Update on my condition:
Two weeks ago I had a sacral root block (steroids injected into my backside) and an injection of steroids INTO my foreskin on the exact point where my pain stems from. (If you remember, my chronic prostatitis / chronic pelvic pain syndrome pain started with a tiny lesion on the underside of my foreskin, which, I believe, caused a neuroma or some other sort of nerve damage to occur). The day after the injection procedures I was in very severe pain. Then, the pain went back to its normal levels. Two weeks on, the same old pain process remains: no pain, just a niggling feeling of discomfort, until I retract my foreskin, and then lots of pelvic/penile pain/spasms etc building up to maximum about an hour after the retraction.
Clearly, I still have a damaged nerve in my foreskin which is causing the problem and which hasn't been cured by the injection of steroids into either the 'sacral root' (wherever that is) or the foreskin itself. I saw the pain consultant again yesterday and his feeling was that we should delay for a few more weeks to gauge any effect. He said he was not inclined to perform the sacral root block again, but instead, he would concentrate on injecting the foreskin itself. However, in the absence of any effect from the first block, he seemed somewhat pessimistic about the efficacy of a second.
At this point I began to ask him about circumcision as a means of excising the nerve. First of all he said that undertaking the procedure would 'not be sane'. However, then he said that if I could not 'live with the pain' then he could understand that I might elect to take the risk. He put the risk at a 30% chance of improvement, a 40% chance of no effect, and a 30% chance of deterioration. He said even if I took the chance I would struggle to find a urologist who would agree to perform the operation in my circumstances.
Assuming that I can find somebody willing, I have to say that I am inclined to take the risk. The risk is further pain and sexual dysfunction. I guess I have to decide whether the current levels of pain and sexual dysfunction are bad enough to warrant the risk. Like any chronic prostatitis / chronic pelvic pain syndrome sufferer my pelvic pain makes me not feel like having sex at all. However, once I get going I virtually forget that I have CPPS. This is bizarre: my foreskin is really tender to the touch on the point of the (assumed) neuroma, but when I have sex (which is obviously vigorous, and causes friction) I cannot feel this tenderness. I suppose that I damaged quite a specific nerve which is involved in mechanical stimulation but not arousal.
So, the big dilemma. Do I stay as I am, presumably till the end of my days, with a feeling like a thorn is in my foreskin, and the problem of severe pelvic pain when I retract my foreskin too much; or do I take the risk and get rid of the foreskin and hopefully the damaged nerve? Given the pain guy's odds, it would be a bit of a crazy risk, but then again - the chance of a cure is pretty enticing...
A friend of mine who is an investment banker once said to me: "I am a professional gambler...in fact, every one gambles constantly for their whole lives. I just do it in an organised way". What shall I do....arrrrrgh!
Dilemma
-
webslave
- Maintenance
- Posts: 11432
- Joined: Wed Oct 30, 2002 3:18 pm
- Location: Please give your location so we can help better
Some urologists have the saying: "If you operate for pain, that's what you get--pain".
Good News! The great ProstaQ is BACK at last! You must try it.
| HAS THIS SITE HELPED YOU? Say Thanks by donating. Keep the Forum alive on the Internet! PayPal link at end of page ↓ Contact me at support at ucpps.men |  |
-
bti20
Yes, but some urologists, in my experience, don't seem to know (or care) what they're talking about. I guess there is a fact of the matter: circumcision will make the problem (i) better, (ii) worse or (iii) no different. If some urologist comes up with a reasoned argument for one of the three then I will listen very carefully. 
-
twerges
- Beginner
- Posts: 24
- Joined: Sun Dec 08, 2002 5:36 am
I wouldn't do it
Ben,
You should remember that a surgical procedure is irrevocable. It might be best to exhaust every other option before resorting to any kind of surgery.
As an observation, I have never seen anyone that has improved by a surgical procedure, either in this chronic pain condition, or in any other. Lots of posters have indicated getting worse, however. Now I'm not an expert, and my experience here is limited. But it seems like the odds you were given of improvement might be somewhat optimistic.
