UCPPS - Prostatitis, Interstitial Cystitis Forum

Sorry if I sound a little green to all of you but I AM new here and getting confused over symptoms. In reading through many postings I see most of you talking about burning in the anus, tip of penis or urethra or in some cases all of the above. My biggest symptoms are excruciating sharp pain in my testicles, and a moderate aching in my perenuim which somedays feels like I'm sitting on a golf ball. The pain this episode has been everyday since February 2nd and there have been times I have considered having my testicles removed, my prostate removed and even suicide.

For work I'm a self employed computer programmer and most days I sit 10-16 hours a day either at my desk, in the car or at the dinner table. I get little or no exercize. Sometimes when I get up from my desk, my perineum is all numb and tingly (I presume this is squshing my prostate?).
At any rate I figure all this sitting, not exercizing the PFMs much in 7 years and over extended periods of masturbation (see my other post viewtopic.php?p=14626)
has caused my current state.

I'm conviced my urologist is an idiot. Well no maybe he's just old and out of touch but he's the only one in my HMO. He told me the pain is caused by my bladder frequency and weak stream (I had to push the urine out). So he put me on Flomax. Second time I saw him I conviced him to do a prostate massage which he did, barely a drop milked out. He put that on a slide and took a look at it and told me it wasn't bad, my PUS cells were borderline and my prostate was a little enlarged.

So I'm just not 100% sure I'm in the right place but I don't seem to fit into any other category.

Pelvic myoneuropathy can strike any part of the male pelvic region, ranging from urethra to prostate, testes to bladder. Your testicle pain does not make you unique. Some men have pain in testicles and elsewhere too, and sometimes the pain moves around. You do belong here. As a programmer who sits and tenses waaaay too much, you are a typical sufferer.

iHurt, your pain is VERY similar to my worst pain. The pain in my testicles was by FAR my worst symptom, and I too suffered from pain in the perineum and other areas. I am also a computer programmer, and spend 10-12 hours a day sitting. Here are the things I recommend:

1) Install a standing shelf somewhere near your workspace. Move your computer (or a laptop), on this shelf at least a couple hours a day.

OR

2) Work part of the day lying on your back, in bed or on the couch (requires a laptop) (see webslave's recent post regarding the laptop holder for people working on their back)

OR

3) Get a softer chair. Get a cushion (didn't help me much, but others seem to like it). Sit with proper posture so you aren't putting more strain in the perineum/coxcyx than necessary (sit straight up, not leaning back on the tailbone). The posture change should be done any time you are sitting.

Other things I recommend:

4) Stretch your pelvic floor every few hours during the day. Do some serious stretching to loosen up the pelvic floor EVERY night. This will be key for you. Sitting for so long shortens the muscles (your hamstrings don't have to be long, since your legs are always bent - you'll need to work on these).

5) For perineal pain, get a Theracane and use it to massage the perineum above the anus (basically, I jsut push on the muscles really hard, and after a few weeks my pain there was lessening). Plus, stretch the perineum with as many stretches as you can throw at it, from squats to crunches, to crouches with kneeds apart and face to the floor, etc...

6) My testicle pain was caused in large part by my abdominals. Work on these with a Theracane, and stretch the abdominals by putting your chest on a low surface (pillow, floor mattress?), and your body on the floor (a Cobra stretch, but using support from other places rather than just your hands).

7) Start taking a walk or two a day. You need to start getting your pelvic region back in shape, and restore normal blood flow.

Tingling pain is NOT good, ANYWHERE. This means blood flow has been constricted, and if done long enough, it reduces the ability for your muscles to be oxygenated properly, leading to problems. You need to reinvigorate all your muscles, and keep them that way. For muscles that already have tough trigger points, you need to break these up first before the blood flow will start helping them.

I can't stress enough how much stretching, massage, and PT can help you. If your muscles are in pain, they fire impulses throughout the nerves in the region, leading to a lot of referred pain.

Consider yourself fortunate that you have a flexible work environment. Use it to your advantage, and start affording yourself healthier work habits. You can't keep up your current work environment without hurting yourself further.

You have to do all these things, because stress, anxiety, and depression are terrible for your body. Work on your mind AND body, and you will start seeing improvements. Plus, as I've said many times before, once you start taking charge of your recovery, you'll be much happier.

Michael

Thanks for the positive feedback guys. I'm open to all your advice. The last few days I've added some movement to my daily routine of sitting at the keyboard (sarcasm). I've been making sure I get up and walk around for a few minutes every hour when programming. I either start or end my work day with a walk around the 1 mile track at our local park. I did the kegals exercizes 3 days straight and then skipped yesterday. Just one set of 10, holding for 10 seconds and resting for 10 seconds so it isn't a lot. I know I was told not to do the kegals on this board but my feeling is I've been sitting around for years and those muscles probably need a little waking up. Last my bottle of any accredited quercetin product arrived today so I popped 2 of those this morning. Symptoms have been bearable the last few days (which is awesome) and today I have a little muscle pain. But its a new pain like I'm working muscles that haven't been used in a very long time. Of course after 3 days this is all speculation but I'm at least hopeful now compared to one week ago when I was ready to purchase a shotgun and put a stop to the madness.

