What is the relationship between IC, Chronic Prostatitis/CPPS & Pelvic Pain Syndrome?
The relationship between IC and male Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome (not to be confused with female chronic pelvic pain – a synonym for endometriosis) is controversial. Many urologists treat them as entirely separate entities, but others now believe that they are one and the same disease. Recently, researchers have contended that inflammation and pain may strike at different points in the urogenital tract – bladder, urethra, epididymis and testicle – yet still be part of them same chronic pain syndrome. And while many urologists have drawn the line between IC and CP/CPPS depending on whether or not painful, frequent urination is present (IC), IC expert C. Lowell Parsons says only 15 % of men with IC have frequency and urgency. More clarity on the exact distinctions, if any, between these entities will emerge in the next few years. How many men have been diagnosed here in the US? There are an estimated 2 million outpatient visits for prostatitis per year in the US. Many of these patients
