by Renie
(St Cloud, MN, USA)
I'm a care provider for my older significant other, who has an enlarged prostate, and needs to catheterize. He's too scared to attempt doing it on his own, so I help(actually just do it for him). My question is why does blood sometimes appear when we are done catheterizing?
He says it doesn't burn or hurt. And we use the 14" coude tip catheter. I worry I am doing something wrong that could potentially cause problems later on. I do make sure the tip is upward too.Is it just because I do it fast?-that I could be scraping the prostate??
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Ron here...
Being gentle to insert the catheter is important especially the last couple of inches as you push through the prostate. Make sure you ask him for feedback along the way. Use a gentle twisting motion of the catheter a little to the left and then to the right to help glide it in easily.
A bit of blood spotting is nothing to worry about as after all you are inserting something that is not normal into the body. If bleeding happens that is cause for concern.
You may need to read up on what can cause needing to use a catheter like diet or supplements or cold meds that can cause extra swelling of the prostate, almost like an allergic reaction.
