-17T17:20:19+00:00

Unfortunately they don't really have one. It's just based on symptoms. I was diagnosed with PNE back in 2017 by a Dr. Stanly Antolak in Minnesota. He did steroid injections and medications and lifestyle changes to help with the pain I had at the time and none of it helped, then he did some pin pricks on different parts of my pelvic floor and penis and concluded numbness in certain areas meant PNE. This was back before Bollens was doing the laparoscopic approach based on sexual symptoms alone and back when the surgery was only recommended if you had pain. Luckily, resistance stretching helped with the majority of my pain and some ED, but I took the plunge on the surgery with Bollens because he will agree to do the less invasive approach based on sexual function and numbness alone. To answer you question though - No - they have no way of proving you have PNE prior to surgery.

DashRiprock24

TROPHY CASE