A Headache in the Pelvis - Abridged

Reviews

“One gloomy 5 a.m. in the winter of 2006, unable to sleep and trawling the Net yet again for some explanation of the chronic condition that had made my life a misery, I came across an extract from a book with the ugly title, A Headache in the Pelvis. Here, after two years of expensive consultations and invasive medical tests, I found at last an accurate description of my plight.  What to do? I had given up on official medicine. Its drugs made me sick. Its operations threatened my manhood without promising relief. . . . Now A Headache in the Pelvis talked about years of stressful overachieving, sitting at a desk, and an embattled mental attitude that had led me to tense the muscles of my pelvic floor so that they had atrophied and were pinching the nerves that crossed them from bladder, penis, and prostate. . . . I was definitely suffering enough. And growing curious. On your back, allowing your breath to establish its own pattern, eliminating all words from your mind, you focus on tension in the body and just, well, nothing, let it be. You go to meet the pain itself, and again, let it be.
“It took many months. . . . I shall remember for the rest of my life the day when, from the dry, knitted tension of my forehead, a great warm wave rose up and crashed across my chest and limbs, sweeping everything before it: thought, tension, pain. For five minutes I was pain free, utterly relaxed. It was the beginning of the way back.”
—Tim Parks for the London Times

“This is a book that helps patients empower themselves in their own healing. With this book, patients learn how to gain control over their chronic pelvic pain. It is not a hocus-pocus solution; it is a long-term program that must be adapted into one’s daily routine. I have witnessed firsthand how patients willing to change their behavior have been able to find healing. . . . When I see patients after they’ve read the book I can often see a change in their faces. To understand that we have the ability to affect our own healing process can be life changing.”
—Ragi Doggweiler, MD, associate professor, director of Neuro-Urology and Integrative Medicine, Division of Urology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

“After reading over the sixth edition of A Headache in the Pelvis, all I can say is ‘Wow.’ . . . Drs. Wise and Anderson have done it again! This has truly become the ‘Bible’ for patients, both men and women, who suffer from pelvic floor muscle dysfunction. The book demystifies a condition that is so frequently overlooked and often mistreated in clinical practice. It empowers patients to be their own caregiver, while it encourages partnerships with clinicians who can be tremendously helpful in the patient’s path to symptom improvement. A Headache in the Pelvis is on the top of my recommendation list.”
—Robert Moldwin, MD, author of The Interstitial Cystitis Survival Guide

“Many pelvic pain patients go from doctor to doctor, specialist to specialist, without improvement, often feeling abandoned. A majority of patients with chronic pelvic pain do not respond to conventional therapies (antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs), leaving a huge void. Drs. Wise and Anderson offer a therapeutic option that can bring relief to many.”
—Bart Gershbein, MD, clinical instructor, Department of Urology, University of California School of Medicine, San Francisco

“The sixth edition of A Headache in the Pelvis, by Drs. Rodney Anderson and David Wise, continues to be one of the most useful books for people who suffer from chronic pelvic floor pain. The book details a method for resolving pelvic pain by rehabilitating the pelvic floor muscles that have often been the brunt of anxiety or a reaction to a trauma or surgery. This new edition has filled in many of the answers raised since the publication of the first edition of this book in 2003. . . . This new treatment model is based upon Drs. Rodney Anderson and David Wise’s work at Stanford University Medical Center.”
—Erik Peper, PhD, professor, Institute of Holistic Health Studies, San Francisco State University

“Drs. Wise and Anderson have updated their important book on pelvic pain. This work has changed the way I think about pelvic pain. I now can find the clues in the physical exam (pelvic muscle spasm) that I had previously missed. This book is required reading for any clinician dealing with pelvic pain patients.”
—Stephen Bearg, MD, obstetrician-gynecologist, past chairman, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Marin General Hospital, Kentfield, California

“A Headache in the Pelvis is an excellent book, brimming with warmth, compassion, and insight. It describes a pioneering method that empowers patients with pelvic pain to understand and help reduce their pain and symptoms. It is the very best kind of medicine, in that it teaches patients how to reduce their own symptoms themselves. This book is for people affected by pelvic pain and for family members who care about them; it’s also for the medical providers who work with these patients.”
—Marlene Cresci Cohen, PhD, director, Behavioral Sciences, Valley Family Medicine Residency, Modesto, California, and professor, Volunteer Faculty Department of Family Medicine University of California, Davis

“A Headache in the Pelvis is a lamp in the dark human suffering of chronic pelvic pain. This book is a precious document that will help many people.”
—Robert Blum, MD, former chief, Department of Neurosurgery, Marin General Hospital, Marin County, California

“I highly recommend this book to colleagues, clients, and friends all the time. It does a great job explaining the connections between muscle tension and pain symptoms. . . . I find that after the first reading, the book needs to be read and reread.”
—Marilyn Freedman, PT, DPT, BCB-PMD, CAPP

“This compelling understanding of chronic pelvic pain syndromes offers a new and pioneering approach to its alleviation.”
—Frank Werblin, PhD, professor of Neuroscience, University of California, Berkeley

“Since its first edition, A Headache in the Pelvis has been enthusiastically welcomed by patients suffering from urological pelvic pain syndromes (UCPPS), ... Although I recommend A Headache in the Pelvis to all of my patients, I have happily discovered that more and more physical therapists are recommending the book to their referring doctors and to their patients. In many ways, this book communicates effectively to a wide audience, as it is accessible and empowering to patients, interesting and insightful to health care providers.”
—Jeannette Potts, MD, director, Center for Pelvic Pain, Alternative and Medical Urology Services, Urological Institute University Hospitals of Cleveland, Case Western Reserve University

“A Headache in the Pelvis is a very important contribution to understanding and treating pelvic pain. It is also an illuminating discussion of the relationship of mental and physical interaction in the production of disease and an approach to a truly comprehensive treatment of illness that has relevance to a whole range of contemporary morbidities.”
—Donald L. Fink, MD, professor emeritus, University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine

“The work described here by Drs. Wise and Anderson is at the forefront of the understanding and treatment of chronic pelvic pain syndromes like prostatitis. Their approach sees the big picture of these disorders and breaks new ground in our understanding of the subtlety of the mind-body continuum.”
—A. S. Hadland, MD, former director, Integrative Medicine Pain Management Service, Kaiser Permanente

“It is important for the patient to learn all he can about his disease, especially if he has prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome. That is difficult because doctors seldom agree on the cause, cure, or treatment. The information contained in A Headache in the Pelvis will be essential for these patients.”
—Mike Hennenfent, president of the Prostatitis Foundation

“This book is something different, something not seen before in the field of prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain. This book will take you to a place you have never been before within prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome. The relaxation techniques, exercise, and trigger point release all are outlined and explained in great detail. Examples used to explain various points are truly excellent and enlightening. Pick up this book and you will be taken into a world of relaxation, calm, and above all a way to possibly ease your symptoms. The authors have created a new portal into the condition and offer you through the book just what they do to help sufferers get better. Lie back, relax, and you will not be able to put this book down. To suddenly be aware of your pelvic pain in the ways outlined in this book is a truly enlightening experience. This time last year we could not have dreamed it possible to see a book like this on the bookshelf. Every UK urologist should read this book. If you can afford it, you may wish to buy your doctor a copy.”
—The British Prostatitis Support Association
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