Will a cath always hurt?

I had my first ever catheterization a couple weeks ago when I had urinary retention after gyn surgery. It hurt going in, being in and was 10x as painful coming out. It really sated my curiosity about catheters. My fear is that I will need it again if I need further surgery. Will it always hurt in such a situation?

I believe that the skill level of the nurse and them being willing to take their time installing the catheter is the larger issue. Coming from a male perspective, I’ve had catheters put in that were very uncomfortable, barely uncomfortable, and bordering on really enjoyable, going in and coming out. I’ve known a few females who had to be cathed, most described it as either a bit uncomfortable or barely noticeable.

I've had catheters used during my stays in hospital. Insertion was done whilst I was still under anaesthetic, retraction was just slightly uncomfortable. One time the catheter had to be replaced as it wasn't doing its job.

The only discomfort was the nurse holding my cock in one hand and the the catheter in the other!

While I haven't been rushing out to try it again I wouldn't be surprised if a chunk of the discomfort of mine (and possibly yours) was because I was quite uncomfortable and rushing the nurse a little because I wanted to get the urine out. Perhaps if the insertion is more gentle it wouldn't have been that uncomfortable. Of course I didn't feel it go in, but after the anesthetic wore off my urethra was burning.

The skill level and patience of the nurse putting in the catheter plays a part in the comfort surrounding a catheter. Also the reasons and surrounding events play a part.

My guess, and it is only a guess, is that the reason you had difficulty voiding after surgery was due to swelling caused by the manipulation of the urethra and bladder during surgery. That same swelling is what caused the pain on insertion.

The catheter probably irritated the swollen urethra causing something similar to scratches. These scratches would have been irritated by the catheter both while it was in place and when it was being removed.

If a catheter is inserted during surgery and/or before any swelling occurs it should be more comfortable.

I hope everything works out well for you.

^Thanks! You are correct, my doctor had to do a lot of manipulating, pushing, prodding etc to find my cervix, which seems to have moved. They said that is why I had urinary retention. What you said about the urethra being swollen makes a lot of sense.

If I have to have the procedure done again, I may ask if they can put a cath in while I'm under and leave it in for a day rather than go through not being able to pee then having to have it put in while awake.

Painful is because they put too little gel. It is necessary to put more. We learned that 5 to 10 ml of instilla gel should be saturated. Squeeze and push the gel inside. Wait 5 minutes. Slowly push the catheter. Wrap it up and spin it over to the sphincter slowly.. Compress last 5 cm very slowly. Waiting for the urine to flow.

I hope my advice is helpful to you..

I find it unusual that the suppliers of catheters don't sell a small syringe that is pre-filled with lube. Maybe they do , but it should be a more easily found supply.

We used to use Uro-Jet on patients that were really freaked out about a catheter. It is loaded with Lidocaine Jelly. For men, we would squirt it in the tip of the penis and massage it down. Then put a clamp sort of like a bulldog clamp but it doesn't clamp very hard at all. This is all a sterile procedure. But you could leave it on while getting everything else ready.

For women it was different. You would have to treat it as a sterile procedure. You would have to have everything ready, clean her then find the urethral opening squirt it in and hope she gets numb fast. If not you can either keep the tip in the urethral opening by holding it or hold your finger over the urethral opening until she got numb.

A suggested alternative is to use a 3ml syringe, take off the needle, take out the plunger. Fill the syringe with Xylocaine Gel. Inject the gel using the tip of the syringe in the urethra, emptying the contents. In the case of males, massage the gel down, and if you can manage it, cover the urethra with a finger, applying very slight pressure to prevent it from leaking out. Leave it in place for 5 minutes. Use the same gel as a lubricant on the catheter itself. It helps a great deal. Always keep the field sterile.

Play safe!

In the UK we always use instillagel providing the patient is not allergic to lidocaine or chlorhexidine while inserting a urinary catheter. It consitst of a local anaesthetic (lidocaine) to prevent pain and an antiseptic (chlorhexidine) to reduce the risk of infection getting in, while lubricating to make the process smooth.

Insertion of a catheter or other medical instrument into your urethra naturally presents the potential for injury, pain and infection. Instillagel helps by lubricating the urethra, allowing for smoother insertion of the catheter. The anaesthetic and antiseptic components of Instillagel (lidocaine and chlorhexidine, respectively) reduce pain and the risk of microbial infection following urological interventions. After the procedure, you may experience some soreness when the anaesthetic effect has worn off.

As with all procedures the skill and experience of the person inserting the catheter also is a factor as to how painful a procedure may be. A common mistake is not to allow sufficient time for the lidocaine ( local anaesthetic) to anaesthetise the tissue, in my experience Doctors never wait, the insert the gel and also immediately start inserting the catheter .

I put a catheter in this afternoon and it is in now. No pain going in, there will be no pain when it comes out. I had one in my two days ago. No pain putting the catheter in me.

I don't get any pain when I pee after taking the catheter out. Years ago there was some pain when I peed, but now, having a catheter in or out, I don't get any pain at all.

I am watching the race right now on TV. I had the start of an enema and I am waiting for the race to be over to fill myself up a few more times. I am almost clear this last filling.

So when the race is over, I will enjoy my catheter play and enema.

I’ve never had a catheter hurt going in. Granted, once was while I was under anesthesia, but I’ve been catheterized over 100 times and have enjoyed every insertion.