I am curious how many of you guys can (or have in the past) identified clearly in yourself that YOU are tensing your pelvic muscles and when you practice relaxation they let go and begin to stop that process thus easing off your symptoms?
A classic way to see this is if you feel great in the morning but taper into discomfort during the day. When you sleep you cannot tense as you are unconscious basically. So when you sleep you let go and calm down symptoms. This is what you can achieve "during wakefulness" with relaxation. If you find this pattern I strongly recommend you work on relaxation.
I have read a huge amount of discussion recently on here about urology, physio and meds but I am just wondering how many are having success with plain old boring and simple relaxation? I find it "frankly a critical key" in keeping my own pain and flares at bay.
Physio and meds that stuff is "easy", a monkey could do those and make a good go of it, BUT relaxation - that takes a great deal of care of and skill, and my fear is it is overlooked by some guys passing through this board who miss the significance of it. So here is a post for them to read and perhaps think about. If it helps one person it is worth the effort to post this. If you are an old hand and find this "repetitive" I do apologise but I have been away from the board for years so I am just not 100% sure everyone still thinks like me on this. If you do, great...if not, maybe you can post some comments as to why not or reconsider it.
Thanks for reading!
Tensing
Tensing
Age: 32 | Onset Age: 22 | Symptoms: Pain | Helped By: Sleeping, Relaxation, Exercise, Stretching, Tramadol (Bad Flare Only Generally Prefer No Chemistry), Good Diet, Quercetin, Fish Oil | Worsened By: Stress, Too Much Ejaculation, Protection Response
Re: Tensing
I have been doing the protocol for 9 months. I do the relaxation 30 mins twice a day. I probably achieve this 90% of the time. The other 10% work or fatigue prevents me. I don't do more than 30 mins because I find myself becoming fidgety, which maybe means that I am not really relaxing. I don't know. I feel good that I can 30 minutes twice a day though. In the beginning, after 10 or 15 minutes I really just wanted to get up and be done.
There are times especially when I do the relaxation right after a hot bath that the symptoms temporarily subside greatly. But other times, the symptoms are pretty intense throughout. I believe that the relaxation is an important part of my overall problem as there are various clues that tell me as much. Lying in the sun can often bring some relief as do hot baths and Valium. Also after a bowel movement I get tremendous relief for a minute or so. During this time I can feel the pelvic muscles quivering and slowly closing up again.
So I continue to do the protocol, but I have to admit that i had really hoped that by 9 months I would have seen some great results. So far I can't report anything amazing. I just hope that with time, the symptoms will slowly subside.
There are times especially when I do the relaxation right after a hot bath that the symptoms temporarily subside greatly. But other times, the symptoms are pretty intense throughout. I believe that the relaxation is an important part of my overall problem as there are various clues that tell me as much. Lying in the sun can often bring some relief as do hot baths and Valium. Also after a bowel movement I get tremendous relief for a minute or so. During this time I can feel the pelvic muscles quivering and slowly closing up again.
So I continue to do the protocol, but I have to admit that i had really hoped that by 9 months I would have seen some great results. So far I can't report anything amazing. I just hope that with time, the symptoms will slowly subside.
Age: 39 | Onset Age: 17 | Symptoms: Constant feeling of needing to urinate felt in the tip of penis. Frequency. Urgency. None of the typical pain associated with CPPS. | Helped By: Valium, Klonopin, and very hot baths, followed by lying down still/doing relaxation. Also made almost symptom free for a few seconds following a bowel movement. | Worsened By: stress, anxiety, skipping meals, lack of sleep, extended sitting, coffee, alcohol. NO other pain or discomfort although after ejaculation symptoms will usually get worse unless I lie still for 20 minutes or so. | Other comments: Symptoms began at the moment of ejaculation, disappeared after a few months and then returned a few months later and have not gone away since.
