After prostate cancer treatment, many men face difficult sexual and urinary problems. For gay men, these challenges can feel especially isolating, with few resources tailored to their needs. A new study tested an online program built just for them, offering coaching, guides to good gay sex after treatment, pelvic floor exercises, and specific sexual aids like vacuum pumps and anal dilators.
The researchers followed 401 gay men in the U.S. who were dealing with these problems. They found the men liked the program and found it easy to use. Many reported they kept using the sexual aids and exercises long-term. But when it came to actually improving their sexual or urinary function, the results were disappointing. Over two years, the program led to only minimal improvement, and it didn't perform any better than the control group.
This means the online program, while acceptable, wasn't effective at fixing the core problems. The study's authors suggest that for this group, the goal might not be full 'rehabilitation' back to how things were before. Instead, a more realistic aim is 'accommodation'—helping men adapt to their new normal with practical tools and support. The trial found no differences between the program and the control, so we can't say it caused any functional improvement.
