Hi,
I initially acquired my symptoms by almost (hopefully) freezing my balls. I spent an hour or so in wet pants outside in subzero temps. The next day I woke up with retracted testicles, frequent urination, pain/discomfort and general anxiety due to the incident. I had no loss of sensation/pain in the scrotum or my testicles (= I can feel pain normally if I slightly tap on them). A couple of docs said they were fine, an urine test showed up with no infection. I took painkillers for a week and it went away.
I was fully operational for about 3 months until I started feeling discomfort in the area and retracted testicles, and gradually frequent urination. I was told that my testicles were most likely fine (ie. not frosbitten - which still causes me some anxiety tho, and will do until I'm 100% sure they're not going to shrink anywhere) and that what I had was chronic prostatitis. I was put on antibiotics for three weeks (still 5 days left) and painkillers for 10 days.
It's gotten a bit better since but I still feel discomfort/tense in the pelvic region, occasionally tingly behind the testicles and sometimes (especially mornings) retracted testicles. Also I've got lowered libido; I can force myself an erection/ejaculation but it's nowhere normal.
I think my current symptoms are due to muscle tension in the pelvic region, the main underlying cause of which is my persistent fear of having killed my testicles. I'm still worried that, although they're still there after 4 months, that they're going to evaporate or something. Is there any medical knowledge to shed any light on the situation? What else could I do to relieve the tension in the pelvic region; I'm still on antibiotics and I take ibuprofen once/twice a day which seems help the tension/discomfort..
Pelvic tension - psychological cause?
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scotsman
- Retired Mod
- Posts: 1415
- Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2003 4:26 pm
- Location: Scotland, UK
Not medical advice: Read my progress to date : Read about my W-A clinic visit
Age: 54 CPPS: 20 Yrs Recovery Status: 95% Symptoms: Pain around perineum Makes Worse: Tension, sitting Makes Better: Stretching, triggerpoint therapy, relaxation
Age: 54 CPPS: 20 Yrs Recovery Status: 95% Symptoms: Pain around perineum Makes Worse: Tension, sitting Makes Better: Stretching, triggerpoint therapy, relaxation
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hodologica
- Experienced
- Posts: 109
- Joined: Sat Jan 17, 2004 8:16 pm
My case is probably very similar. I suspect that the major cause of my chronic prostatitis / chronic pelvic pain syndrome was irrepressable worry (for about a yr) over a medical uncertainty.
Sounds like you are nearly certain your balls are gonna hang on. Also sounds like you're the type to kinda vex over the odd .09% chance of this or that. I can really sympathise.
You need to do whatever it's reasonably possible to do to verify your testicular health - if there's anything more that should be done. And then firmly commit the final tiny uncertainty, if any, to fate. Once you've done everything reasonable that you can do - or clarified for yourself that you have already done so - you will be able to let it go. If there's nothing left to be done, the worry has no possible puropse, and can only do you harm, and your mind should be able to recognize that.
Seriously, I know absolutely nothing about testicular frostbite (and this is not medical advice), but how could it start manifesting (ie, balls shrinking) only after 4 months? Do you have some knowledge that justifes worrying about such a possibility? Maybe a consultation with a good doctor, to whom you make clear the importance of your anxiety over the situation, could lay your fear totally to rest.
Perhaps the more-knowledgable here can speculate on whether an intense pelvic chill could set off chronic pelvic pain. Anyway, assuming you are suffering from pelvic muscle tension - which does indeed seem to be the key pathway of most CPP - your chances of complete recovery, which will probably take several months, are very good - and you've come to the right place, this forum is totally amazing.
What you should do immediately is begin using some kind of focused relaxation technique that produces the altered-brainwave relaxation response (approximate translation: meditation), twice a day. This really makes those muscles unwind. I've been doing it 4 months now and am only seeing my condition improve this month, but boy was it worth it.
There's many other measures that can help CPPS; read the forum FAQ, ucpps.men, and the forum itself to start learning about them. You may also want to read the book "A Headache in the Pelvis" which is ~13 bucks if I recall. Many here consider it required reading.
Sounds like you are nearly certain your balls are gonna hang on. Also sounds like you're the type to kinda vex over the odd .09% chance of this or that. I can really sympathise.
You need to do whatever it's reasonably possible to do to verify your testicular health - if there's anything more that should be done. And then firmly commit the final tiny uncertainty, if any, to fate. Once you've done everything reasonable that you can do - or clarified for yourself that you have already done so - you will be able to let it go. If there's nothing left to be done, the worry has no possible puropse, and can only do you harm, and your mind should be able to recognize that.
Seriously, I know absolutely nothing about testicular frostbite (and this is not medical advice), but how could it start manifesting (ie, balls shrinking) only after 4 months? Do you have some knowledge that justifes worrying about such a possibility? Maybe a consultation with a good doctor, to whom you make clear the importance of your anxiety over the situation, could lay your fear totally to rest.
