The Wise-Anderson Protocol (popularly called the Stanford Protocol), has helped selected men and women with pelvic pain and prostatitis
Selected men and women with muscle related pelvic pain (sometimes called prostatitis in men) have been successfully treated by the Wise-Anderson Protocol (popularly called the Stanford Protocol for many years), a new treatment developed and researched in the Department of Urology at Stanford University. Its success has been published in the Journal of Urology (click here to see published research), presented at the American Urologic Association and the National Institutes of Health and in Drs. Wise and Anderson's popular book, A Headache in the Pelvis.
The pioneering insight of the Wise-Anderson Protocol is that muscle related pelvic pain is caused by chronic contraction or spasm of the muscles of the pelvic floor. This contraction is perpetuated by a self feeding cycle of tension, anxiety, pain and protective guarding. Dr. Anderson, and Dr. Wise, the developers of the Wise-Anderson Protocol discuss this protocol in the videos below.
JUST RELEASED 6th Edition of A Headache in the Pelvis
The Wise-Anderson Protocol was developed at Stanford University by Dr. Rodney Anderson and Dr. David Wise in the Department of Urology. Drs. Anderson and Wise discuss pelvic pain and its treatment with the Wise-Anderson Protocol in detail in their book, A Headache in the Pelvis, which is now in its 6th Edition. You may order this book below:
“When I see patients after they’ve read the book I can
often see a change in their faces”
“This is a book that helps patients empower themselves in their own healing. With this book, patients learn how to gain control over their chronic pelvic pain. It is not a hocus-pocus solution, it is a long-term program that must be adapted into one’s daily routine. I have witnessed firsthand how patients willing to change their behavior have been able to find healing…When I see patients after they’ve read the book I can often see a change in their faces. To understand that we have the ability to affect our own healing process can be life changing.”
Ragi Doggweiler, MD
Associate Professor
Director of Neuro-Urology and Integrative Medicine, Division of Urology
University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN
“This has truly become the “Bible” for patients who suffer from pelvic floor muscle dysfunction”
"After reading over the 6th edition of A Headache in the Pelvis, all I can say is “Wow”…Drs. Wise and Anderson have done it again! This has truly become the “Bible” for patients, both men and women, who suffer from pelvic floor muscle dysfunction. The book demystifies a condition that is so frequently overlooked and often mistreated in clinical practice. It empowers the patient to be their own caregiver; while it encourages partnerships with clinicians who can be tremendously helpful in the patient’s path to symptom improvement. A Headache in the Pelvis is on the top of my recommendation list."
Robert Moldwin, MD Author, The Interstitial Cystitis Survival Guide
Symptoms in Men
NOTE: Most men have 2-10 of these symptoms
Urinary frequency (need to urinate often, usually more than once every two hours)
Urinary urgency (hard to hold urination once urge occurs)
Sitting triggers or exacerbates discomfort/pain/symptoms
Pain or discomfort during or after ejaculation
Discomfort/aching/pain in the rectum (feels like a “golf ball” in the rectum)
Discomfort/pain in the penis (commonly at the tip or shaft)
Ache/pain/sensitivity of testicles
Suprapubic pain (pain above the pubic bone)
Perineal pain (pain between the scrotum and anus)
Coccygeal pain (pain in and around the tailbone)
Low back pain (on one side or both)
Groin pain (on one side or both)
Dysuria (pain or burning during urination)
Nocturia (frequent urination at night)
Reduced urinary stream
Sense of incomplete urinating
Hesitancy before or during urination
Reduced libido (reduced interest in sex)
Anxiety about having sex
Discomfort or relief after a bowel movement
Anxiety and catastrophic thinking
Depression
Social withdrawal and impairment of intimate relations
Paradoxical Relaxation is a book that describes one of the components of the Wise-Anderson Protocol for the treatment of pelvic floor disorders and prostatitis, written by one of the developers of the Wise-Anderson Protocol. This book expands the scope of Paradoxical Relaxation toward the treatment of anxiety and anxiety related disorders.
