My Story and My Recovery

[DaMane]

I found this website in January. I had been suffering from chronic prostatitis / chronic pelvic pain syndrome symptoms since June 2010. According to the urologist, my prostate was not inflamed, so I knew it was probably anxiety related. This website helped me get rid of about 90% of my symptoms and I want to thank you all for that. What helped me the most was relaxing my pelvic muscles. I am a very anxious person at times and I was tensing my muscles without even realizing it. Here are some of the other things that I discovered that worked for me and may work for others:

1. When masturbating, lay down instead of sitting. Laying down helps relax the muscles.
2. Do not have long masturbation sessions. I think long masturbation sessions while viewing pornography contributed to my problem. I do not think that it is healthy to stay aroused more than a half an hour at a time. Its better to find other things to do.
3. Relax during masturbation/sex. I think as men we are pressured to perform well sexually and this can cause us to strain ourselves.
4. Do not ejaculate more than once a day. I think teenagers can get away with ejaculating more, but as your body ages it needs more time to recover.
5. Try to eliminate stress as much as possible. My symptoms started during a time when I was taking lots of college exams. Over time stress can wear you down. I have had IBS symptoms in the past that were due to stress as well.
6. Do not sit too long and do not sit on hard surfaces. My condition started during a time when I was spending hours siting on a floor working on my laptop. It is much better to sit in a soft chair.

I still get symptoms at times, but they are much less frequent. I knew my condition had gotten better when I no longer woke up at night with pelvic pain. I still have a ways to go before I consider my recovery to be complete. What helps is understanding that many of us have this condition because we were living lifestyles that were unsustainable. Therefore we can never go back to "normal" but we can create a new normal.

[robertpagen]

When I was a teenager the prevailing thought was that masturbation is physiologically harmless. I believe that is an oversimplification. Anything done to excess leads to problems.

[Jay]

In my opinion, for an adult guy, once a day is okay (if your condition allows that frequency). Any more and you're having these incredible clenches of your entire pelvic floor repeatedly, in under 24 hours. That's just asking for trouble.

Even with my pain being so severe, I believe complete avoidance of ejaculation to be no better. There comes a point when you need that release, both mentally and physically. Waiting for ages allows irritating secretions to build up, and to agitate your chronic prostatitis / chronic pelvic pain syndrome in turn.