Perhaps the more-knowledgable here can speculate on whether an intense pelvic chill could set off chronic pelvic pain. Anyway, assuming you are suffering from pelvic muscle tension - which does indeed seem to be the key pathway of most CPP - your chances of complete recovery, which will probably take several months, are very good - and you've come to the right place, this forum is totally amazing.
What you should do immediately is begin using some kind of focused relaxation technique that produces the altered-brainwave relaxation response (approximate translation: meditation), twice a day. This really makes those muscles unwind. I've been doing it 4 months now and am only seeing my condition improve this month, but boy was it worth it.
There's many other measures that can help CPPS; read the forum FAQ, ucpps.men, and the forum itself to start learning about them. You may also want to read the book "A Headache in the Pelvis" which is ~13 bucks if I recall. Many here consider it required reading.
Last edited by hodologica on Fri Apr 30, 2004 6:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Age: | Onset Age: | Symptoms: | Helped By: | Worsened By:
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hodologica
- Experienced
- Posts: 109
- Joined: Sat Jan 17, 2004 8:16 pm
Definitely. With tension CPPS, if you stress, you are gonna be clamping. Stress absolutely must be eradicated or drastically reduced.
Relaxing mind and muscles throughout the day, and practicing focused relaxation daily, can take a long time to really start undoing this condition (or sometimes not). But it definitely does make a prompt difference in your day-to-day and hour-to-hour comfort, thank god.
Relaxing mind and muscles throughout the day, and practicing focused relaxation daily, can take a long time to really start undoing this condition (or sometimes not). But it definitely does make a prompt difference in your day-to-day and hour-to-hour comfort, thank god.
Age: | Onset Age: | Symptoms: | Helped By: | Worsened By:
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cr
Many thanks for the replies.
I almost managed to get rid of all my symptoms after working on the fear aspect of the problem. I'd say my symptoms are down by 90% and all I have now is mild tension which seems to creep in occasionally. However, it's not painful nor discomfortable, just something that shouldn't be there, and so far I've been able to control it by simply trying to relax as soon as I notice it.
I almost managed to get rid of all my symptoms after working on the fear aspect of the problem. I'd say my symptoms are down by 90% and all I have now is mild tension which seems to creep in occasionally. However, it's not painful nor discomfortable, just something that shouldn't be there, and so far I've been able to control it by simply trying to relax as soon as I notice it.
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hodologica
- Experienced
- Posts: 109
- Joined: Sat Jan 17, 2004 8:16 pm
That rocks, lucky you are. Keep at it. And if I were you, I'd still be very serious about some kind of relaxation / stress reduction program, especially since youve had more than one period of pelvic pain. It might be good to use quercetin for maybe a couple months once you're done with the abx (i believe it interferes w/ absorption of some abx), and I'd definitely see a physiotherapist who deals with pelvic floor problems if your feelings of pelvic tension dont resolve pretty soon. Meanwhile teas of valerian, scullcap, and chamomile have been known to relax muscles (and minds) somewhat.
According to David Wise (and my own semi-informed view), this disease (for most people) is amongst other things an indication that your current ways of acting and thinking are not working out too great for your particular body, tho they might be fine for the rest of you. It may or may not be necessary to change the course of your life in response - but making an effort to deflect it a bit (in the direction of serenity) does seem in order.
According to David Wise (and my own semi-informed view), this disease (for most people) is amongst other things an indication that your current ways of acting and thinking are not working out too great for your particular body, tho they might be fine for the rest of you. It may or may not be necessary to change the course of your life in response - but making an effort to deflect it a bit (in the direction of serenity) does seem in order.
Age: | Onset Age: | Symptoms: | Helped By: | Worsened By:
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cr
I'm still trying to get rid of the remaining symptoms.
I still get retracted testicles in the morning (which I reckon is to some extent normal, but I think mine's a bit more extreme) which eases off during the course of the day. I also feel a bit tense in the area. By the evening I'm more or less normal, but occasionally I still get some feeling of tenseness/discomfort just behind the testicles and maybe slightly upwards (inside my body). This is especially the area which is affected if I start stressing about the problem.
How much quercetin should I take and is it something that is available in health shops (I'm in the UK) or should I just drink lots of green tea?
I still get retracted testicles in the morning (which I reckon is to some extent normal, but I think mine's a bit more extreme) which eases off during the course of the day. I also feel a bit tense in the area. By the evening I'm more or less normal, but occasionally I still get some feeling of tenseness/discomfort just behind the testicles and maybe slightly upwards (inside my body). This is especially the area which is affected if I start stressing about the problem.
How much quercetin should I take and is it something that is available in health shops (I'm in the UK) or should I just drink lots of green tea?