There are many hospitals in the community that use various names of physical therapy to treat chronic prostatitis. Some are called “**conduction”, some are called “**ablation” …… Some even have more extreme names, such as “**Source” and so on. Most of the instruments used in these physical treatments look very advanced and the treatments are quite expensive! But do these physical treatments work? Do they work? This is perhaps the biggest question before and after the patient has spent a lot of money without a cure? 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. 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 a lot 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 type of inflammation! Just like the hot water sitz bath, it can increase the blood circulation of the prostate tissue, speed up the metabolism, which is conducive to anti-inflammatory and eliminate tissue edema, relieve pelvic floor muscle spasm, thus to some extent beneficial to the rehabilitation 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 physiotherapies, such as microwave, radiofrequency, laser and other physical means of heat therapy applied via the urethra, transrectal and perineal routes, have a certain effect of 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 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 worst part is that the heat effect produced by these physical therapy devices is usually generated through some sort of electromagnetic wave. Electromagnetic waves is a very broad concept, people who have studied advanced physics know 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 surface of the body 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 hot water bag can be placed on the small abdomen to make the warmth effect to a certain extent around the prostate, and there is no need to worry about the electromagnetic radiation and the thermal effect itself on the sperm production function of the testicles. 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 note 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 physical 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, low-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 or three times in a row for one or 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.
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