Trigger Point or Nerve Issue? Or both?

Male pelvic pain, prostatitis, IC
timberdoodle
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Trigger Point or Nerve Issue? Or both?

Post by timberdoodle »

I just finished reading through the nerve posts on the forum given the problems I am currently having, but I still have some questions that maybe some experienced hands could help with.

I have been working on what I believe to be an abdominal trigger point about 2 inches below my belly button and an inch or so to the left. Pressing in here with the Theracane sends shooting pain down into my penis. One of the questions I have is that this pain is not present throughout the day. It's not a symptom I have in the general course of things. My understanding of trigger points is that they reproduce symptoms, but in this case it seems to be creating a symptom I don't normally feel. Typically I just feel discomfort in the genitals (not terrific pain).

Is it possible I'm not on a trigger point at all but actually hitting some kind of nerve that is sending pain down? This area never seems to improve, and I've been working on it for about 2-3 months every few days.
Age: 40 Symptoms for seven years; Symptoms include: subrapubic & genital discomfort; perrenial pain, feeling like groin is swollen, problems with urinary frequency are resolved; helped by: abdominal stretching, Theracane work on abdomen, light exercise (nordic track); worsened by: sitting and office work
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LightningTree
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Post by LightningTree »

Hey Timber,

I have the exact same pain point, and if I push on it hard enough, I get the exact same shooting pain to the penis that I don't normally get.

I saw a PT who said it was a trigger point, but I am also not convinced.

This is not medical advice, and I am NOT a doctor of medicine or a related field.
* Age:33 Onset: February 2004.
* 99.9% IMPROVEMENT in 2.5 Years with the first year being the really hard part
* Current Symptoms: Mild irritation of perineal muscles on occasion. Relieved for days at a time by a specific stretch (see below).
* Initial Symptoms: Terrible penile, urethral, rectal, and perineal burning/aching with addition afferent sensations.
* Current Treatments: Deep stretching of the legs and pelvis. Most effective: Deep psoas and levitar ani stretch using the first phase of the "pigeon pose" from Yoga. When a deep pulling is felt in the middle of the pelvis next to the upper rectum, symptoms are completely alleviated for several days.
* Past Treatments Hyperprotection of the perineum for 1.7 years, Walking, Rectal biofeedback, Stanford/Wise-Anderson Protocol, Conditioned deep relaxation practice, Men's Multi-Vitamin and an Extra B-complex pill, all seemed to help.
timberdoodle
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Post by timberdoodle »

Lightning,

Thanks for the reply....

As an additional piece of this puzzle, my uro suggested that the descending colon comes down in this region of the body, and that if I pressed in that area while it was full (i.e., immediately prior to a bowel movement), I was bound to feel pain. I didn't really get a firm answer as to whether or not the colon would produce the penile pain I am experiencing. Additionaly, the pain is there regardless of where I'm at in the bowel movement cycle.

My PT thinks I'm tight throughout the abdomen, but I never seem to get relief when I press in this area. It doesn't function like a "classic" trigger where the pain eases off after it's loosened up. I haven't researched enough on the anatomy end of things to see if there is a nerve in there that could be hit that is causing the pain.

Let me know if you find anything out on this point in the future. It's good to know I'm not the only one with this type of question. Thanks again...
Age: 40 Symptoms for seven years; Symptoms include: subrapubic & genital discomfort; perrenial pain, feeling like groin is swollen, problems with urinary frequency are resolved; helped by: abdominal stretching, Theracane work on abdomen, light exercise (nordic track); worsened by: sitting and office work
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Post by CppsDad »

I get that one too. I've worked on this area as well for a LONG time (6 months or so), and the referred pain is still present. There are, in fact, nerves that travel through this region and down into the pelvic/groin area. So pressing on the area will always produce some "zingers" as my PT calls them. But any trigger points or irritated muscles in the area will case pain along this same path, though it will probably be more subtle and less intense than the "zinger" itself. So you may be pressing on a specific nerve that reproduces this pain, but it's also a good guidepost for you to use to work up and down that region, since anything up that path can be the source of some referred pain. You describe pain in your genitals, and this type of referred pain could certainly cause that. I've told my PT about this area before, and he says it is trigger points too, but seeing as how I've failed to break up the trigger point after all this time, I too have doubts. But I cannot ignore the fact that my testicular pain has gotten significantly better after working these areas, something even PT did not fix for me. I'm 100% convinced that this region was the source of a lot of my pelvic pain.

Mike
This is NOT medical advice. I am NOT a doctor.