Once again, I'm not an expert. But it also seems quite possible that your problem is not actually localized to the foreskin, but rather, the disease manifests itself there. I understand that it is common for nerve damage to manifest itself on an "end point" of the nerve; for example, people with Post Herpetic Neuralgia report burning on the skin as the primary symptom, even though the problem is not with nerves on the skin, but "upstream," by the spine.
I had symptoms quite similar to yours. Being an American, I was circumcised as an infant and so have no foreskin. However, any mechanical stimulation to the head of the penis would lead to an "electrical pain" in the pelvis that would last for quite some time. For awhile I was wearing light pajamas everywhere, so as to avoid mechanical stimulation to that area. (I even wore pajamas to work). Note that in my case, the penis was _not_ the site of the nerve inury; it was the end-point of the nerve that was injured.
Were I in your position, I would unquestionably look into the following treatments before undergoing surgery of any kind. First, I would look into perisphincteric botulinum injections. These are _temporary_ (they wear off), and there is evidence of their effectiveness. Second, I would try phytotherapy (Quercetin, etc). Third, I would try pain management, like Amitryptyline, Gabapentin, Ultram, etc (a pain management specialist would be needed here).
Even if I had exhausted these options, I would still likely wait for more research to be done in this area.
I'm not a doctor, I can't give medical advice, and I can't tell you what to do. But I certainly wouldn't do it!
My best,
tom
You should remember that a surgical procedure is irrevocable. It might be best to exhaust every other option before resorting to any kind of surgery.
As an observation, I have never seen anyone that has improved by a surgical procedure, either in this chronic pain condition, or in any other. Lots of posters have indicated getting worse, however. Now I'm not an expert, and my experience here is limited. But it seems like the odds you were given of improvement might be somewhat optimistic.
Once again, I'm not an expert. But it also seems quite possible that your problem is not actually localized to the foreskin, but rather, the disease manifests itself there. I understand that it is common for nerve damage to manifest itself on an "end point" of the nerve; for example, people with Post Herpetic Neuralgia report burning on the skin as the primary symptom, even though the problem is not with nerves on the skin, but "upstream," by the spine.
I had symptoms quite similar to yours. Being an American, I was circumcised as an infant and so have no foreskin. However, any mechanical stimulation to the head of the penis would lead to an "electrical pain" in the pelvis that would last for quite some time. For awhile I was wearing light pajamas everywhere, so as to avoid mechanical stimulation to that area. (I even wore pajamas to work). Note that in my case, the penis was _not_ the site of the nerve inury; it was the end-point of the nerve that was injured.
Were I in your position, I would unquestionably look into the following treatments before undergoing surgery of any kind. First, I would look into perisphincteric botulinum injections. These are _temporary_ (they wear off), and there is evidence of their effectiveness. Second, I would try phytotherapy (Quercetin, etc). Third, I would try pain management, like Amitryptyline, Gabapentin, Ultram, etc (a pain management specialist would be needed here).
Even if I had exhausted these options, I would still likely wait for more research to be done in this area.
I'm not a doctor, I can't give medical advice, and I can't tell you what to do. But I certainly wouldn't do it!
My best,
tom
Age: | Onset Age: | Symptoms: | Helped By: | Worsened By:
-
bti20
Thanks for the message, Tom. For now I am certainly not jumping into anything. However, I am fed up of feeling lke there is a thorn in my foreskin 24 hours a day. What's more its a feeling that blurs into my pelvis and gives me muscle spasms and all the rest of it . In the past, I never used to like retracting my foreskin, and I have good reason to think that the whole pain process began in the foreskin; and also that it still begins there. I don't know if you ever had this sensation but my foreskin feels so tender to the touch: right on a specific spot. Its not like I touch it vaugely and then I get diffuse pain in my groin. There is a particular spot and it is the source of all the pain. Yeah it might get worse but then this is bad enough anyway. I feel like becoming a chronic prostatitis / chronic pelvic pain syndrome experiment because I'm bored of waiting for some spurious 'research' to come along and cure me. I'm drunk by the way! Best Regards and thank you for replying, Ben