Wise Anderson Protocol worth the money

[chuckvoorhees]

Hello -

I'm new to the forum, and relatively new to CPPS. 3 months into it now pain ranges from mild in the morning to severe in the evenings. I'm strongly considering signing up for the next available 6 day protocol. I guess I'm just looking for some reassurance that it is worth the time and the money. Is this the best option - I live in a rural area a thousand miles from any sort of physical therapist.

[webslave]

Most of the people who went and benefited have moved on with their lives, although we fortunately do have some attendees here as active members, and the opinion has been universally positive.

If you are living in an isolated, under-serviced area, I think it may even be more useful because it provides you with the tools to begin the journey to a full recovery on your own.

There is a minority that is not helped by the protocol. We've discussed the whys and wherefores of that several times. Some of these failures are people with very combative personalities, laced in some cases with a hefty dose of paranoia, and one or two in particular have become very vocal on other sites on the internet, against the Wise-Anderson protocol and physical therapy in general. My take on this is that men with deeply hostile, intransigent, sceptical and suspicious natures could easily find that a cure will elude them — as a direct result of their psychological make-up. If you fall into that psychological category, I'd be less confident recommending this (or any) path to you.

This is not to say that you need to be a wide-eyed and gullible sap to benefit from the Wise-Anderson approach, and other treatments like it, but that if you are genetically inclined to a sort of stubborn cynicism, which in my opinion makes the relaxation part almost impossible to achieve, then I cannot recommend any particular treatment to you.

I'm sure there are other reasons for the 25% or so of people who do not get better from this protocol, but the psychological aspect is one I can identify via the internet. As I've said before, I think the W-A protocol does not look at aspects like diet enough, because that was an additional factor for me and definitely for a subsection of other patients too.

[scotsman]

Some of these failures are people with very combative personalities, laced in some cases with a hefty dose of paranoia, and one or two in particular have become very vocal on other sites on the internet, against the Wise-Anderson protocol and physical therapy in general. My take on this is that men with deeply hostile, intransigent, sceptical and suspicious natures could easily find that a cure will elude them — as a direct result of their psychological make-up. If you fall into that psychological category, I'd be less confident recommending this (or any) path to you.

Mark, you are spot on, the clinc I was at (Dec 2009) had some people at it who just were never in the right frame of mind and found it really hard to engage.

To the original poster - I thought the clinic was superb - very professional and well worth the investment (and I flew over from Scotland). One word of warning though - you need to really commit to the protocol as the clinic gives you the method, gives you intensive treatment for that week to let you see (and feel!) that this protocol works, but after that you need to get into the routine of doing your triggerpoint and stretching work every day plus relaxation twice a day if you can. It's not always easy to have the sort of commitment and some personalities are better suited to it than others.

I wish I went to the clinic three months into having this condition, as I went after having it for 6 years and by then a lot of damage had been done with chronically shortened muscles and bad clenching habits in place.

You can read about my experience here: viewtopic.php?f=34&t=6923

Best
Richard.

[chuckvoorhees]

Thank you -

I think I will sign up. I've read that many people think that drinking makes the problem worse. I have noticed quite the opposite. Is that common or should I cut alcohol out and see what the difference is?

[Jay]

I think that varies somewhat from person to person. Many people do find that alcohol relieves their symptoms in the short term. Unsurprising, as it's a muscle relaxant. However, there are those sufferers for whom it is a bladder irritant. I want to say this seems to be more prevalent among guys with urinary-centric symptoms, but that is purely a guess on my part.

Of course, you don't want to be self-medicating with booze. There are better alternatives.

[latte]

I agree with the Scotman, you have to be committed to the protocol to see a major benefit. I attended the program in 2004 after being in pain for three years. I still use the relaxation tapes occassionally and I really like a few in particular. The program included a portfolio of about twenty different relaxation tapes to listen to for different parts of your body. After attending the program and being worked on by the PT there I found a very good PT in my area and went to her about 20 sessions. I have maintained pretty well since then with no major flareups but I don't think I would have without the addtional PT sessions. You can do the trigger point therapy yourself or with a partner if there isn't a PT in your area that does this type of internal work but it may not be as effective. I actually am going back to my PT this month for a tuneup.

[ianiscool24]

Hey latte..I see on your profile that you are located in San Diego. Is your PT also in San Diego? If so can you give me the contact? I will be relocating to the area soon.


-Ian

[latte]

No but its close to the San Diego area. My PT is Chrissie Morgan in San Clemente so I drive about 45 minutes up the coast. She owns Body Awareness. She also teaches the doctors at UC Irvine about her treatment for male CPPS. Check out her website at www.bodyawarenesspt.com.

[Davee]

Hi Scotsman
I've read some of your posts with real interest, esp regarding your trip to the Wise Anderson clinic. I also live in the UK and tried to PM you but understand this can no longer be done on this site? Is there any other way of dropping you a note?
Best
D