Hello everyone.
First of all, I myself don't have any chronic pain. I'm just a man with an interest in a syndrome that occurs in a minority of men after a vasectomy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-vasectomy_pain_syndrome (Post-vasectomy pain syndrome - Wikipedia)
So a certain percentage of men (up to a third) will develop testicular pain, ranging from mild to severe after a vasectomy which can last a lifetime. Some men also report pain upon ejaculation or worsening of the pain during intercourse. The cause of this pain however, is very poorly understood by doctors, there are only theories:
1. Congestion: One theory is that because there is now a blockage, the epidydimis gets congested with sperm and that this is what causes the pressure-like pain that some men report. It 's well known that this congestion can also cause ruptures and that sperm then leaks into the blood causing autoimmune reactions (since the body has never seen sperm before). Treatment for this kind of pain is sometimes vasectomy reversal. However, there are problems with this theory in my opinion. First of all, studies have shown that this congestion and the ruptures are asymptomatic in the vast majority of men. Studies have also shown that the autoimmune response to the sperm in vasectomized men is clinically insignificant as men with vasectomies have the same rate of autoimmune disorders as men without. Also, if it was really the sperm causing the pain, shouldn't that be easily treatable with some testosterone injections or other things that stop the production of sperm? There are even plants that contain natural spermicides like papaya seeds that can actually make you infertile. However none of this has ever really been shown to resolve PVPS. Reversal has also never really been proven to work from my perspective. Ther have been some studies to show it provides relief but the follow up was usually just a month. Not enough to rule out a placebo or TMS in my opinion.
2. Nerve damage: The other theory is that nerves get damaged during the vasectomy and that this can cause long-lasting or life-long pain. But doesn't that sound similar to the kind of theory that the mainstream has on back pain and other kinds of pain? John Sarno said that in TMS, the mind causes a nerve to get pinched somewhere in the body. He even referred to it as "real nerve damage caused by the subconscious mind" and that this is what causes the chronic back pain or other kinds of pain people have.
Another thing is that many men also report their libido decreased after a vasectomy, their ejaculate volume decreased or their orgasms felt less intense... But there really is not a single bodily process that would explain this. Studies show very clearly that vasectomy does not affect testosterone levels and some even show an increase.
Men with PVPS are really very similar to people with chronic back pain. They visit dozens of different doctors, try many different medications, undergo different surgeries like vasectomy reversal, denervation, orchiectomy and in some extreme cases, have one or both testicles removed. However, very few men really seem to get better in my opinion. Some men say that the medications or surgeries help to a degree but not fully, other men report having undergone one of the surgeries and became pain-free only for the pain to return a few months to a year to a few years later...
Could it be that this chronic testicular pain that occurs after vasectomies is TMS? I contacted many TMS therapists and asked them about this recently and not many, but a few said that they had indeed seen a few patients with PVPS and they claimed that they were able to resolve the pain that way... Another interesting and little known fact is that it's been noted that men with PVPS in many cases already had a history of chronic pain synptoms elsewhere in the body...
Before you reply: Please don't just throw some information at me about some study showing a link between vasectomy and cancer. I want this thread to be about whether PVPS = TMS. However, if any of you have had chronic pain after any kind of surgery and were able to resolve with the TMS approach or know anything about that, I'd like to read about that too.
Thanks for reading and thanks for your replies in advance.
First of all, I myself don't have any chronic pain. I'm just a man with an interest in a syndrome that occurs in a minority of men after a vasectomy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-vasectomy_pain_syndrome (Post-vasectomy pain syndrome - Wikipedia)
So a certain percentage of men (up to a third) will develop testicular pain, ranging from mild to severe after a vasectomy which can last a lifetime. Some men also report pain upon ejaculation or worsening of the pain during intercourse. The cause of this pain however, is very poorly understood by doctors, there are only theories:
1. Congestion: One theory is that because there is now a blockage, the epidydimis gets congested with sperm and that this is what causes the pressure-like pain that some men report. It 's well known that this congestion can also cause ruptures and that sperm then leaks into the blood causing autoimmune reactions (since the body has never seen sperm before). Treatment for this kind of pain is sometimes vasectomy reversal. However, there are problems with this theory in my opinion. First of all, studies have shown that this congestion and the ruptures are asymptomatic in the vast majority of men. Studies have also shown that the autoimmune response to the sperm in vasectomized men is clinically insignificant as men with vasectomies have the same rate of autoimmune disorders as men without. Also, if it was really the sperm causing the pain, shouldn't that be easily treatable with some testosterone injections or other things that stop the production of sperm? There are even plants that contain natural spermicides like papaya seeds that can actually make you infertile. However none of this has ever really been shown to resolve PVPS. Reversal has also never really been proven to work from my perspective. Ther have been some studies to show it provides relief but the follow up was usually just a month. Not enough to rule out a placebo or TMS in my opinion.
2. Nerve damage: The other theory is that nerves get damaged during the vasectomy and that this can cause long-lasting or life-long pain. But doesn't that sound similar to the kind of theory that the mainstream has on back pain and other kinds of pain? John Sarno said that in TMS, the mind causes a nerve to get pinched somewhere in the body. He even referred to it as "real nerve damage caused by the subconscious mind" and that this is what causes the chronic back pain or other kinds of pain people have.
Another thing is that many men also report their libido decreased after a vasectomy, their ejaculate volume decreased or their orgasms felt less intense... But there really is not a single bodily process that would explain this. Studies show very clearly that vasectomy does not affect testosterone levels and some even show an increase.
Men with PVPS are really very similar to people with chronic back pain. They visit dozens of different doctors, try many different medications, undergo different surgeries like vasectomy reversal, denervation, orchiectomy and in some extreme cases, have one or both testicles removed. However, very few men really seem to get better in my opinion. Some men say that the medications or surgeries help to a degree but not fully, other men report having undergone one of the surgeries and became pain-free only for the pain to return a few months to a year to a few years later...
Could it be that this chronic testicular pain that occurs after vasectomies is TMS? I contacted many TMS therapists and asked them about this recently and not many, but a few said that they had indeed seen a few patients with PVPS and they claimed that they were able to resolve the pain that way... Another interesting and little known fact is that it's been noted that men with PVPS in many cases already had a history of chronic pain synptoms elsewhere in the body...
Before you reply: Please don't just throw some information at me about some study showing a link between vasectomy and cancer. I want this thread to be about whether PVPS = TMS. However, if any of you have had chronic pain after any kind of surgery and were able to resolve with the TMS approach or know anything about that, I'd like to read about that too.
Thanks for reading and thanks for your replies in advance.
