I began having all the classic symptoms of prostititis in August 2006 after a urinary tract infection following unprotected oral sex. No STD was found, but the urinary tract burning evolved to genital pain, constant perineal burning, erection pains, and ejaculatory pains. I went through the standard course of treatment, Cipro for 4 weeks, with no improvement, a Cystoscopy by my Urologist, CT-Scan, and a DRE. All tests showed no abnormalities. What else is new with prostititis? In early January, 2007 I decided to try a series of prostate massages at the Biotherapy Clinic in San Francisco. I am in no way affiliated with them, it's just that I live 20 miles north of their office and saw their add in a local free magazine. The owner is a Russian man, formerly a doctor in his homeland, and now an R.N. and licensed acupuncturist in the states. His approach is that of massage, acupuncture, and herbs, and at-home exercises. One exercise is "butt-walking" along the floor for 20 feet. I've been hrough 5 sessions with him, and my symptoms are already 75% better. He tailors the massage to your pain level. The first session was very light as I experienced pain with very little pressure. By my fourth session he was able to massage much more vigorously and this is when I began to secrete prostatic fluid. In the last 4 days I've only thought of my condition twice when I've felt the mildest of perineal burning when sitting on soft surfaces such as a couch or movie theatre seat. This is amazing since I was aware of it 24/7 for months. I will continue the massage twice a week for ten weeks, and hopefully be free of pain. I encourage anyone who reads this to give this approach a try before taking any antibiotics, especially Cipro, once a bacterial infection has been ruled out. I hope this helps anyone desperately seeking a solution for this life altering condition

I am a 48 year old man whose has been affected by prostatitis for 3 years now. A few days after having an annual medical including a prostate exam, I noticed there seemed to be some discomfort between my legs behind the scrotum. I decided to see my doctor. He explained that the prostate seemed to be inflamed and prescribed a sulpha drug, within a week I was symptom free. Nine months later the symptoms returned. Once again I was prescribed sulpha drug. After three weeks had passed the symptoms got worse. I returned to the Dr. and he changed the antibiotic to Floxen. He referred me to an Urologist. The Uro did a prostate exam and said that there were no lumps or bumps and that he felt that it was prostatitis and lengthened the antibiotic saying it should improve over the next few weeks, if it didn't I should be scoped. I went on a 2 week holiday and things continued to worsen. I went to another urologist that prescribed 2 weeks of Cipro Floxin. After a few days my symptoms improved marginally. When I returned I had a scope done and nothing was seen that appeared abnormal. At that point I did extensive reading on the topic to be better informed for my return visit to the urologist. On my next visit he had little to suggest and said I should discontinue the antibiotics. At this point no one had done a proper work up. No one had done a prostate massage or checked for bacteria or other antigens. Knowing what I know now it's unbelievable. I ask about prostate massages and he replied that they may help but he and no other urologist that he knew had time for that. I went home totally discouraged. I went back to my GP several times and tried a few things that didn't help. On my last visit he suggested that it was all in my head and that I had to get my head around it. I deteriorated to a point where I was flat on my back most of the time, the discomfort and incredible burning when standing was unbearable. My days were spent searching the internet for a solution.

Finally I read an article on the Prostate Foundation web site on prostate massages. I spoke to my dear wife about the procedure and described how it was done. She agreed to try it so we purchased the rubber gloves and lubricant required. The first time we were a bit reluctant and very unfamiliar. To my wife's surprise she located the prostate easily and could give an excellent description on what it felt like. It felt about the size of a plum, like whale skin and really taught or firm. Later we found more information on the procedure which said to work from the outside to the middle on each side and from top to bottom. At first we got little on no fluid. We initially did it once a day. After a few days it was second nature and I didn't mind the procedure that much. Although the symptoms were severe it did give a bit of relief. After a number of months more fluid was expelled and on a number of massages she could fell a definite popping feeling. I started monitoring the urine on occasion with a 2x magnification and a bright light. What I found was surprising. There chunks of plaque type debris and filaments (the filaments looked like twisted ribbon under a microscope), there were hundreds of these prostate castings or filaments being expelled. Some of these were red, clear, black, and blue. These varied in diameter and length... At worst the gland felt swollen between my legs and the area felt as though it had been scalded. The symptoms even included my rectal area. The only relief was from prostrate massages and from frozen water bottles to numb the pain. The prostate has varied in consistency from firm to flat to spongy. In fact my wife seemed to even notice a difference in the temperature of the gland. When it felt spongy, it seemed warmer and my symptoms were worse. As time went on, I could amazingly predict when some filaments were moving through or about to be flushed out. I would have an uncomfortable day but after a prostrate massage I would see one or more of a variety of types of "debris" that were clearly visible under a microscope. Even if just one long filament came out, my symptoms changed dramatically!! For those of you reading this post, I cannot stress strongly enough that you need to have regular prostrate massages!!! Certainly I am not a doctor nor do I have any medical training but after appointments with more than twenty specialists ( that's an actual count), I have come to realize that unless you are one of the few lucky ones who takes an antibiotic and gets well right away, you must take your health into your own hands. If you don't the chances of you getting well I believe are slim. In my case there is a direct coloration between the filaments and plaque that come out the prostrate and the severity of symptoms. I don't know which comes first, the infection or the plaque and debris, but unless you get rid of the infection in the very early stages, I believe the gland, in response to the infection, produces these filaments and plaque. I also believe that they must be massaged out of the gland and it seems reasonable that your doctor put you on a course of antibiotics at the same time. I feel the earlier you start prostrate massages, once it has been determined that you don't have prostrate cancer, the better your chances of returning your gland and you to good health. My PSA throughout the two and a half years has remained below 0.05.My symptoms are greatly reduced to the point where I almost have my normal life back, something I never thought possible!!!!!

In closing I would like to thank Mr. Mike Hennenfent, his family and associates for developing and maintaining the Prostatitis Foundation and their website. As most of you know some men become desperate enough to become suicidal, they need our support and encouragement. Over twenty million men in North America suffer from this disease and yet there is very little research, WHY??/

Without the valuable resource of the Prostatitis Foundation, my wife's understanding, encouragement help and compassion, I would still be flat on my back with no quality of life.

A very special thank you to Dr. Daniel Shoskes , Dr.Curtis Nichol and Dr. Dale Arden for their compassion and incredible work in this field.

Please feel free to E-Mail me at southfld@nbnet.nb.ca PLEASE NOTE, state "Prostatitis Foundation" in the subject of your E-Mail so it wont' be treated as spam. The opinions stated above are strictly mine and in no way do I suggest that I have any expertise whatsoever in the field of Prostatitis.