# Catheters...how to endure insertion? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 19, 2016, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catheters-how-to-endure-insertion/749483 "2016-03-19T01:44:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2016, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catheters-how-to-endure-insertion/749483/21 "2016-03-19T21:35:21Z")
> [@boytyperanma](#): > > As an 8y/o boy with health issues caused by an enlarged bladder I was inserting a catheter myself twice a day. It’s hardly the end of the world and certainly not my worst medical experience. Interesting, but it doesn’t surprise me. Under the circumstances you describe I can imagine getting used to it pretty quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2016, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catheters-how-to-endure-insertion/749483/22 "2016-03-20T03:01:10Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > 😕 Two catheters at the same time? :eek: Where does the other one go? Up your ass. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2016, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catheters-how-to-endure-insertion/749483/23 "2016-03-20T03:39:48Z")
Are pecker farts common after removal of a Foley catheter? I had some. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2016, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catheters-how-to-endure-insertion/749483/24 "2016-03-20T06:57:17Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Up your ass. Ugh. When I was sick in ICU with the infection that eventually led to my amputation, I was catheterized both front and back. In my rare moments of lucidity, I do remember it being really uncomfortable (in both locations) but not painful. Of course, I was delirious most of the time, so I managed to miss out on everything but the removal. The cytoscopy that came after I went home (because there was some blood in my urine) was much more uncomfortable. ---
**Author:** ![pianodave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e79b87/32.png) [@pianodave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pianodave)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2016, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catheters-how-to-endure-insertion/749483/25 "2016-03-20T11:45:11Z")
I’ll grin and bear it. But speaking of painful medical procedures, the worst I ever had was when I just had gotten my spinal cord injury. I was completely conscious the whole time, but in the emergency room. I could not breathe all of a sudden…it was like an asthma attack. They told me my lungs were filling up with fluid. So they cut me open right under my armpit and shoved a tube in to drain me of whatever fluid they could find. Now that’s something that you never want to relive again. Also, I broke eight ribs during the accident, so getting my first MRI and having to put my arms over my head was no picnic either. Other “war stories” welcome. Dave ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2016, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catheters-how-to-endure-insertion/749483/26 "2016-03-22T04:19:32Z")
So here is my urodynamics story: I was booked in for a flow test - they told me to drink two liters of water 2 hours prior to arrival. So I did. My wife drove me to the clinic while I controlled my very full bladder. I got there and went in to the nurse pretty quickly. She showed me the flowmeter, told me to pee in the funnel and stepped out of the room. I let my bladder rip, and the relief was great. I had just zipped up when the nurse popped back in and told me that the flowmeter had malfunctioned, and I needed to do it again. At this point she handed me another 2 liters of water. I drank it (somewhat less willingly than the previous time). After half an hour I still wasn’t ready for another go, so she sent me to get a blood test. I arrived in pathology, took a ticket and waited. And waited. After 15 minutes I realised that I now did need to pee, fairly urgently. But my number was nearly up, so I waited some more. I got called in to the booth, and the phlebotomist found a vein and stuck a needle in my arm. And missed. And probed, and still missed. She tried again, and I am clenching both my teeth, and my bladder because if I relax the needlesticker is getting both verbal and urinary abuse. She finally gets her blood sample, and avoids a golden shower, and I still have dry pants. I manage to stagger back to the Urology clinic, tell the nurse I am available and to not wait too long. She obviously recognises quiet desperation, because I went straight back in to the flowmeter and spend quite a lot longer than 27 seconds getting very comfortable. Fortunately, the machine worked correctly this time, and I was able to go home happier. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2016, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catheters-how-to-endure-insertion/749483/27 "2016-03-22T05:44:05Z")
I’ve only had one catheter experience and as others have said, it wasn’t too bad; uncomfortable but not painful. My father self catheterized himself beginning at age 50 and continued until he died at 93—I don’t know what that proves other than he was a tough old bird. ---
**Author:** ![thatguyjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6de8d8/32.png) [@thatguyjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thatguyjeff)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2016, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catheters-how-to-endure-insertion/749483/28 "2016-03-22T15:50:20Z")
Deep breath. Get your brain stem ready. Gut it out. I’m not sure of the lidocaine “help.” I’ve had both ways. The lidocaine jelly - yes, syringe with no needle, tip in the hole, and squirting jelly up in there - is just as bad as a straight cath. Can’t say it seemed like there was much difference. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catheters-how-to-endure-insertion/749483/29 "2016-03-23T05:38:23Z")
