What is prostatitis?
Prostatitis is swelling and inflammation of the prostate gland, a walnut-sized gland situated directly below the bladder in men. The prostate gland produces fluid (semen) that nourishes and transports sperm.Prostatitis can be acute or chronic.
What are the symptoms of prostatitis?
- Abnormal urination: painful, burning, difficult, dribbling/hesitant, or frequent
- Pain: back, groin, abdominal, perineum (area between the scrotum and the rectum), penis, testicles, during orgasm
- Flu-like symptoms
What causes prostatitis?
Chronic and acute bacterial prostatitis are caused by bacterial infections. The exact causes of non-bacterial prostatitis — chronic pelvic pain or chronic abacterial prostatitis — are unknown. Other causes of prostatitis may include:Immune or nervous system problems
- Direct injury to the prostate
- Defective nerve and/or muscle function
- Blockage of the urinary tract
- Build-up of toxic chemicals in the urine
How does acupuncture treat prostatitis?
By piecing together the signs and symptoms, I identify a pattern of disharmony. Patterns are how Chinese medicine quantifies and qualifies illness. The names of patterns often have words we recognize from high school biology class about internal organs. This isn’t a direct correlation, so don’t get caught up in the name or what it might mean.
Acupuncturists use the pattern diagnosis to dictate the treatment plan. The treatment will involve acupuncture and herbs to unwind the disharmony of the pattern to restore balance to the body. I also use dietary therapy and tui na massage to support these modalities. I often give patients a bit of homework in the form of self-massage to be used as a treatment between acupuncture appointments.