physical therapy, specific muscles

[samgg10]

Hey guys,

I have some questions about PT. I've had maybe 6-7 sessions so far, 1/week, with roller-coaster progress. My PT is experienced in internal/external mf release, but not (knowingly) with chronic prostatitis / chronic pelvic pain syndrome or the HITP protocol. I don't have other local options.

Our sessions were just OK, mild and possibly placebo relief, until I used the HITP book to suggest where some problem areas might be (duh!). For me, it looks like the Anterior Levator Ani (Superior Portion) and the Sphincter Ani (even gentle BMs induce a mini-flare; this isn't explicitly in HITP, but I'm sure I've read about this muscle/symptom link on this forum).

We've had 2 session this way. In the first, we targeted the Levator Ani and not so much the Sphincter muscles. I didn't feel a whole lot of pain, but I felt like I would pee all over the place (I didn't), which seems like the right reaction. A few hours after this session I felt great. Very close to cured. A BM would cause a mini-mini flare that would pass in a couple hours. Not a big deal. This feeling lasted for 5-6 amazing days, then the pain returned. I'm not sure if acidic foods induced the relapse or if that's just how it goes.

Anyway, I returned to PT a couple days later. This time PT says my muscles feel a bit tighter, but it might be a deeper layer, so OK. We hit the Levator and I feel like peeing again (good?), but we also spend a lot of time on the Sphincter muscles. This felt like torture; a great deal of pain. PT says very very very tight. After that session I don't feel great, and the "cured" feeling does not return over the next several days. If anything I feel worse, but mostly just average.

My sample size is too small to know anything concrete, but would it ever make sense (e.g. now, or later with no improvement) to avoid the Sphincter muscles for the time being? Or, conversely, to use self-treatment (never tried it, but these muscles are relatively easy, right?) to make more progress?

Maybe I'm just drawing cause-effect where the truth is more complicated. Does anyone have a similar experience with a tricky muscle group?

My symptoms, if you haven't guessed, are tip-of-the-penis pain/pressure, freq., urg., and post-BM mini-flares. I can endure whatever needs to happen, just trying to be smart about all this.

Thanks for reading, good luck to everyone.