Being a man of more words and Pelvic Pain

Be a man of more words is a ground breaking campaign being run by Movember throughout the month of November. Movember is the worlds leading charity for changing the face of men’s health. They raise awareness and address some of the biggest health issues faced by men across the world including: testicular cancer, prostate cancer, mental health and suicide prevention.

“#Be a man of more words” encourages more open and more meaningful conversations around mens health. Females are far more likely to open up and discuss their health worries and concerns, with friends, family or professionals than us chaps are! This needs to change. This short video superbly sums up the Man of More Words campaign

I think we can all crawl into our shells. Especially when what is on our mind is REALLY worrying us. In fact I would be confident in saying that the more it concerns us the more reserved we become. We would rather take the piss out of each other than talk about how much it hurts to piss! We would rather blag about our fantasies in the sack than the stabbing pain in our sack! We would rather talk about how bloody we like our steak than the blood we found in our urine! It is time to be more than just a good listener! It is time to be a man of more words.

Prostatitis accounts for up to 25% of all visits to a urologist by males. It is the most common diagnosis in men under 50 years old (1)  It is reported to effect 35-50% of all men in their lifetime (2, 3)

Symptoms include:

• Pelvic pain (testicular, penile, perineum, rectal, abdomen, lower back, legs, bladder)
• Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (LUTS) (increased urgency, increased frequency, incomplete voiding, dribbling, hesitancy)
• Sexual dysfunction (including Hard Flaccid Syndrome (4)) (reduced ability to achieve and/or maintain an erection, pain on ejaculation, delayed ejaculation, premature ejaculation)  
• High impact on quality of life (anxiety, catastrophic thoughts, stress, disrupted sleep, distress, reduced self confidence and self efficacy)

The National Institute of Health (NIH) classifies Prostatitis into 4 categories (Table 1.)(5) with Type III accounting for up to 95% of all cases (6)

Table 1. National Institutes of Health-Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index (NIH-CPSI) classification

CPPS/CP are simply not spoken about. Many patients suffer in silence. They often avoid telling friends, family and even loved ones what they are going through. There is very, very little if anyone openly talking about this condition in the press. That is until Henri Astier, a patient of mine, openly and honestly wrote about his recovery from CPPS/CP in a BBC article

Henri is a man of more words. As a BBC journalist he was able to use resources available to him to raise the awareness of this condition. Kudos to you sir! We need more men to openly discuss and share their CPPS/CP stories. Movember is about encouraging more open and honest discussion about mens health conditions, including CPPS/CP. 

You don’t need to be a BBC journalist to open up and talk about your pelvic pain concerns. If you have symptoms of Pelvic Pain there are 5 easy steps to follow

“When times are tough a few words just aren’t enough!” Be more like Henri. Don’t suffer in silence. Start talking. If you have concerns and you want a professional to talk to about your pelvic pain symptoms please feel free to contact Karl at The Pelvic Pain Clinic – karl@thepelvicpainclinic.co.uk As someone who has suffered with pelvic pain himself and recovered he knows only too well what you are going through 

If you are a CPPS/CP sufferer and feel you would like further support come and join us at the monthly face to face support group in London. I am very excited to announce the launch of new online CPPS/CP and HF support groups in early 2019. Click here for more details 

1. Collins MM, Stafford RS, O’Leary MP, Barry MJ. How common is prostatitis? A national survey of physician visits. J Urol 1998;159:1224–8. 
2. Krieger JN, Lee SW, Jeon J, Cheah PY, Liong ML, Riley DE. Epidemiology of prostatitis. Int J Antimicrob Agents 2008; 31(Suppl. 1): S85–90 
3. Pavone-Macaluso M. Chronic prostatitis syndrome: a common, but poorly understood condition. Part I. EAU-EBU Update Ser 2007; 5: 1–15 
4. Hughes KE, Lucky MA, Hard Flaccid Syndrome Urology News, 2018; Vol 23 No 1 
5. Krieger JN, Nyberg L, Nickel JC. NIH consensus definition and classification of prostatitis. JAMA 1999;282:236–7. 
6. Mazzoli S. Conventional bacteriology in prostatitis patients: microbiological bias, problems and epidemiology on 1686 microbial isolates. ARCHIVIO ITALIANO DI UROLOGIA ANDROLOGIA. 2007 Jun;79(2):71.