Re: Tensing
Relaxation is the #1 method that I use to control my symptoms. Quercetin and stretching helps me a lot too, but relaxation is by far the most effective. So effective that there have been times when I was on vacation for a week and the symptoms literally reduced to about zero, and this was without doing any stretches or taking quercetin. Relaxation is so key for me. I've been listening to Dr. Jeffrey Thompson's relaxation audio for an hour everyday for about a week now and it's been working very well for me so far. I suffer with a few anxiety disorders so the meditation really helps with that and I find that it just generally reduces any type of pain I may be having. Glad to see it helps others too!
Age: 25 | Age Onset: 20 | What helps: Quercetin, stretching, paleo diet, walking/hiking, meditation, benzos | What hurts: stress, lack of sleep, ejaculation, catastrophic thinking, alcohol, caffeine, weightlifting
Re: Tensing
Hey Mike,
This is me. BIG TIME. I find myself constantly tensing all day long. My sphincter muscles a lot and my butt it seems.
Does any have any suggestions for paradoxical relation CDs or MP3s? I've ordered the book but its on back order. I would like to begin to learn this technique. I really believe its a key missing from my healing process.
This is me. BIG TIME. I find myself constantly tensing all day long. My sphincter muscles a lot and my butt it seems.
Does any have any suggestions for paradoxical relation CDs or MP3s? I've ordered the book but its on back order. I would like to begin to learn this technique. I really believe its a key missing from my healing process.
Age: 27 | Onset Age: 26| Symptoms: Occasional penis discomfort (mild), primary pain is perineum - feels like I'm sitting on a golf ball, pressure in penis, almost like a stick is in my urethra, difficulty sitting for long periods of time, urinary frequency (some), incontinence (dribbling), right testicle pain (almost gone!), hip pain, stiff hips, lower back pain. Some abdomen pain. Just general discomfort in the area, post sex discomfort. | Helped By: External and Internal PT. Hot bathes. Supplements (mag, omega 3, vitamin b and D, prosta Q). Relaxing. Breathing exercises. Anti inflammatory diet. Stretches. Yoga | Worsened By: Stress. Core exercises, too much exercise, too little exercise, strenuous exercise. Sitting. Too much Sex | Other comments: Feeling better, but still not 100% I'd say I'm 75%
Re: Tensing
It is really hard to do paradoxical the more I work on it the more it freaks me out how hard it is.
I have mastered zazen meditation but cannot master paradoxical relaxation in the same way. I thought oh it will be easy if you know zazen...nope! They do have some parallels though I must admit. The absence of thought leads to the absences of tensing in mediation to a degree. However from my work I would say paradoxical goes deeper on relaxation of the body whereas meditation goes deeper in resting the mental state. It would be a big mistake to think they are the same they are not. I would also take all those hippy shop bought relaxation CD's and chuck them in the bin they have no comparison to what I have heard from Dr. Wise. However the music from Dr. Thompson is amazing to use during relaxation/mediation it provides a distant anchor or a boundary within which you can relax. Not all relaxation is equal - every hippy psychologist wants their own CD but not all are equal.
Also mastering this stuff is one thing practicing it another. It is easy to stop when you feel better and then only use it when you flare when indeed it should be used daily even if you feel good. It has taken a long time and many flares to teach me this lesson.
Muscles when injured or having problems will tense it is a protection mechanism if a bone breaks they tense to try to hold together (most of us never experience spasms in other areas of the body so we do not recognise it for what it is in the pelvis)...but what I think we do is chuck on top of that from an original issue a lot more tensing and thus create a horrid place for the nerves and organs to live in - a really nasty unnourished and starved environment. This then loops throughout our life on and off with flares and calm. I do not even take all this from Wise-Anderson Protocol, well a bit, I just notice it in me. We need to look deeper to grasp this dysfunction in us to address it and sadly frankly some of us are in a constant battle to address it with everything from meds to physio to relaxation. We win battles but we never win the war unless we really make it part of our daily routine.