Good to know a fellow programmer here CppsDad, the only thing worse than sitting in front of a PC 10-16 hours a day. Is doing it whilst chain-smoking 3 packs of cigarettes and chugging 2 pots of coffee. I quit the cigarettes a year ago and I'm down to 2 cups of coffee a day. I gotta draw the line there.

I'm glad that you are starting to do some walking. It doesn't matter how you start, or how much, but rather that you are starting at all. You have a long life to live, and getting regular physical activity will make it more bearable. There's never a wrong time to start exercise.

I know you have the tempation to do Kegels, but I think you should focus most on stretches of the pelvic region and the perineum first. Kegels just tighten things up more. If you are like many of us, with each squeeze, your pelvic floor doesn't fully go back to the way it was before you started. I did Kegles for a few months before starting the stretching and therapy, and they did absolutely no good for me. If sitting has compressed your muscles, than you don't need Kegles to increase the tension. You need the complete opposite.

I am not the only programmer on this board. A lot of us are on here. Personally, I love what I do so I make every possible workspace modification to keep myself functional. And I'm happy to report that after working at it for 8 months, I can now sit all day again with little to no ill-effects.

Mike

Ahh now I'm seeing your point. I love my job too and I shudder at the thought of getting a real job. Are there any video's on the internet that show you how to stretch those muscles? Or step by step pictures? drawings? If not I'd even be willing to help put together an interactive cd-rom about chronic prostatitis / chronic pelvic pain syndrome that educates and teaches sufferers how to do the exercizes. With programming jobs on the rise we would make a small fortune in the next 5 years LOL. Sorry thats not funny. But its late.

All good suggestions but you guys are forgeting something Dr. Wise told me and my urologist. Hot bathes help a lot especially before PT or stretching. I take them about every other day since I feel pretty good now but when I hurt I sat in my hot tub everyday. Its easy. Don't overlook the benefit of hot water and its relaxation of the pelvis.

AHIP has a lot of diagrams on stretches, so if you can make it to a local book store and at least look at the pictures, they'll give you an idea of what to do. Also, there are a lot of yoga positions that are the same as the positions described in AHIP. So if you find a yoga book that focusses on the pelvic floor, you can get some good stretches there. But in case you can't, here are a few stretches I do (described as best I can):

1. Lie on your back with your legs up the wall. This allows you to relax while you stretch your lower back and the hamstrings. Eventually, you want your butt up against the wall, but for a long time it will be a foot or so away from the wall. Arch your back to put more strain on your buttocks. Also, bend your toes downwards towards your face. You can also turn your legs to move the stretch around. This will stretch the legs and back, which is connected to the pelvic muscles, thereby making the pelvic region a little more relaxed and amenable to recovery.

2. On both knees, elbows on the floor, and separate those knees as far as you can. This stretches the groin and the muscles on the inside of the legs.

3. As you are in stretch 2 (after you have finished with it), loosen the stretch up a bit, and then start to push your butt back. This stretches the perineum and other related muscles. Depending on how far apart your legs are, you can alter this stretch a few different ways.

4. Squat. This one is hard on the knees, but works well. You can squat with your legs far apart to get a deep stretch in the groin and perineum. You can lean forward on your hands, and also balance straight up.

5. Sit on your butt, and pull your ankles to you (class meditation position).

6. Lie on your back, and let your legs open so that your knees are pointing out - let them relax this way to stretch the groin.

7. Cobra stretch for the abdominals. I find this easiest if I put my chest on a raised surface (a few pillows, a floor mattress, a couch, etc...), then push up with my arms. This also helps the back.

8. On one knee, lean forward for a groin stetch. If you go forward enough to get your hands on the floor, you can get an abdominal stretch.

9. General back stretching - on your knees, bend forward like your are praying, and relax with your chest against your knees.

10. On your back, let your left leg drape over the right side of your body, and vice versa with the other leg. This stretches hamstrings and back.

Note: I've suffered injuries while stretching twice in the last 8 months (the last one was a torn back muscle that was excruciating). So ALWAYS stretch lightly first, and make sure to have good footing so you can get into and out of stretches slowly. Do each stretch slow and methodical. Let the stretches last 90 seconds or longer if you can. And hold off on the really hard back stretches until the end of the day, as you are not flexible enough in the morning.

These stretches will cause minor flare ups if any of them affect the muscles that are involved in your CPPS. This is, of course, a good sign.

I don't do all of the stretches every day, but I do a bunch at a time every night when possible. If I was home during the day, I'd probably do them at least once during the day as well (I can't make myself do them at work in my cubicle).

After you stretch, take a light walk around your block and/or a bath (you can also bathe beforehand). Hopefully you will start seeing some improvements soon. But you won't see them until you commit to it. Any half-baked approach will just leave you in pain and convinced that the exercises make things worse when in fact they are helping.

Mike