6-day Treatment Clinic

About The Wise-Anderson Clinics for Pelvic Pain Syndromes

The Wise-Anderson Protocol is a pioneering treatment that was developed over an 8 year period at Stanford University in the Department of Urology. In the latest published research, it was shown to help a large majority of patients who attended the 6-day immersion clinic we offer who were suffering from muscle based pelvic pain and dysfunction. 

The Wise-Anderson Protocol focuses on training patients who suffer from pelvic pain and dysfunction to learn how to rehabilitate the chronically contracted and spastic muscles of the pelvic floor and to relax the tension of the pelvic muscles and the arousal of the nervous system that feeds and perpetuates chronic pelvic pain.  It is offered to eligible patients in a monthly 6-day immersion clinic held in Santa Rosa, California.   

The clinic is limited to 14 patients who learn the protocol in private and group sessions.   The aim of these clinics is to train patients in how to reduce or resolve their pelvic pain and related symptoms without the need for ongoing professional assistance.

2012 Schedule of Clinics

In the past there has been no solution

Chronic pelvic pain syndromes have been a puzzle to the best medical minds for a century. Antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, prostate massage, and surgical procedures, which form the backbone of traditional treatments, have been of little use in dealing with these debilitating afflictions.

New Treatment that rehabilitates the pelvic muscles

In A Headache in the Pelvis, we describe a new treatment protocol developed over a period of 8 years at Stanford University’s Department of Urology that has stepped out of the box of conventional medical treatment. It involves a treatment that has been successful in substantially abating or resolving the symptoms of pain and dysfunction in a select group of men and women with chronic pelvic pain syndromes. This protocol is based on a new understanding that chronic pelvic pain syndromes are not caused by prostate, bladder, uterine  or other organ pathology but instead by a chronically contracted pelvic floor that has made an inhospitable environment for the organs and tissues found within it. The Wise-Anderson Protocol involves the coordinated treatment of a physician, psychologist, and physical therapist.

The content of the workshops

• Individual medical evaluations are done by the urologist associated with our clinics prior to the intensive program, at which time the nature of the condition of the participants will be evaluated and the appropriateness of the treatment protocol determined.
• Training in Paradoxical Relaxation is done over a period of 5 days. A yearlong 52 lesson audio course in Paradoxical Relaxation is an integral part of the instruction during the clinic and is geared toward training participants to use the recorded lessons of the course at home. Specific cognitive strategies for reducing the impact of frequent negative/catastrophic thinking that accompanies chronic pelvic pain syndromes are part of the curriculum.
• Participants undergo a specific form of physical therapy consisting of pelvic floor related Trigger Point Release developed for chronic pelvic pain syndromes and physical therapy self-treatment instruction on a daily basis. When a partner is available and willing, the partner can receive instruction in the Trigger Point Release geared to the treatment requirements of their partner.  
• This attendance and instruction of partners is included as part of the clinic cost. The intention of this training is to train participants to self-administer the physical therapy component of treatment at home on a regular basis. Patients receive a map of their trigger points and areas of restriction.
• Participants receive information and recommendations on different aspects of treatment of pelvic pain syndromes and are introduced to what is often seen as a new way of understanding their symptoms.

Our patients are typically people who have had pain and dysfunction for years, have seen numerous doctors, and have unsuccessfully used the conventional treatments.We have established these monthly 6 day clinics to allow us to treat in a 6 day period patients who live far away. They are the most effective and comprehensive form of the treatment available described in A Headache in the Pelvis. Perhaps the greatest suffering for patients with pelvic pain syndromes is the sense of helplessness that patients feel in the presence of their pelvic pain and dysfunction. The aim of the Wise-Anderson Protocol is the empower patients to help resolve their own symptoms.

When we are successful in helping people with this problem, we are able to give them tools to reduce or abate their symptoms. When participants comply with the home practice portion of the protocol, some clear windows of symptom reduction can often be seen within a few days. Stable reduction or resolution of symptoms can take months to a few years and in many individuals who respond to our treatment, improvement tends to continue over time with the use of the protocol.These clinics train participants to do self-treatment at home. They are done in a small group and consist of approximately 20-30 hours of treatment over the period of 6 days.