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Methods of treating your prostatitis |
There are several methods and themes for treating
prostatitis, some of which stand in stark contrast, others of which
can be complementary. Because there is no scientific consensus on
prostatitis and because some patients continue to suffer despite
even the best methods, it is up to you, the patient, to decide what
works best for you. Methods, themes and special topics are linked
in the columns on both sides and described below. Note that the
importance of these methods for you may not be related to where
the links appear or the order in which they are mentioned in the
following text Among them:
- In the USA, Canada, and much of Europe, your doctor is
likely to treat you by prescribing antibiotics. This is often
done whether or not a culture of your EPS or semen is performed.
The antibiotics may help if your prostatitis is caused
by bacteria, or it may help due to anti-inflammatory
effects of antibiotics. Or it may not help at all. (See Dr.
Shoskes interesting
newsgroup comment on antibiotic use.) The quinolone
family of antibiotics can cause serious side effects for some
people.
- In January, 1996, Prostatitis patients began hearing the ideas
of Dr. A.E.
Feliciano of Manila, the Philipines, who advocated careful
culturing of EPS for bacteria and basing antibiotic therapy on
culture results, plus using prostate massage or drainage
to enhance results. Many men improved by using these techniques,
or having their doctors try them, and some US doctors reported
improved results with modifications of the Feliciano technique.
But many patients, especially some North Americans who had already
had a lot of antibiotics, were not helped.
(See note below for more on Feliciano.)
- There have been doctors and patients all along who felt prostatitis
had little or nothing to do with bacteria in most cases,and instead
might have something to do with pelvic
floor muscle tension or tension
disorders. This site has a growing list of inter-linked pages
on this method of treatment. There are
studies, scientific papers and
books.
- There's growing interest in the idea that prostatitis may be
caused by immune disorders or allergies, in which case treating
the inflammation is the way to go. The natural bioflavinoid called
"Quercetin" has potent
anti-inflammatory properties and has been shown to help some prostatitis
patients. There are research trials
underway with the drug Elmiron,
which addresses auto-immunity and mast cell responses. And antibiotics
themselves have anti-inflammatory benefits. There's a range
of illnesses like Reiter's syndrome
which cause prostatitis along with other symptoms.
- The Gout connection occurs when
a man's uric acid metabolism is disordered. Allopurinol
is a prescription drug for uric acid problems, which helps some
prostatitis patients.
- Ejaculatory duct obstruction/seminal vesicle infection. Pain
on ejaculation (instead of relief felt by most prostatitis patients)
may indicate that you have an obstructed ejaculatory duct or seminal
vesicle infection. In this case you should look at the information
on seminal vesicle removal, and
at the EDO page.
- There are a variety of herbal remedies and traditional (mostly
Asian) medical approaches to prostatitis. This site has an
alternative medicine FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) file,
a link to a page on another website on
Saw Palmetto (an herbal remedy) and a page on traditional
Chinese remedies .
- Sometimes doctors will recommend surgery or any of several high
tech methods of heating or destroying prostate tissue to treat
prostatitis. The track record of these methods in prostatitis
is poor, because pain often persists. Collected from the newsgroup
archives, the prostatron page contains a number of comments on
the ":Prostatron": device
which cooks the prostate gland with microwaves.
T.U.N.A. comes under this general heading.
- Be sure to look over the clinics page.
Clinics exist which deal with prostatitis on a pain management
basis and in more conventional ways.
- The "Feliciano method" is
also known as "The Manila Protocol," "The Philippines
Cure" and other terms. (There are two doctors
[Dr. ANF
and Dr. AEF
] named Feliciano from the Philippines involved in treating
prostatitis. One [Dr.
AEF] has an association with
The Prostatitis Center in Tucson, AZ, USA. Click on the links
to see their respective web sites. (The Prostatitis Foundation
is not responsible for the information on these sites.) Click
here for our policy on what we include
on our site. (Back to top)
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The mission of the Prostatitis Foundation is to educate the public about the prevalence of prostatitis
and encourage and support research to find the cause and a cure for prostatitis.
We're sorry you are having to learn about prostatitis, but we're glad you came here, because we think we can help. Please be advised that the Prostatitis Foundation does
not warrant, support, sponsor, endorse, recommend or accept responsibility for any health care provider or any treatment or protocol performed by any heath care provider.
© The
Prostatitis Foundation
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