I have mastered zazen meditation but cannot master paradoxical relaxation in the same way. I thought oh it will be easy if you know zazen...nope! They do have some parallels though I must admit. The absence of thought leads to the absences of tensing in mediation to a degree. However from my work I would say paradoxical goes deeper on relaxation of the body whereas meditation goes deeper in resting the mental state. It would be a big mistake to think they are the same they are not. I would also take all those hippy shop bought relaxation CD's and chuck them in the bin they have no comparison to what I have heard from Dr. Wise. However the music from Dr. Thompson is amazing to use during relaxation/mediation it provides a distant anchor or a boundary within which you can relax. Not all relaxation is equal - every hippy psychologist wants their own CD but not all are equal.
Also mastering this stuff is one thing practicing it another. It is easy to stop when you feel better and then only use it when you flare when indeed it should be used daily even if you feel good. It has taken a long time and many flares to teach me this lesson.
Muscles when injured or having problems will tense it is a protection mechanism if a bone breaks they tense to try to hold together (most of us never experience spasms in other areas of the body so we do not recognise it for what it is in the pelvis)...but what I think we do is chuck on top of that from an original issue a lot more tensing and thus create a horrid place for the nerves and organs to live in - a really nasty unnourished and starved environment. This then loops throughout our life on and off with flares and calm. I do not even take all this from Wise-Anderson Protocol, well a bit, I just notice it in me. We need to look deeper to grasp this dysfunction in us to address it and sadly frankly some of us are in a constant battle to address it with everything from meds to physio to relaxation. We win battles but we never win the war unless we really make it part of our daily routine.
Age: 32 | Onset Age: 22 | Symptoms: Pain | Helped By: Sleeping, Relaxation, Exercise, Stretching, Tramadol (Bad Flare Only Generally Prefer No Chemistry), Good Diet, Quercetin, Fish Oil | Worsened By: Stress, Too Much Ejaculation, Protection Response
Re: Tensing
Mike do you have any suggestions? I've yet to add this element to my daily routine and I am a bit lost.
Age: 27 | Onset Age: 26| Symptoms: Occasional penis discomfort (mild), primary pain is perineum - feels like I'm sitting on a golf ball, pressure in penis, almost like a stick is in my urethra, difficulty sitting for long periods of time, urinary frequency (some), incontinence (dribbling), right testicle pain (almost gone!), hip pain, stiff hips, lower back pain. Some abdomen pain. Just general discomfort in the area, post sex discomfort. | Helped By: External and Internal PT. Hot bathes. Supplements (mag, omega 3, vitamin b and D, prosta Q). Relaxing. Breathing exercises. Anti inflammatory diet. Stretches. Yoga | Worsened By: Stress. Core exercises, too much exercise, too little exercise, strenuous exercise. Sitting. Too much Sex | Other comments: Feeling better, but still not 100% I'd say I'm 75%
Re: Tensing
******************************************************************************
EDIT BETTER ATTEMPT AT THIS ANSWER
THIS IS HARD TO EXPLAIN AND MY FIRST ATTEMPT WAS BAD
******************************************************************************
Firstly I think for paradoxical work you need to really find a teacher. Call up some psychologists locally. Try them on see what fits. They all have CD's so you can work at home.
The problem is I hate to ruin it for you by giving you my interpretation of relaxation but if you want a very basic harmless exercise try this.
ON MEDS SPEAK TO YOUR MD BEFORE DOING ANY OF THIS!
