Effective Prostatitis Treatment and its Impact on the Quality of Life

Assessing a New Study

First, it should be noted that it is not the symptoms of chronic prostatitis that can destroy one’s quality of life, but the thought that the symptoms will never go away. A group of European urologists reported in a recent international study of 1563 patients* that the pain associated with chronic prostatitis or chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CCPS) impacted the quality of life of those suffering from this disorder more than the impact of urinary frequency/urgency or other common symptoms. The study reported that pain in the perineum was the most common symptom. Almost ½ of men reported discomfort after ejaculation. Discomfort in the testicles and area above the public bone were common symptoms. About 1/3 of men complained of pain in the penis.

Men suffering from chronic prostatitis know only too well that the pain can play havoc with one’s quality of life.

This report is old news to anyone treating or suffering from chronic prostatitis. While the source of the pain and symptoms of chronic prostatitis are not visible to anyone, nor are symptoms seen by any visualizing technology or detectable by conventional medical testing, the pain and symptoms diagnosed as chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome can at best put your life on hold and at worst make you feel like you will never be happy again (see details of symptoms of chronic prostatitis). The intensity and intimacy of pelvic pain is a perfect storm for inciting the catastrophic thinking so common in men with this disorder. Once someone has pelvic pain diagnosed as chronic prostatitis and there is no solution in sight, quality of life tends to evaporate.

It is not the pain but the meaning given to the pain that is the real suffering.

The new article did not delve deeply into why the pain of chronic prostatitis impacted quality of life so deeply. What is called chronic prostatitis is pelvic pain and a related group of symptoms that are very disturbing. Most important, chronic prostatitis symptoms can make normal functioning of life painful and difficult. The pain and dysfunction of the symptoms regularly intrude on living life moment to moment.

Our patients often say that they could handle their pain if they knew they would go away.

The actual pain of chronic prostatitis per se is not the reason why the quality of life is so profoundly impacted. In fact, most people we have seen have said that if they knew their pain would go away, they would be able to handle it. The source of the impact on quality of life is the catastrophic fear that the pain will never go away. They struggle to imagine living a normal and happy life again. It is this catastrophic meaning about the pain never going away that impacts their quality of life so strongly.

In the last review of hundreds of our patients we found that a large majority of them who did the Wise-Anderson Protocol for 6 months reported their level of emotional distress significantly dropped in conjunction with their ability to reduce the sensitivity/pain in their pelvic muscles. In other words, when our patients were empowered to reduce or stop their symptoms by themselves, they reported that their emotional distress significantly improved.

Treating chronic prostatitis pain using effective prostatitis treatment can reduce pelvic pain and the feeling of hopelessness.

Fear, helplessness, and hopelessness that the pain and symptoms will never go away fuel the hallmark catastrophic thinking of most patients diagnosed with chronic prostatitis. When a man can reduce his pain through his own efforts, his emotional distress improves. Effective prostatitis treatment gives patients a real sense of control over their pain, making them no longer fell like helpless victims of their pain.

 

[i]In this article, chronic prostatitis refers specifically to nonbacterial chronic prostatitis

*Wagenlehner, Florian, et al. “1082 NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF HEALTH CHRONIC PROSTATITIS SYMPTOM INDEX (CPSI) SYMPTOM EVALUATION IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC PROSTATITIS/CHRONIC PELVIC PAIN SYNDROME–A MULTINATIONAL STUDY IN 1,563 PATIENTS.” The Journal of Urology 187.4 (2012): e439.