Depressed with testicle, rectum and coccyx pain.

[Quigly]

Sorry you are having such a hard time with this right now MrDavid it will get better. One day when my testicle pain was at its worst I was taking a hot bath because that always seemed to help. I was feeling around down there for the cause of the pain in my testicle (lump, tare, swelling) when my hand hit my right leg abductor and it was so tight it hurt to touch it was especially painful where it connected to the pelvis. Once I found that I noticed the pain was radiating out from that area into my scrotum. Stretching and trigger point work on that muscle has helped me so much especially the testicle pain. If you haven't already you might want to do a self check for trigger points around abductors, hips, pelvis, and lower abdomen.

[MrDavid]

It has been a while since I posted on this forum, so I think it is time for an update.

1. I have found a pelvic floor therapist that specializes in male patients. It is a one-hour drive, but I believe it is worth it. On his website he talks about relaxation, triggerpoints, internal examination, 'exercises', biofeedback, lifestyle etc. Next week on Thursday I will have my first appointment, and I'm looking forward to it. I hope he also looks at internal trigger point release! If he does not, I will continue my search.

2. I went to the pain clinic at my hospital and I asked for a psychologist that is specialized in patients with chronic pain. This program will start in 2 weeks. I have a high level of anxiety: (Will I ever get better? Will it hurt if I walk? Is there something I am doing wrong? Will my girlfriend leave me? Will I lose my job?) All this thinking won't help me further, and I want someone who is supporting me with this kind if thinking.

3. I increased my meditation. I am following the 'pain management' package on Headspace and I like it a lot.

4. I bought Quercetin with Bromelain from a company called Now, together with Bee Pollen caps, and I'm taking it already for one week. My bowel movement has improved.

5. I'm trying to get rid of my anxiety and try to do things. I visited my grandparents after 4 months, yesterday I went to a local gaming hall with my girlfriend, and tomorrow I have a surprise 'mini vacation' for my girlfriend. Sounds very small, but it are major steps forward for me.

6. I got an injection at my coccyx 2 weeks ago, but ironically it only increased my coccyx pain and it did absolutely nothing for my testicle pain. A bit disappointing, but they will call me in 2 weeks for any future possibilities.

Then some questions from my part:
a. For the people that had testicle pain, how do you deal with that feeling when you walk with your pants on? It is a 24/7 feeling of pressure and discomfort.. It gives me the feeling of wanting to throw up. Just push through it?

b. I have only pain at the top and bottom of my testicle (I think the epididymis), is this "normal" with CPPS? I can palpate my testicle usually with no discomfort, only at the top or bottom. I think that the top is burning because of my tendency to always pull on my testicle with my cremaster muscle. I try to stop that, but it is hard.

c. Is walking bad? I have the feeling of discomfort at my testicle for the whole time that I walk (also sometimes when lying down, sitting etc). I believe that I just need to keep walking, as it should increase the bloodflow in my body and pelvic floor, which in the long run will help with dealing with the condition. Am I wrong? I don't want to lay in bed anymore for the whole day, but the anxiety of making it worse is still in my head. Especially because it won't stop hurting as soon as I walk.

Thanks in advance!

[MrDavid]

Another question:

I noticed that I can only get my left testicle upwards with my cremaster muscle. It can rise very easily to the top. The right one does not respond at all. Is this something that makes sense with my pain? I tend to tighten my cremaster muscle on the left side whole day long.

[webslave]

Tightening the cremasters is an unusual habit that could be causing all of this. Get a timer to remind you every 20 minutes to relax the muscles of your pelvis, and start doing "reverse kegels" (but without the initial muscle tensing phase that's usually employed):

1. A reverse Kegel (dropping the pelvic floor) feels similar to the release you feel when you urinate or have a bowel movement. Because of this, it’s important to empty your bladder and bowels before you begin. This allows you to practice without fear of an accident.
2. Relax your muscles as though you’re trying to urinate or pee faster. This relaxes your perineal muscle and moves pressure away from the prostate.
3. Release the muscles of your anus and feel your perineal body move downward.
4. Hold the reverse Kegel for 5 seconds and then release for the same amount of time. Do two to three sets of 10 throughout the day. Once you master this, you can try holding and releasing for longer periods of time.
5. Make sure you’re breathing while doing these exercises. It’s important to breathe all the way into your stomach as you inhale (instead of only breathing into your chest). Keeping your belly relaxed helps.
6. Try to do reverse kegels without tensing the stomach muscles, or it can be counterproductive

[ChgoGuy]

This has always been confusing to me. Actually feel a bit stupid asking, but how are you relaxing muscles as if you are trying to pee faster? Aren't you using the muscles to push? So how can they be relaxed? Or am I that F__ked up to grasp this?

[webslave]

The "pushing" is actually a form of relaxation, a dropping. Try and you'll get the idea.

Go easy on the contraction phase.