Age: 43 CPPS: 10+ Yrs Recovery Status: 80-85% Symptoms: Pain in testicles, scrotum, rectum, prostate, perineum Makes Worse: Anxiety, Tension, too much Nookie Makes Better: Stretching, Abdominal Massage (Go Theracane!), Relaxation
Gettingbetter
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Post by Gettingbetter »

I have it also but I can't get rid of it......it doesnt seem to be an ordinary TP.......
Age:33 | Onset Age: 18 Old | Symptoms:Tight feeling in the pelvis and abdomen, burning in urethra and tip of penis,perineum, discharge from penis when it was the worst
Current symptoms: Mild discomfort in perineum, sometimes stomachaches
Helped By: Relaxation,breathing exercise, stretching,positive thinking, internal/external massage | Worsened By:Stress, too much sex/masturbating, Eating to large meals, Alcohol(day after)
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Post by LightningTree »

Ahhh, so a couple of us have this point.

I have noticed that when I have little pain, I can press very hard on that spot and have little pain, but when my pelvic pain is present, that spot is very sore. I'm going to make it a routine habit to check this spot against my pelvic pain levels, and see if the correlation really holds.
Last edited by LightningTree on Thu Jul 07, 2005 7:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.

This is not medical advice, and I am NOT a doctor of medicine or a related field.
* Age:33 Onset: February 2004.
* 99.9% IMPROVEMENT in 2.5 Years with the first year being the really hard part
* Current Symptoms: Mild irritation of perineal muscles on occasion. Relieved for days at a time by a specific stretch (see below).
* Initial Symptoms: Terrible penile, urethral, rectal, and perineal burning/aching with addition afferent sensations.
* Current Treatments: Deep stretching of the legs and pelvis. Most effective: Deep psoas and levitar ani stretch using the first phase of the "pigeon pose" from Yoga. When a deep pulling is felt in the middle of the pelvis next to the upper rectum, symptoms are completely alleviated for several days.
* Past Treatments Hyperprotection of the perineum for 1.7 years, Walking, Rectal biofeedback, Stanford/Wise-Anderson Protocol, Conditioned deep relaxation practice, Men's Multi-Vitamin and an Extra B-complex pill, all seemed to help.
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Richie
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Lower left pain below belly button

Post by Richie »

I too have problems specifically in this location. I have regular recurring nightmares and half woke the other morning to notice I was clenching off the urinary muscles (as if trying to stop peeing) involuntarily in a spasming fashion. Until this occurence, I had no idea this was happening on a regular basis while I slept. The spot was not sore at first but became sore in the evening.

I hope this helps.
Age: 44 | Symptoms: Pain in pelvis, Post urination drip. Helped by: Squat stretching, PT, Prelief before banned foods, Vit B, Cystoprotec AFTER foods, singulair after foods, Exercise. Makes worse: Stress, Alcohol (1-2 days after), coffee, Artificial sweeteners, chocolate, tonic Wheat/gluten. Drink a lot of water!!! 95% better to date!
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LightningTree
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Post by LightningTree »

Hey there,

I've been doing a lot of long distance walking which has resulted in my pelvic pain and discomfort dissappearing.

I reread this thread and decided to test that point below the belly button and to the left.

Its gone.

I can push as hard as I want there and I do not get any shooting pain or intense local pain. A month ago, if I pushed there, I would get a shooting pain into the penis, and that point was very very tender.

Now, at most, I get a dull pain if I push really hard for a minute or so. I'm sure this is totally normal.

Therefore, I would conclude that this pain point IS RELATED to our symptoms and is not solely caused by the path of a nerve.

This is not medical advice, and I am NOT a doctor of medicine or a related field.
* Age:33 Onset: February 2004.
* 99.9% IMPROVEMENT in 2.5 Years with the first year being the really hard part
* Current Symptoms: Mild irritation of perineal muscles on occasion. Relieved for days at a time by a specific stretch (see below).
* Initial Symptoms: Terrible penile, urethral, rectal, and perineal burning/aching with addition afferent sensations.
* Current Treatments: Deep stretching of the legs and pelvis. Most effective: Deep psoas and levitar ani stretch using the first phase of the "pigeon pose" from Yoga. When a deep pulling is felt in the middle of the pelvis next to the upper rectum, symptoms are completely alleviated for several days.
* Past Treatments Hyperprotection of the perineum for 1.7 years, Walking, Rectal biofeedback, Stanford/Wise-Anderson Protocol, Conditioned deep relaxation practice, Men's Multi-Vitamin and an Extra B-complex pill, all seemed to help.