PRE RELAXATION
1. Take a "hot" bath.
2. Mild stretching exercise.
3. Tell all family to leave you alone for 30 mins and switch off phone.
4. Go to the quietest place in your home and lie down.
5. Put on your ipod Dr. Thompson/Whitenoise - any audio that will not focus your mind on the audio itself.
RELAXATION STATE
1. Close your eyes slowly until you feel that relaxation as sleep may bring to you.
2. DO NOT SLEEP during this time.
3. Eyes now shut or semi shut if you might fall asleep.
4. Focus on your jaw muscles (cheeks & lips area not teeth) feel the tension in them "accept it".
5. Go with jaw tension until it starts to relax out (your entire body will relax along with your jaw).
PARADOXICAL BIT
1. Tense gently a muscle in your body "NOT PELVIS" you are comfortable with.
2. This may be neck, jaw, hands, shoulders, toes, anything...find what suits.
3. Hold for 10 seconds or so.
4. Let go of it and follow the feelings from letting go into relaxation.
5. During this ignore your pelvis completely.
6. Breath IN-HOLD-OUT deeply in control during this time.
6. REPEAT FOR 30 MINUTES OR SO.
POST RELAXATION
1. Gently open eyes fully and come back.
2. Mild stretching as pre relaxation.
3. Take a small walk outside to bring yourself back.
A MILD PRE STRETCH EXCERCISE
1. Lean forward and let your arms & hands drop legs bent a little and FLOP over.
2. Go down into a squat so you are fully down feel floppy.
3. Come back up and stretch hands into air interlocked fingers twisting wrists around.
4. Hold then let hands flop down.
5. During this breath in deeply - hold - exhale slowly in control.
EXTRAS
1. Try some aromatherapy during relaxation.
2. Have your partner massage your body pre/post relaxation with peppermint or camomile oil etc.
3. If mind wanders focus on the boundary of the audio to hold you in place.
4. Let thoughts wash over you and crash on the shore like waves.
5. Do not chase thoughts - but also do not fight them let them simply come and go like waves.
NOTES
1. This is only relaxation you still need to also work on physio.
2. You should not push/pull muscles or draw your mind in to an area to any intensity. Relaxation is just nothing going on. A beginners mistake is to focus so much they create tension as they get agitated they cannot relax. If this happens get up do something and come back later. If you start to fall asleep and cannot stop it also get up and come back later.
2. If you fall asleep you will ruin your nightly free relaxation session - so no sleeping during the day! Use an alarm clock if you fear this will happen.
3. I am NOT qualified to tell people this stuff as I am not a therapist. I may talk a good talk but there is holes all over it and this is just a forum not a clinic. I post to encourage you to find help not to teach you.
4. Accept that relaxation needs to be part of your recovery and control. Physio alone will not always work out. Meds alone will not always work out. Accept relaxation into your life and adjust to remove stress from your life. Sadly this often means a lesser income level. If you are in a very stressful job even this will not be enough to help I fear.
5. The only person on planet earth, and I have searched and searched, I trust in this is Dr. Wise. I have read all his work and Webslave showed me a preview of his audio. If you can go and see him you will not regret it. The reason I say this is he focuses all his relaxation work on pelvic pain. He makes you not blame yourself which is also a big problem in us guys as we blame ourselves for this most of us deep down. A general therapist often misses all this. I have every book DW has written (all editions) and read them over and over - so yes caveat I am very very very biased to Dr. Wise and Wise-Anderson Protocol.
GOOD LUCK...TRY TO SEE SOMEONE TO HELP YOU PROPERLY!
EDIT BETTER ATTEMPT AT THIS ANSWER
THIS IS HARD TO EXPLAIN AND MY FIRST ATTEMPT WAS BAD
******************************************************************************
Firstly I think for paradoxical work you need to really find a teacher. Call up some psychologists locally. Try them on see what fits. They all have CD's so you can work at home.
The problem is I hate to ruin it for you by giving you my interpretation of relaxation but if you want a very basic harmless exercise try this.
ON MEDS SPEAK TO YOUR MD BEFORE DOING ANY OF THIS!