“This book that David Wise has written on relaxation training clearly is not an abstract rendering of a theoretical position, but the record of lessons personally learned, and here taught. Dr. Wise has distinguished himself by co-developing a successful treatment for chronic pelvic pain syndromes at Stanford University called the Wise-Anderson Protocol. Paradoxical Relaxation is a careful exploration of one of the methods of this innovative protocol and a departure from conventional relaxation training for anxiety."
Alan Leveton, M.D.
Associate Clinical Professor
Pediatrics and Psychiatry (retired)
University of California, School of Medicine,
San Francisco
Treatment Protocol for Men
Most of the symptoms of pelvic pain or discomfort, urinary frequency and urgency, and pain related to sitting or sexual activity in cases diagnosed as prostatitis are not related to infection but are caused by chronically tightened muscles in and around the pelvis. Our natural protective instincts can tighten the pelvic basin, causing pain and other perplexing and distressing symptoms. Stress is intimately involved in creating and continuing these symptoms. Once the condition starts, the symptoms tend to have a life of their own.
And the good news is that it is possible for a large majority of sufferers to reduce and sometimes eliminate symptoms. The groundbreaking book, A Headache in the Pelvis: A New Understanding and Treatment for Prostatitis and Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndromes, now out in the 6th edition, by Drs. David Wise and Rodney Anderson, describes how chronic tension in the pelvic muscles can cause many of the bewildering symptoms of prostatitis and chronic pelvic pain syndromes.
In most cases of prostatitis, the prostate is not the problem
In 95% of prostatitis cases, the prostate is not the problem. In the case of men with prostatitis and chronic pelvic pain syndromes, 95% of patients who are diagnosed with prostatitis do not have an infection or inflammation that can account for their symptoms. In a word, in the overwhelming number of cases of men diagnosed with prostatitis, the prostate is not the issue.
Chronic Nonbacterial Prostatitis represents by far the largest number of cases of men diagnosed with prostatitis. It has been estimated that this category involves 90-95% of all cases diagnosed as “prostatitis.” Studies have shown that men undergo impairment in their self-esteem and their ability to enjoy life in general because the pain and urinary dysfunction is so profoundly intimate and intrusive. The effect on a person’s life of nonbacterial prostatitis has been likened to the effects of having a heart attack, having chest pain (angina), or having active Crohn’s disease (bleeding/inflammation of the bowel). If nonbacterial prostatitis moves from a mild and intermittent phase to a chronic phase, sufferers tend to live lives of quiet desperation. Having no one to talk to about their problem, usually knowing no one else who has it, and receiving no help from the doctor in its management or cure, they often suffer depression and anxiety. Symptoms may be intermittent or constant. Few sufferers have all of the following symptoms.
In
the case of men with prostatitis and chronic pelvic pain syndromes,
95% of patients with prostatitis symptoms do not have
an infection or inflammation that can account for their symptoms.
The evidence is compelling that in these cases, the prostate
is not the issue.
Those of us who developed the Wise-Anderson Protocol for muscle related pelvic pain with no evidence of infection and no anatomical abnormality, have never seen a satisfactory surgical intervention. We have seen patients who have undergone multiple surgeries in a vain attempt to eradicate their problem. In fact, for these conditions surgery, in our experience, has often hurt the patient, complicated management of their condition, and sometimes created new pain and made it more difficult to treat the original pain and dysfunction. We strongly advise against surgery for the kind of pelvic pain we describe on this website and in our book, A Headache in the Pelvis. Furthermore, pelvic pain with no evidence of infection rarely responds to antibiotic treatment, and we have occasionally seen patients suffer increased problems from antibiotic treatment, particularly when antibiotics are given over long periods of time.
National Center for Pelvic Pain Research, Box 54, Occidental, California 95465
• Telephone: 707 874 2225 • Fax: 707 874 2335
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