When It Hurts Down There In the Prostate Gland-New Treatment for Chronic Pelvic Pain

Chronic pelvic pain is a disabling condition with multiple treatment options. However, in men with chronic prostatitis, which is not due to bacterial infection, have difficulty finding relief.
The symptoms of chronic pelvic pain are pain with urination, pain under the scrotum, and urinary frequency and urgency. Now there is a new treatment using trigger point therapy that has been helpful in some men with chronic pelvic pain.
In a study published in The Journal of Urology (Volume 185, page 1294), researchers evaluated the protocol, known as myofascial trigger point therapy and paradoxical relaxation training (PRT), in 116 men who had pelvic pain for several years.
Trigger point therapy, which involves applying pressure on a trigger point in a tight muscle until it “releases,” was performed by a physical therapist for 30 to 60 minutes daily for five consecutive days. A psychologist provided daily instruction in PRT for three to five hours. The goal of PRT is to reduce nervous system arousal in the presence of perceived pain and catastrophic thinking. The men were instructed to use the techniques at home.
At six months, their quality of life had improved significantly, and 82 percent of the men reported improvement in pain and urinary dysfunction. The improvement was described as major or moderate by 59 percent and as slight by 23 percent.
Bottom Line: If you have chronic pelvic pain with pelvic muscle tenderness that has not improved with standard medical therapies, consider asking your doctor for a referral to physical and behavioral therapists with experience treating this condition.