Based on the gold-standard nondrug, nonsurgical Wise-Anderson Protocol for treating chronic pelvic pain, A Headache in the Pelvis is the definitive resource for anyone suffering from pelvic pain.
Pelvic pain afflicts millions of men and women and goes by many names, including pelvic floor dysfunction and prostatitis. David Wise, Ph.D., searched for relief for his pelvic pain for more than 20 years. After researching medical journals and performing outside-the-box self-experimentation, he found a way to resolve his symptoms. He then joined forces with Stanford urologist Dr. Rodney Anderson in the mid-1990s, and together they treated patients and did research on what is now called the Wise-Anderson Protocol.
Often incorrectly diagnosed, debilitating, and disruptive, pelvic pain is correlated with psychological distress. Using a holistic treatment integrating physical therapy and meditative relaxation, this book guides you through understanding your pain, why conventional treatments haven't worked, and describes the details of the physical and behavioral protocol that can help to heal the painful pelvic floor. At last, this life-changing protocol offers hope and help to lead a pain-free life.
Includes a Bonus PDF of Illustrations from the Book
Read by the author, and by Fred Sanders, Rebecca Lowman, Fiona Hardingham, Andrew Eiden, Catherine Tabor, Kimberly Farr, Robbie Daymond, Will Damron, Sunil Mahotra, John Lindstrom, Mark Deakins, and Danny Campbell
Download and start listening now!
"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."
—
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 UniversityIt 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 TimesThis 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, KnoxvilleAfter 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 GuideMany 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 FranciscoDrs. 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, CaliforniaA 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, DavisA 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, CaliforniaI 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, CAPPThis 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, BerkeleySince 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 UniversityA 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 PermanenteIt 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 FoundationThis 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 AssociationBe the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Arthur Morey has won three AudioFile Magazine “Best Of” Awards, and his work has garnered numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards and placed him as a finalist for two Audie Awards. He has acted in a number of productions, both off Broadway in New York and off Loop in Chicago. He graduated from Harvard and did graduate work at the University of Chicago. He has won awards for his fiction and drama, worked as an editor with several book publishers, and taught literature and writing at Northwestern University. His plays and songs have been produced in New York, Chicago, and Milan, where he has also performed.
Andrew Eiden, an Earphones Award–winning narrator, is an actor and voice artist. He has been acting since the age of four, working at regional theaters including La Mirada Theatre, the Glendale Center Theatre, and the Pasadena Playhouse. He has starred in dozens of national commercials, guest-spotted on numerous television shows, and has been a series regular on three programs: Discovery Channel’s Outward Bound, Disney Channel’s Movie Surfers, and most notably ABC’s Complete Savages
Arthur Morey has won three AudioFile Magazine “Best Of” Awards, and his work has garnered numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards and placed him as a finalist for two Audie Awards. He has acted in a number of productions, both off Broadway in New York and off Loop in Chicago. He graduated from Harvard and did graduate work at the University of Chicago. He has won awards for his fiction and drama, worked as an editor with several book publishers, and taught literature and writing at Northwestern University. His plays and songs have been produced in New York, Chicago, and Milan, where he has also performed.
Catherine Taber, a Georgia native, is an Earphones Award-winning audiobook narrator and actress whose film roles include the coming-of-age drama The Girls’ Room and the romantic comedy Just Like Heaven. She was the voice of Tina in Curious George 2, Padme Amidala in the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and Leia in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. She has provided voice work for numerous video games and was nominated for an award from the National Academy of Video Game Testers and Reviewers for her portrayal of Penelo in “Final Fantasy 12.”
Fiona Hardingham is a British-born actress, singer, voice-over artist, and AudioFile Earphones Award–winning narrator. On stage, she appeared at the Edinburgh Festival in her comedic one-woman show The Dark Show. She has also starred in the dark-comedy short film The Ballerino. She earned a BA honors degree in performing arts from Middlesex University, London, and also studied at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts.
Fred Sanders, an actor and Earphones Award–winning narrator, has received critics’ praise for his audio narrations that range from nonfiction, memoir, and fiction to mystery and suspense. He been seen on Broadway in The Buddy Holly Story, in national tours for Driving Miss Daisy and Big River, and on such television shows as Seinfeld, The West Wing, Will and Grace, Numb3rs,Titus, and Malcolm in the Middle. His films include Sea of Love, The Shadow, and the Oscar-nominated short Culture. He is a native New Yorker and Yale graduate.
Kimberly Farr is an actress and winner of numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards for narration. She has appeared on Broadway and at the New York Shakespeare Festival, the Roundabout Theatre, Playwright’s Horizons, and the American Place. She created the role of “Eve” in Arthur Miller’s first and only musical, Up from Paradise, which was directed by the author. She appeared with Vanessa Redgrave in the Broadway production of The Lady from the Sea and has acted in regional theaters across the country, including a performance in the original production of The 1940’s Radio Hour at Washington, DC’s Arena Stage.
Rebecca Lowman is an actress and audiobook narrator who has won numerous Earphones Awards. She has starred in numerous television shows, including Law & Order, Big Love, NCIS, and Grey’s Anatomy, among many others. She earned her MFA from Columbia University.
Robbie Daymond is an actor, voice talent, and four-time winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award. He graduated from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, with a master’s degree in acting and works primarily in theater but has made several forays into television, video games, and film.
Sunil Malhotra is an actor and voice artist. His film credits include Dude, Where’s the Party?, Call Center, 24, ER, Cold Case, and The West Wing. On stage, he has performed on Broadway and at East West Players. He has also worked as a writer, producer, and director, and his audiobook narrations have won three AudioFile Earphones Awards.
Erin Bennett is an Earphones Award–winning narrator and a stage actress who played Carlie Roberts in the BBC radio drama Torchwood: Submission. She can be heard on several video games. Regional theater appearances include the Intiman, Pasadena Playhouse, Arizona Theatre Company, A Noise Within, Laguna Playhouse, and the Getty Villa. She trained at Boston University and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
Will Damron has won several Earphones Awards and been a finalist for the prestigious Audie Award for best narration. He has had acting roles off-Broadway and on stage and screen throughout the country.
Joe Lindstrom is a voice talent and Earphones Award–winning narrator. He is also an award-winning, Emmy-nominated actor, director, and screenwriter, well known for his work on ABC’s General Hospital and HBO’s True Detective. He has been honored with numerous acting accolades, including the Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series.