PRE RELAXATION
1. Take a "hot" bath.
2. Mild stretching exercise.
3. Tell all family to leave you alone for 30 mins and switch off phone.
4. Go to the quietest place in your home and lie down.
5. Put on your ipod Dr. Thompson/Whitenoise - any audio that will not focus your mind on the audio itself.
RELAXATION STATE
1. Close your eyes slowly until you feel that relaxation as sleep may bring to you.
2. DO NOT SLEEP during this time.
3. Eyes now shut or semi shut if you might fall asleep.
4. Focus on your jaw muscles (cheeks & lips area not teeth) feel the tension in them "accept it".
5. Go with jaw tension until it starts to relax out (your entire body will relax along with your jaw).
PARADOXICAL BIT
1. Tense gently a muscle in your body "NOT PELVIS" you are comfortable with.
2. This may be neck, jaw, hands, shoulders, toes, anything...find what suits.
3. Hold for 10 seconds or so.
4. Let go of it and follow the feelings from letting go into relaxation.
5. During this ignore your pelvis completely.
6. Breath IN-HOLD-OUT deeply in control during this time.
6. REPEAT FOR 30 MINUTES OR SO.
POST RELAXATION
1. Gently open eyes fully and come back.
2. Mild stretching as pre relaxation.
3. Take a small walk outside to bring yourself back.
A MILD PRE STRETCH EXCERCISE
1. Lean forward and let your arms & hands drop legs bent a little and FLOP over.
2. Go down into a squat so you are fully down feel floppy.
3. Come back up and stretch hands into air interlocked fingers twisting wrists around.
4. Hold then let hands flop down.
5. During this breath in deeply - hold - exhale slowly in control.
EXTRAS
1. Try some aromatherapy during relaxation.
2. Have your partner massage your body pre/post relaxation with peppermint or camomile oil etc.
3. If mind wanders focus on the boundary of the audio to hold you in place.
4. Let thoughts wash over you and crash on the shore like waves.
5. Do not chase thoughts - but also do not fight them let them simply come and go like waves.
NOTES
1. This is only relaxation you still need to also work on physio.
2. You should not push/pull muscles or draw your mind in to an area to any intensity. Relaxation is just nothing going on. A beginners mistake is to focus so much they create tension as they get agitated they cannot relax. If this happens get up do something and come back later. If you start to fall asleep and cannot stop it also get up and come back later.
2. If you fall asleep you will ruin your nightly free relaxation session - so no sleeping during the day! Use an alarm clock if you fear this will happen.
3. I am NOT qualified to tell people this stuff as I am not a therapist. I may talk a good talk but there is holes all over it and this is just a forum not a clinic. I post to encourage you to find help not to teach you.
4. Accept that relaxation needs to be part of your recovery and control. Physio alone will not always work out. Meds alone will not always work out. Accept relaxation into your life and adjust to remove stress from your life. Sadly this often means a lesser income level. If you are in a very stressful job even this will not be enough to help I fear.
5. The only person on planet earth, and I have searched and searched, I trust in this is Dr. Wise. I have read all his work and Webslave showed me a preview of his audio. If you can go and see him you will not regret it. The reason I say this is he focuses all his relaxation work on pelvic pain. He makes you not blame yourself which is also a big problem in us guys as we blame ourselves for this most of us deep down. A general therapist often misses all this. I have every book DW has written (all editions) and read them over and over - so yes caveat I am very very very biased to Dr. Wise and Wise-Anderson Protocol.
GOOD LUCK...TRY TO SEE SOMEONE TO HELP YOU PROPERLY!
Age: 32 | Onset Age: 22 | Symptoms: Pain | Helped By: Sleeping, Relaxation, Exercise, Stretching, Tramadol (Bad Flare Only Generally Prefer No Chemistry), Good Diet, Quercetin, Fish Oil | Worsened By: Stress, Too Much Ejaculation, Protection Response
-
we.the.hulk
- Intermediate Member
- Posts: 87
- Joined: Fri Feb 19, 2010 12:14 am
Re: Tensing
Mike,
Some gentle criticism. I mean, its a good starter list. But....you definitely don't need a teacher to learn how to meditate. I don't know. I think you are overthinking paradoxical relaxation. I've got all the tapes. I don't remember on any of them where I was told to tense and untense for 30 minutes. Maybe at the very beginning, briefly.
The "paradoxical bit" of Wise's paradigm is the "acceptance" of the pain. Acceptance of the discomfort. Relaxing into. Not fighting it. "Sitting" with the pain. Really all this is, is meditation. Just sit, breathe, stop thought. Edmund Jacobsen is the "father" of paradoxical relaxation. So if you've searched and searched you must've come across this name. Wise says he was a student of Jacobsen and has taken Jacobsen's theories and applied them to pelvic pain.
