First, let’s take a look at the true white face of these physical treatments! Humans have been using physical methods to treat diseases for a long time, including sound, light, electricity, heat, water and so on. The modern medical commonly used to ultrasound lithotripsy, prostate electrodes, Chinese medicine cupping, traction, gua sha, etc. are all physical therapy. One of the most commonly used is the thermal effect. The heat effect can improve blood circulation, strengthen the local tissue nourishment, accelerate the absorption and removal of inflammatory products, which is conducive to the dissipation of inflammation, thus improving the symptoms and achieving the purpose of treating the disease. In fact, we often move this kind of physical therapy in our daily life, for example, when women have menstrual cramps, elderly people with back pain will use hot water bags to heat compress. The actual fact is that you can find a lot of people who are not able to get a good deal on this kind of things. Some patients may have some doubts about this issue. The reason for this is that some hospitals advertise that their physical therapy works through the “**field”, “non-thermal effect”, and “endogenous heat effect”. However, according to my understanding, the essence of these treatments are all thermal effects, and the scope of action of the thermal effect is mostly imprecise. The actual fact is that you can’t be able to control the size of the range of thermal effect precisely. The actual fact is that you can’t be sure that you’re going to be able to get a good deal on your own. The actual fact is that there is usually some effect. Prostatitis is also a form of inflammation! Just like a hot water sitz bath, it can increase blood circulation in the prostate tissue, speed up metabolism, facilitate anti-inflammation and eliminate tissue edema, relieve pelvic floor muscle spasm, thus to some extent facilitate the recovery of the disease, etc. The “Guidelines for the Treatment of Prostatitis” prepared by the Urology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association points out that these physiotherapeutic treatments, such as microwave, radiofrequency, laser and other physical means of heat therapy via the urethra, transrectal and perineal routes, are effective in relieving symptoms in the short term, but there is a lack of long-term follow-up information. It is not recommended for unmarried and infertile patients. It is generally believed that heat therapy causes irreversible changes such as coagulation, necrosis, and shedding of local tissues above 60 degrees Celsius, while reversible changes occur below 60 degrees Celsius. For people with prostate enlargement, transurethral microwaves have been used before to cauterize local tissues at high temperatures to achieve symptom control. However, due to the poor controllability and imprecision of such operations, they are no longer used. For prostatitis, it is generally believed that a temperature of about 43 degrees Celsius to 45 degrees Celsius can be used to increase the blood circulation of the tissue and enhance the cellular metabolic process to promote the dissipation of tissue inflammation. Of course this can only be used in the chronic inflammatory process. This is also the same principle as the use of hot water sitz bath for chronic prostatitis patients, and because of this, the thermal effect may also damage the male sperm production function. (Refer to “Can I take a sitz bath for prostatitis? The actual fact is that the heat effect produced by these physical therapy devices is usually produced through some sort of electromagnetic wave. Electromagnetic waves are a very broad concept, and anyone who has studied advanced physics knows that visible light, infrared money, ultraviolet light, radio waves, cell phone signals, lasers, X-rays ……. etc. are all electromagnetic waves in nature. Some electromagnetic waves have a certain ability to penetrate and contain a certain amount of energy, they can have a special use, such as laser lithotripsy, X-ray film, CT, MRI, etc. No one would shine a flashlight on their belly and say they can cure prostatitis. It can be inferred that these electromagnetic waves without a certain penetration will not be able to reach the prostate area on the body surface through the skin, muscle and other tissues, and its ability to reach the prostate area means that it may radiate to the testicles to produce other harmful electromagnetic effects. Of course, it is also possible to use these electromagnetic waves through the urethra and rectum, but there is usually no way to avoid the possibility of damaging the sperm-producing function of the testicles. Is there any other alternative? If the thermal effect is effective in the treatment of chronic prostatitis, we actually have one of the simplest, most convenient and most economical treatment appliances: hot water bags. The actual fact is that you can find a lot of people who have been in the business for a long time. And this method of regulation and treatment is simple, easy and cheap. We only need to spend a few dollars to buy a hot water bag, and a few cents to boil a pot of water. The temperature can also be controlled by yourself. It is important to point out that the use of any kind of heat effect treatment can not completely cure all chronic prostatitis patients. It is a good idea to use this method as an adjunct to treatment for some patients, but it is reasonable and effective. The fact is that any medical practice must follow the principles of simplicity, ease of use, cheapness and low trauma. In today’s society, many people think that only high medical costs, advanced medical instruments and the latest drugs can bring better results. But shouldn’t we think about the fact that medical treatment is not so much about that? Fourth, how much does having these physiotherapy treatments actually affect fertility? Some patients who have undergone these physiotherapy treatments are very worried about this issue. How much of an effect does this have on fertility? The answer to this question is not very clear. It is generally believed that short-term, lower-temperature heat therapy may not affect the spermatogenic function of the testes very much and may be reversible. However, it is safe to assume that it is unlikely to have a beneficial effect. If you are very concerned about your impaired spermatogenesis, there is actually an easy way to test for it. It is to monitor your semen routine two to three times in a row for one to two spermatogenic cycles after treatment. If the semen routine shows normal sperm count, vitality and other parameters, then you can rest assured. If it is abnormal, then the cause should be analyzed specifically.