> [@pianodave](#): > > I’ll grin and bear it. But speaking of painful medical procedures, the worst I ever had was when I just had gotten my spinal cord injury. I was completely conscious the whole time, but in the emergency room. I could not breathe all of a sudden…it was like an asthma attack. They told me my lungs were filling up with fluid. So they cut me open right under my armpit and shoved a tube in to drain me of whatever fluid they could find. Now that’s something that you never want to relive again. Yeah, my mom had a thoracentesis to remove fluid that had built up from cancer in the lungs. She said it was worse than childbirth and refused to have it again later when she needed it. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catheters-how-to-endure-insertion/749483/30 "2016-03-23T05:50:58Z")
I have never had one inserted but I have done plenty when I was nursing. It was a long time ago and I gather I was good at it, I was always asked to do them if I was on a shift and one was required, but I don’t recall any real objections ever being offered. Admittedly no-one ever said it was good fun but only the odd grumble. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catheters-how-to-endure-insertion/749483/31 "2016-03-23T12:38:48Z")
[I got catheterized 20 years ago](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12832773&postcount=31). It hurt a lot going in (doc/nurse had to upsize to a cath that was big enough to not buckle while she was shoving it through my prostate); I was in tears by the time she was done ravaging my urinary tract. It was also unpleasant coming out, but not as bad as going in. However, the aftermath was an inflamed urethra that made peeing very painful for hours afterward. I may be coloring these memories worse than they really were because of the rest of what the docs did to me that day, but I hope to hell I can avoid being ever catheterized again in my lifetime. ---
**Author:** ![Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mona_Lisa_Simpson)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catheters-how-to-endure-insertion/749483/32 "2016-03-23T15:07:02Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > I’d say “be in unmedicated transitional back labor with a stuck baby; you won’t care WHAT they do to you”, but since you’re a guy, I guess I can’t help. This. Or in my case, I ended up getting a Caesarean with only minimal spinal block because my baby was dying\* Also I hadn’t slept properly in the last 10 days because 10 lb kiddo was pressing on my bladder and I was up to pee every hour. I actually begged the nurses to keep in in an extra day, I loved not getting up. Also not climbing out of bed with a huge incision made a catheter a happy event. For males, lubrication and a quick insertion usually is not painful just uncomfortable. If you have an enlarged prostate it can be more of a problem. I think lidocane gel is pretty standard. It’s worse if you are a woman, everyone’s anatomy is slightly different and can involve many attempts, and each wrong insertion means a new sterile catheter. I had a patient who actually had her urinary meatus inside her vaginal canal, so catheterizing her was always difficult. \*“Baby” is now 12, healthy and 5’2", 80 lbs and at supper time usually eats 3 huge portions of whatever. Can anyone tell me where to cheaply buy pants with a 24 waist and a 28 inch inseam? Hurry up shorts season! ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catheters-how-to-endure-insertion/749483/33 "2016-03-23T20:46:25Z")
Have had several, yeah uncomfortable but eh. My dislike was that I feel like I need to ‘P’ all the time and that drives me nuts. ---
**Author:** ![mistymage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mistymage/32/459_2.png) [@mistymage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mistymage)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catheters-how-to-endure-insertion/749483/34 "2016-03-24T14:41:53Z")
I’ve only had stents put in (that I can remember… could have had a catheter when I was a toddler for various surgeries). Stents are not as flexible as catheters since they are made of metal. I had one in for 2 months and then 2 weeks. The second one the string used to pull it out either wasn’t on it or it somehow was stuck up in my kidney. So instead of them just pulling the stent out I had to have cystoscopy done. I swear to Og that the tool used was the size of tree pruners! In reality: [How is a ureteral stent removed? -](http://www.kidneystoners.org/information/how-is-a-ureteral-stent-removed/) has a video at the bottom of the camera going in to find the string and its removal/being pulled out. I opted for being awake because my husband had already used up quite a bit of personal time for the various out patient surgeries and follow-ups during those 3 months. By not being put under I just had to wait around for an hour afterward just to make sure I didn’t pass out while driving home. The insertion I was awake for wasn’t too bad because they used lidocaine. The removals weren’t too bad because of the same. Living for months at a time with a metal tube was uncomfortable because of it tugging on my kidney wall and it made me need to pee or feel like I had to pee all of the time. But at least I didn’t feel the stones, shards and sand when they passed (other than a few really big pieces). ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catheters-how-to-endure-insertion/749483/35 "2016-03-24T17:17:34Z")
I’ve had 2 inserted on different occasions while awake. It (insertion) felt weird, and was mildly unpleasant both times, but it wasn’t outright painful by a long shot. One of those times was after I had one removed prematurely after major surgery. I could not pee under any circumstance by my own power. The tube went in past my prostate, the stream started like a garden house, and the instantaneous relief far outweighed the 10 seconds of ookey feeling of a tube sliding up my crank. Just remind those involved to lube the cath _VERY_ well. I also asked that the student nurse that invariably removed them to not laugh at my wedding tackle. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catheters-how-to-endure-insertion/749483.md?page=1)