Anyway, hope you are well.
Some gentle criticism. I mean, its a good starter list. But....you definitely don't need a teacher to learn how to meditate. I don't know. I think you are overthinking paradoxical relaxation. I've got all the tapes. I don't remember on any of them where I was told to tense and untense for 30 minutes. Maybe at the very beginning, briefly.
The "paradoxical bit" of Wise's paradigm is the "acceptance" of the pain. Acceptance of the discomfort. Relaxing into. Not fighting it. "Sitting" with the pain. Really all this is, is meditation. Just sit, breathe, stop thought. Edmund Jacobsen is the "father" of paradoxical relaxation. So if you've searched and searched you must've come across this name. Wise says he was a student of Jacobsen and has taken Jacobsen's theories and applied them to pelvic pain.
Anyway, hope you are well.
Age: 40 | Onset Age: 40 | Symptoms: burning urethra at first / now just urgency/frequency. tingle at penis tip inside urethra. | Helped By: running / stretching / good nutrition / vitamins /urelle /Xanax | Worsened By: stress/anxiety
Re: Tensing
I "feel" you can use a teacher if you are 100% new to this and they do exist already out there. If you have insurance or live in an NHS nation then why not? There is a lot they can help with you cannot grasp from books quickly. But that depends on the person. Some people are naturally good self teachers from books and a few chats with others - and some not so much. It just depends. But new as in "just got CPPS" and young - I would say a few sessions with a teacher would accelerate the process and give support.
30 Minutes? I think you misread how I explained that or I made it confusing. I can't explain time frames in words on here properly. I am not going to try to do it again just now but people should note this is flagged as confusing. I am only trying to give a sense, not teach. People must explore way more than a post from me - I am only trying to point to the rough direction and say it helps me, that is all. Lastly I am the only person to attempt to explain this on here in words - I am not sure if people think it is so simple as to need no commentary or it is hard to explain.
Edmund Jacobsen, yeah I know who he is...but I believe Wise is superior in his writings and teachings. Often sons take the fathers work and improve upon it. I believe this is the case without starting to write a book comparing them.
Meditation is more than sitting with no thoughts (you can also use positions, visualisation, breathing, movement and sound to name a few other ways). I do not think it is just sitting with no thoughts - it is not that simple if you wish to follow the eastern ways. The space between thoughts to fall into and hold is not that easy. Also having access to the other techniques allows a greater depth. It helps to control stress but by encompassing all these things it will not get boring. I even think a good hobby that relaxes people is up there with all this!
Yeah, had a bit of a flare last week...big time spasm again...funny the more I do Wise-Anderson Protocol Physio side of things the harder these spasms are, but on the flip side they burn out quicker and stay away longer. All very interesting but my health is a book lol. Thank you for asking, not many people bother...I wish you all the best also!
Thank you for criticism, I am not an expert, if it helps people to find more balance please dig into me - and no need to be gentle, debate is about back and forward tugs and coming out with a clearer understanding. So yeah get thoughts up here so people can see balance!
30 Minutes? I think you misread how I explained that or I made it confusing. I can't explain time frames in words on here properly. I am not going to try to do it again just now but people should note this is flagged as confusing. I am only trying to give a sense, not teach. People must explore way more than a post from me - I am only trying to point to the rough direction and say it helps me, that is all. Lastly I am the only person to attempt to explain this on here in words - I am not sure if people think it is so simple as to need no commentary or it is hard to explain.
Edmund Jacobsen, yeah I know who he is...but I believe Wise is superior in his writings and teachings. Often sons take the fathers work and improve upon it. I believe this is the case without starting to write a book comparing them.
Meditation is more than sitting with no thoughts (you can also use positions, visualisation, breathing, movement and sound to name a few other ways). I do not think it is just sitting with no thoughts - it is not that simple if you wish to follow the eastern ways. The space between thoughts to fall into and hold is not that easy. Also having access to the other techniques allows a greater depth. It helps to control stress but by encompassing all these things it will not get boring. I even think a good hobby that relaxes people is up there with all this!
