A success story

[Superhero]

My name is Tom. I'm 36 years old and had chronic prostatitis / chronic pelvic pain syndrome for over 3 years. After being in complete misery for 3 years, I feel I am now 99% cured of this terrible condition. My primary symptom was pain, although I did also experience frequent urinations, slight fever, tiredness and a curiously rapid heartbeat.

I tried virtually everything from Cipro to broccoli soup for over 2 years and nothing seemed to work. I was depressed, in pain, and basically baffled over my condition.

Then about a year ago, I started to read how some people believed this condition was due to chronic tension/stress in the pelvic area. This turned a light on for me because I have always been one to hold in my feelings, anxieties and frustrations. I started feeling and pushing around on my lower stomach muscles and ---Wow!!---- what pain! It all made perfect sense....I was doing it to myself! I was chronically holding my stress in my lower stomach.

So I made a new plan. My plan was to get off my ass and get on a running/jogging program ---- and also make a concerted effort to be aware of my stomach/rectal muscles throughout the day. Also I started going to a chiropractor once a week. (I believe the chiropractor was critical to my recovery) Finally I experimented with my sex/masturbation schedule.

First, my exercise plan consisted of about 20 mins jogging followed by 10-15 mins of fastwind sprints. (SERIOUSLY Don't overdo yourself at first) My experience, though, is you HAVE to get your heart rate up for at least 20 mins per workout....otherwise you may as well stay home and crochet or clip your toenails.

I would generally have a hard workout every other day....sometimes even more often. I also would do some light stretching of my hamstrings before and after exercise.

Second....I started to become aware almost all of my waking moments to the tension I was placing in my stomach and rectal muscles. I made it a quest to relax these areas as much as humanly possible. Also I started taking nightly hot baths and deep massaging my stomach which seems to really help as well.

Third....Chiropractor. I know there's a lot of skeptics out there....but let me tell you, I'm not alone in believing that many many physical ailments and conditions can be traced back to a spinal imbalance. A chiropractor probably knows more about prostatitis than you think. Please give it a chance. Not once. Give it 5 or 6 visits at least. I think in conjunction with your other efforts chiropractic can serve you very well. Having your spine in alignment is a great place to start with any recovery.

Now......here's the most important thing regarding my improvemnt: masturbation/sex schedule. How many times have you heard experts claim "YOU NEED TO MASTURBATE 3-4 TIMES PER WEEK TO RID YOURSELF OF THIS CONDITION". What a crock this piece of advice is. Is there any EVIDENCE to support this claim? Is there any PROOF?. It makes absolutely no sense to masturbate WHEN YOUR PROSTATE IS INFLAMED! ....You're just going to make things worse. How many times have you read on these boards or in a newgroup how guys are irritated after masturbation or sex??? Thousands? what does that tell you? It tells me I better SLOW DOWN my frequency of sex. Because I, like many others feel MUCH WORSE after ejaculation. Of course it took me over 2 years to finally convince myself that this was a bad thing because all the freaking "experts" were telling me different.

Here's my piece of advice. Knock of the masturbation to no more than once per week....preferebably less. Twice a month would be better. Give yourself 2 months to improve with very little sex/masturbation. Sounds harsh I know. It is. But it's also harsh to live in pain every day. I started noticing a difference after a week of no sex....my pain definately lessened. ..and every day afterwards of no sex seemed to be an improvement.

I wake up every day now absolutely painless. But it didn't come easy. I didn't LIKE not having sex. I didn't LIKE running/jogging in 98 degree heat. I didn't LIKE constantly having to think about my pelvic tension. But it's the end result which drove me. It's all mind over matter.

I realize everyone is different and prostatitis manifests itself differently in different people. This regiment may not work for everyone or anyone else, but it worked and is working for me. good luck -- Tom

[scotsman]

Many thanks for the post Tom and I'm delighted to read you've made such good progress.

Interesting to read about your success with a chiropractor. The first 15 mins of any session with my physio revolves around posture and ensuring my pelvis is in allignment.

What sort of work did your chiropractor do?

Richard.

[Superhero]

Well I'm not sure what the specific manipulations are called....but I'm guessing that each person would probably have a different situation going on with their body which would require a different type of adjustment.

I can say, however, when my prostatitis was at its worst, within just a few mins of leaving the office, my pain seemed to get better......and the effects would last several days. I would try to have an appoinment at least every 7-10 days.

I'm not trying to sound like an advertisement for chiropractic, but I've even experienced lots of side benefits not related to the prostatitits. For example I have shin splints, and since I started receiving adjustments they have all but disappeared. Also it seems to relieve stress a bit and allow for better sleep. Also I have an injured tailbone which has been relieved of pain after a series of adjustments.

It is an investment though. And it's definately not cheap. My chiropractor charges $45 per session.....so it adds up pretty quick. But on the other hand I couldn't begin to put a price on my recovery.

[scotsman]

A good physio isn't cheap either - but it's a small price to pay to get my life back.

Hope your path to recover continues