[davioj]

Go to Fetske Hogen Esch in Enkhuizen. She is very specialized in this and a very nice person. If she is far away from you its still worth it and she does longer appointments. Highly recommended. If you are closer to Groningen Pelvicum is also good.

[MrDavid]

I think I'm doing something wrong. When I inhale in my belly, I have the feeling that I'm lowering my pelvic floor (stretching). This is a very nice sensation of air.

But if I look at the video, I get the idea that I should be lowering my pelvic floor (stretching) when I'm exhaling? This is very weird for me.

Am I doing something wrong? Usually when I try to pee faster, I built up pressure during the inhalation.

Maybe this is the root of my problem.

Webslave, could you perhaps update your 1 till 5 steps with where to inhale and where to exhale?

[webslave]

Best thing you can do is go to Youtube and search for reverse kegels*. There are a number of videos to help you.

* Try to do reverse kegels without tensing the stomach muscles, or it can be counterproductive

[MrDavid]

If I walk, I have this constant heavy feeling in my testicles and sore feeling in my lower abs. For the past 2 weeks I try to ignore it and just keep walking. However, it is not getting any less over time. It is very annoying and just makes me tired.

1. How do you guys cope with this feeling? Just walk through it? I find it hard to deal with.
2. Should walking make it better on the long run?
3. How do you guys drop your pelvic floor when walking?
4. If I stop walking and stand still for a few seconds, I can drop my pelvic floor down again, but what is the technique during walking?

[ChgoGuy]

For me, I have to keep moving. No sitting or laying down. That makes things worse, unless I am lucky to fall asleep and it will calm down. Pay attention to all the muscles when you are standing or walking. Are you tensing up, especially in the abdomen and pelvic area like you are trying to hold everything up? If you are, then you need to just work on letting everything fall. It's not easy, and probably because you have been doing it so long, it seems normal - so you just don't do it. You have to learn to retrain yourself and your brain not to do it. I still do it even when I am working on trying not to. I can't undue something that happened over time - overnight, and neither can you.

[MrDavid]

Well for me it is slightly different. I have almost no pain at all when lying down, but more when I walk. It start imediatelly when walking but it does not become more or less during the activity. I will try to pay more attention to "dropping". It stays hard for me to untense my abs when walking. But I will try it!

Another question. I saw my pelvic PT this week and it feels very strange to me.. He uses biofeedback by inserting a probe in my anus. It shows that my pelvic floor muscles are tight. But then he wants me to contract my pelvic floor muscles for a few seconds, before dropping them. He said that I should do this throughout the day, so contracting and releasing. This should teach me to relax them. But this sounds wrong to me in every way. Doesn't this not increase my symptoms?? I am thinking about going to F-act Pelvic PT. It is a 1h45m drive for me and it is expensive for me, but I guess there is no other way.

What do you guys think? Go for it?

[ChgoGuy]

@MrDavid - It's not that I have pain laying down (as in sleeping). It's that I have pain before I lay down, and it doesn't usually calm down until I can fall asleep, which is rare for me. Laying in bed propped up is almost as bad as sitting on a sofa or recliner which actually hurts me more than a hard wooden chair. That's weird because I think most people might be just the opposite.

As far as your concern with contracting and releasing, I think with even a reverse Kegel, there is going to be some contracting or pulling up before relaxing and releasing. But the emphasis must be on the release. If you notice above on my comment from Oct 4, I too am somewhat confused by relaxing the pelvic floor, as I feel there is still contracting. IMHO, unless you're completely dead, you can't totally rule out some contraction. It's the heavy emphasis on the contraction and staying in a tense tight state, instead of incorporating any relaxation that is the problem. That's at least what I am getting out of it.

F-act PT??? Maybe I'm having a brain fog moment...

[MrDavid]

Hmm, well I cannot stay in one position in bed for more than 5 minuten before I get pain. The only position I am painfree in bed for a longer period is on my stomach, legs spread out wide, and my scrotum pushed downward.

And yes, I have been trying to do reverse kegels for the last week. I take a deep breath, which lowers my pelvic floor. Then when exhaling, I try to "pee faster", which keeps my pelvic floor lower. I don't know if I'm doing it wrong, but it seems to make sense.

For the PT, he wants me to squeeze my pelvic floor for like 5 seconds, and then immediately drop the contraction and lower my pelvic floor. He even mentioned to do this up to 100 times a day. I could be wrong, but this seems to be like a Kegel and not smart.. Also when I asked about triggerpoints, he simply said; yeah I know about that stuff, but in my experience it only flares up the pain when you touch them, so forget everything you learned outside this room, and do the exercise (contraction - release)..

And whoops, F-act Pelvic PT is a "famous" pelvic PT in The Netherlands that used to be related to the Anderson-Wise protocol. Her name is Fetske (if you search on this forum, you will see some posts about it). The only downside is the 150€ per hour, but I just want someone who knows her stuff and someone I can rely on.

[webslave]

If F-act is all you have, I would use it, at least for a short while. It may help you to treat yourself.