Yeah, had a bit of a flare last week...big time spasm again...funny the more I do Wise-Anderson Protocol Physio side of things the harder these spasms are, but on the flip side they burn out quicker and stay away longer. All very interesting but my health is a book lol. Thank you for asking, not many people bother...I wish you all the best also!
Thank you for criticism, I am not an expert, if it helps people to find more balance please dig into me - and no need to be gentle, debate is about back and forward tugs and coming out with a clearer understanding. So yeah get thoughts up here so people can see balance!
Age: 32 | Onset Age: 22 | Symptoms: Pain | Helped By: Sleeping, Relaxation, Exercise, Stretching, Tramadol (Bad Flare Only Generally Prefer No Chemistry), Good Diet, Quercetin, Fish Oil | Worsened By: Stress, Too Much Ejaculation, Protection Response
Re: Tensing
Relaxation is key to ever getting better. If one does not learn to relax the pelvic muscles than the surrounding tissue and nerves will never have a proper environment to heal and work naturally. The best way to start is to create a habit, just as you would with anything. You must make a constant effort to relax the muscles. Everyone knows the muscles, it can easily be identified as the muscles used to stop urination or to get those last few drops out (would also recommend stop using it for these reasons but rather apply pressure to perineum to clear remaining urine). I have also noticed I tense my glutes and inner thigh muscles (which would explain tight hard tissue in those areas). A serious effort must be made until it becomes habit to have muscles relaxed. So davy, I would recommend maybe writing it on your hand, or figure out a way to constantly remind yourself. It's key so firstly focus on that, without that, everything your doing may come undone. Paradoxical Relaxation is merely mentioned in the book and the technique is not actually explained (which I was kinda irritated with). It seems for those of who can't afford the clinic must find alternative methods to "completely" relax. We must do our best cause really we've got no other choice lol. Anything is better that being in pain forever... which I personally feel will not be the case so long as I follow this protocol. I have in 6 months time noticed great improvement. Just remember that relaxing those muscles are key to reducing and eventually removing symptoms all together.
EDIT:
Diaphragm Breathing Techniques, google some, they're quite helpful.
EDIT:
Diaphragm Breathing Techniques, google some, they're quite helpful.
Age: 24 | Onset Age: 17 | Symptoms: Rare flares with debilitating burning at tip of penis. Sometimes strange pain down legs to feet. Sometime Urgency and Frequency as well as hesitation | Helped By: Self therapy as well as once monthly physical therapist meetings. Relaxation of pelvic muscles. Quit Smoking. | Worsened By: pelvic floor tightening. Anxiety
Re: Tensing
I bought a vibrating watch that would vibrate very few minutes, it worked great. After a few months I was relaxing my PF muscles naturally. A huge key to relaxing your PF muscles though is not to stay relaxed in generally, for me one of my biggest keys to doing this is being 100% happy with myself and the world and all the f'd up stuff that's wrong with me and the wrong. Read some Echart Tolle for this. Have fun and good luck!
Age: 29 Onset Age: 29 (6-5-11)
Symptoms: Ache/sore in the perineum, inflamed/golf ball in perineum. Painful erections. Pain after ejaculation and during sex. Slight increase in urination but nothing severe (this use to be much worse and has gotten better).
Helped By: Hot baths, Sleep/laying down, exercise, relaxing, klonopin/valium/Ativan, having fun
Worsened By: sex/ejaculation/arousal/porn, sitting, stress/anxiety, rubbing/touching prostate
My story This whole thing started immediately following an extensive porn/masturbation weekend event, basically 5 4hour long masturbation sessions over a 3 day weekend, constantly holding off my orgasm by tensing PC muscle. I've also been masturbating and having sex like a porn star for the past 8 years now, constantly holding off the ejaculation by tensing PC muscle....so bad!! My CPPS has gotten slightly better after stopping porn/masturbating amongst other things and I'm now left with the main symptom listed above. I'm also a recovering porn addict.
