New Person with Pudendal Nerve Disorder

[konedog4]

Have set up a shockwave session with Dr. Andrews for mid-April. Mostly my symptoms have largely subsided and I am again doing active things again. Staying away from running as this seems to trigger the pelvis area into hurting again. Hope the shockwave further reduces entrapment/dysfunction on right side pudendal. I will post again just before I go. kone

[konedog4]

Next Tuesday is my appointment for Shockwave with Dr. Andrews in Ottawa, Ontario. I have three visits with him. This will be the third time up there. The first two times resulted in freeing up the left side. The right side remains problematic. Hoping for improvement. kone

[Patty]

Best of luck. I wish it was closer. I give anything a try to rid myself of my rectal pain.

[konedog4]

I am in Ottawa seeing Dr. Kirk Andrews for my third visit for shockwave therapy. I have tried everything buy surgery, and this is the only therapy that has been effective in relieving my perineal tightness and pain. My first two visits eliminated the left pudendal neuralgia, and just the right side remains. On Tuesday, he treated the right side, Wednesday the left side, and in several hours we will treat the right side again. That will complete the three days of therapy. I am sore, but it is not extremely sore or that I need pain medication. I appreciate that Dr. Andrews is able to quickly discern the areas that are problematic and then treat those areas aggressively. The pain during treatment is intense, but like a woman in labor, she quickly forgets the pain once the baby arrives. Likewise, the pain of shockwave is welcomed for through this pain the hope for improvement resides.

My hope is that these treatments further resolve the pudendal issues I have had now for four and 1/2 years.


Kone

[konedog4]

Shockwave therapy report. I am back from Ottawa, where I had three therapy sessions with Dr. Andrews. The time went by so quickly. It is spring up there and the city was abuzz with activity.

Dr. Andrews found my areas of pain immediately and used the shockwave machine to treat them. His ability to home in on the problematic areas saves a lot of time. The first time I was at his office back in 2012, I was there for 5 days, and I had my entire pelvic girdle treated, including abdominal region and legs. He was very thorough in trying to determine the factors which caused my condition. Needless to day, after 2 a day treatments for 5 days, I came home extremely sore and it took perhaps 4-6 weeks to recover. This visit, I received about 25000 "hits" the first day, 20,000 the second, and 25,000 the third. The goal was to help make progress on the right side. The therapy has done wonders. As I type this message, I am sitting on an unpadded chair an have no pain. I have no urinary or rectal symptoms either. In short, I feel normal again.

The treatments themselves were quite painful. I literally had to hold onto the treatment bench and grit my teeth while Dr. Andrews applied the device to my perineum and pelvic tuberosities (my sitting bones). When he got right on the pudendal nerve, I often felt radiating pain all along the pudendal nerve tract. When I could stand it no longer, I asked for a pause, and Dr. Andrews of course gave me a breather. It was important to get a specified amount of "hits" in the problematic areas so that I would have the best possible chance of recovery. These hits were achieved in the 90 minute sessions.

I had dramatic results the first visit in October of 2012, and made minor improvements in Feb of 2013, and now dramatic improvement again. I have very little bruising and soreness. I feel "cured", and I do used that term cautiously. Dr. Andrews does not like to use the term "cured". He instead prefers "progress" and "remission". While I feel so much better, I also know that once we have this condition, we can revert back to the condition at any time, as the tissues were initially damaged, and depending on how many years there were damaged, relapse is unfortunately a possibility.

Knowing that relapse is possible I continue to stretch per Dr. Andrews' instructions.

I am cautiously optimistic. I shall post again in 2 weeks. Hoping and praying for the "cure" to hold!

For those of you who have not tried shockwave, I do recommend you call and discuss your condition with Dr. Andrews. I have found him to be honest and realistic in his assessments. He does not promise the world, nor a cure, but does find that the majority of the patients he treats do show improvements. If you would like to write me privately, I do welcome your questions or comments.

kone

[Violet M]

Great to hear that ESWT is helping you again, Kone. Thanks for the update.

Violet

[konedog4]

I am now two weeks post-op from Dr. Andrews' shockwave therapy in Ottawa, Ontario. The soreness and light bruising from the treatment have largely resolved. I did not need any time off from work when I returned from treatment. My job (dentist) requires me to sit a large part of the day. I find that sitting is much more tolerable after treatment. I still sit on cushions (custom made by me) at work, at home, and while driving. For the most part I don't need them now, but I continue to sit on them anyway for I believe it is essential that the Pudendal Nerve should not be aggravated while healing. The pain from sitting is largely gone. I can sit pretty much as long as I desire, but try to not make it a habit. I have no pain to standing (this was a primary symptom when I first had PN back in 2011). I have no pain to vigorous exercise (I do sit-ups and push-ups with no flare up). I have no urinary symptoms whatsoever that are related to pudendal neuropathy. I had some before therapy, but they seem to have resolved in the last week. I have no rectal symptoms (the tingling and strange sensations I once had are gone). I can walk all I want and can run slowly as well.

All in all, I feel satisfied that I am back on a course to recovery. My left side is 100% healed now. My right side is the problematic side, and it is much better. I rank my total recovery at 70%. Since I seem to be improving as the days and weeks pass, I think I will find that the percentage goes upward.

My therapy now consists of daily stretching for 30-60 minutes. I try to stretch for 15 minutes during lunch, and then 1/2 hour in the evening. Stretching for me has been quite beneficial.

I am on no pain meds. I was on Clonazepam for the urinary and perineum symptoms, but I was able to stop that medication entirely. While I was on it, it really helped me function through the day much more easily. The downside is that it is habit forming and made me quite tired all day long.

I will post again in about 2-4 weeks from now.

kone

[konedog4]

I wanted to add that while shockwave has worked for me, it is not a cure all. However, if you can recall a definitive injury which caused your PNE then shockwave may be of benefit. My condition was caused by a specific exercise bicycle ride on a particularly uncomfortable seat. I got a deep bruise in my perineum which then translated to pudendal neuropathy. As I understand it, the shockwave energy works to break up scaring, frees tissues from scaring and entrapments, and intentionally induces a mild injury in the tissues. This produces an inflammation and then healing response. After shockwave, it is important to keep moving and stretching as this prevents the tissues from getting adhesions which might entrap the nerve again.

I have now had three sessions of shockwave and have improved each time.

If you have any questions, please contact me. Better yet, contact Dr. Andrews personally. He will likely be able to tell you if you would benefit.

kone

[konedog4]

One month post shockwave report.

The gains that I made in the last shockwave treatment (three sessions of about 1 hour each), have remained. I have no rectal symptoms at all. I can sit with less discomfort than in any time since I acquired this condition nearly 5 years ago. Today I sat for 2 hours in church with no seat cushion. I still have some symptoms, and certain chairs still cause some minor discomfort, but much better than where I was before shockwave. I continue to stretch and try to keep limber the perineum and upper legs. I am quite convinced that if I could have shockwave treatments once a month for an extended time period, I could perhaps get rid of this condition, or at least diminish it to the point that it no longer restricts my life. Unfortunately, that therapy is not available in the US. DOES ANYONE KNOW WHY SHOCKWAVE FOR PN IS NOT AVAILABLE IN USA? I still cannot get to the bottom of that issue. kone

[Violet M]

Glad to hear you are better, Kone.

Didn't Dr. Andrew develop this protocol so he could treat himself for PN symptoms? Maybe that's why he's the only one who does ESWT for PN?

Violet