Symptoms: Ache/sore in the perineum, inflamed/golf ball in perineum. Painful erections. Pain after ejaculation and during sex. Slight increase in urination but nothing severe (this use to be much worse and has gotten better).
Helped By: Hot baths, Sleep/laying down, exercise, relaxing, klonopin/valium/Ativan, having fun
Worsened By: sex/ejaculation/arousal/porn, sitting, stress/anxiety, rubbing/touching prostate
My story This whole thing started immediately following an extensive porn/masturbation weekend event, basically 5 4hour long masturbation sessions over a 3 day weekend, constantly holding off my orgasm by tensing PC muscle. I've also been masturbating and having sex like a porn star for the past 8 years now, constantly holding off the ejaculation by tensing PC muscle....so bad!! My CPPS has gotten slightly better after stopping porn/masturbating amongst other things and I'm now left with the main symptom listed above. I'm also a recovering porn addict.
Re: Tensing
Hi Mike. I don't believe this is an indicator in any way. Many people hold muscle tension during the night and wake up stiff and sore. Our muscles continue to work through out the night to keep out bodies functioning. Teeth clenching and grinding is a good example that many people are familiar with. Tension from the day and chronic holding patterns can lead to teeth grinding at night. If I remember correctly, the jaw and face in general was one of the places Dr. Wise started first on teaching relaxation because of our ability to feel and sense this easier than other parts of the body. (Along with other reasons).A classic way to see this is if you feel great in the morning but taper into discomfort during the day. When you sleep you cannot tense as you are unconscious basically. So when you sleep you let go and calm down symptoms.
We also have involuntary normal reactions that happen during the night as well, such as night time erections (which is a normal healthy sign). However for some very sensitive CPPSers, these night time erections can leave a person feeling sore in the morning when they first wake up, until they have a chance to move around and let those muscles relax.
Anyways, this is not a criticism on your post as whole, just that different people experience things differently, even when the cause may be the same. I think people need to keep an open mind to a mind-muscle reaction, even if they feel quite bad in the morning and better later in the day.
Good luck with your health as well, and thanks for your list of tips!
Age: 30 | Onset Age:19 | Symptoms: Urethral burning pain (tip of penis), some reddening (inflammation) of the urethral opening intermittently, rectal pain off and on. | Helped By: Avoiding aggravating factors, Wise-Tapes, Mild PT stretches, Benzos, acupuncture and Chinese Herbal medicine | Worsened By: Urination, Excessive Sex, Not enough exercise, Stress, Alcohol, Caffeine, Cold Weather.
Typical Disclaimer: My above post is not medical advice.
Typical Disclaimer: My above post is not medical advice.
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critthinker
- Senior Veteran
- Posts: 242
- Joined: Sat Dec 05, 2009 10:15 am
- Location: California
Re: Tensing
I am one of those people in A HEADACHE IN THE PELVIS whom Dr. Wise refers to when he discusses those who have extreme difficulty identifying pelvic tension. I struggled and struggled to understand the concept of "dropping your pelvis" until it finally dawned on me that the pelvic floor's default state is one of contraction (in order to hold in feces and urine, etc.) so the process of relaxing it can sometimes seem like work (as though you're contracting a muscle rather than relaxing it).
I think the guidance about the sensations felt on initiation of urination is fantastic. If you can recognize your muscle relaxing in order to urinate, try to mimic that without actually urinating. You'll feel your sphincter relax as well.
I think the guidance about the sensations felt on initiation of urination is fantastic. If you can recognize your muscle relaxing in order to urinate, try to mimic that without actually urinating. You'll feel your sphincter relax as well.
Age: 27 | Onset Age: 26 | Symptoms: Pelvic pain (began w/ introduction into bladder/prostate of highly resistant strain of bacteria that was acquired via a Botox injection intended to treat levator ani syndrome) | Helped By: Paxil for anxiety, Trigger point release and trigger point injections, stretches, hot baths, Prosta-Q | Worsened By: Stress/anxiety, Sitting down for long periods,