May 1, 2013 PDI Newsletter
Greetings to all PDI and DCI Warriors,
Welcome to this May 2013 PD Institute newsletter. A beautiful spring season is beginning here in the Midwest, and I trust the same is enfolding for each of you.
The last few newsletters were rather long, so this month I present a slightly shorter presentation of ideas to help with your Peyronies and Dupuytrens treatment options. This month we have two emails and my responses from different individuals who are treating their Peyronie’s disease. The information applies universally to all readers who receive this newsletter, and for this reason the answer is applicable for treatment of Dupuytren’s contracture as well as Peyronie’s disease. For those who are part of our DCI readership, please simply apply the ideas expressed here about PD treatment and dosage to what you are doing for your DC hand problem.
Make sure to click both of these buttons next time you are shopping for PDI supplements to find the different ways to save money. These buttons are on the left hand side of most pages when you enter as a "Returning Customer".
You can also click these buttons now to see what is available.
The first email is from a man who has been treating his problem for a while and is doing very well with his Peyronies treatment plan. He has emailed me on several occasions in the past and has taken the time and effort to learn how to make the PDI treatment concept work for him. The second email is from a man who has just started his PD treatment plan; he asks some very good fundamental treatment questions that will help you to understand the process of self-treatment better. We have also communicated a few times about different issues that are important to him. If he continues to approach his problem with the same intensity I predict he will do well also.
One of the reasons that people are successful in their DC and PD self-treatment is that they are not afraid to ask pointed questions and they pay attention to the ideas and suggestions I make in my answer. Over the years I have noticed that people who are intensely involved and highly motivated about their recovery get far better results than those who simply go through the motions of self-treatment. There are people who say they want to recover but do not do too much to help themselves; these seldom get results. Like with most things in life, the more work you put into a project the better the results.
Here is the first email exchange:
—–Original Message—–
From: MPXXXXX
Sent: Wednesday, April 10, 2013 9:04 AM
To: herazy@sbcglobal.net
Subject: treatment
From: MPXXXXX
Sent: Wednesday, April 10, 2013 9:04 AM
To: herazy@sbcglobal.net
Subject: treatment
Hi Dr. Herazy,
I ordered your Large plan and take everything in it according to the recommended doses faithfully 2 pills 3x's a day without food and 2 pills 2x's day with food depending on the pill, topical treatment of affected area 3x's a day as well as some ultrasound and have recently added Acetyl-l-carnitine and Quercetin-Bromelain in recommended quantities I have started to notice scar reduction in size and hardness. My question is this "Since I appear to be getting results do I stay with these same dosages as noted above on the plan? Is it possible to do even better by increasing dosages? If so which pills would you recommend to increase?”
MPXXXXX
Greetings MPXXXXX,
For as long as your scar response is favorable for making a continued or ongoing reduction in the size, shape, density or surface features of your PD scar, make no changes in your plan. No need to change anything if you are making progress. Increasing your plan will likely not increase rate or degree of future change at this time. You are certainly free to treat yourself in any way you decide, since I am only offering ideas and suggestions to you.
I am always concerned about increasing any plan more than necessary, since there is always the possibility of creating problems for yourself by taking too much of any particular therapy product. I have always followed the guideline that you should only take as much and do as much treatment as needed to encourage the body to respond in a favorable way. Taking or doing more than needed could possibly cause an undesirable reaction or shut down the good changes you are now making.
The intent of the PDI method is not to take a lot of pills and therapies, but to take only as much therapy as the body requires to eliminate the offending PD scar tissue. Some people need more than others, so there is no way to know at the start of treatment what will be required to encourage your recovery. This is the reason we start low, and then gradually build the dosage up slowly until we see good things happen to the offending scar tissue.
If and when your current improvement stops or slows down, then that is the time to increase your plan.
Most often increases in the dosage of enzymes will increase result in reduction of the fibrous scar material. However, this is not an absolute rule. You must explore and investigate to determine which element of your plan is going to produce the best response to eliminate your PD. What I am suggesting is that all parts of a plan (except perhaps vitamin E) must be elevated over time, but most especially the members of the enzyme group.
Please contact me again if and when you get to the point that you need guidance concerning plan modification.
Regards,
Theodore Herazy, DC, LAc
Next is the second email exchange from a different individual. You will notice this fellow’s email is longer and more complicated, so I have resorted to the familiar and popular format of responding to him by inserting or blending my email response into his email. As a result, in the second half of his email you will read between his statements and questions several of my responses to him.
Because of the spam filters that we all use for our emails I had to slightly edit the content for one of these emails. Men when writing very naturally and appropriately will use the word P_ _ _ S to discuss that part of their anatomy. If I used that word as often as it is written all of your SPAM filters would reject this newsletter to your junk folder. To avoid this problem, I have substituted the word SHAFT for the word P_ _ _ S so that no one will have a problem receiving this issue of the newsletter.
Read this series of combined emails like the back-and-forth of two people talking while one occasionally interrupts the other to make an important point or answer a question. To understand the flow of the conversation, keep in mind that the text in black is from JBXXXXX and the text in red is from me.
Greetings JBXXXXX,
Please see below for comments…
Regards,
Theodore Herazy, DC, LAc
From: JBXXXXX
Hello Dr. Herazy,
Thank you for posting all the valuable information about Peyronie Disease online at your website, PDI.
I have been using the products that you sell on your website for about 6 weeks now and I'd like to ask your advice on how to modify my treatment plan.
I have a scar that is about 5/8" long in the middle of my shaft. I believe it is all one scar, because that is how it feels. The scar causes an upward bend and a partial hour glass shape about a 1/3 of the way down from the head (when erect). I sent you a photograph several weeks ago of the distortion and I have attached it again to this email as a reference. Thanks for being so thorough, but PDI treatment does not depend on the appearance or condition of the external distortion. If your curve is 5 degrees or 95 degrees my advice would not change much about PD treatment. Treatment is guided by the presence or absence of change in the physical condition (size, shape, density, surface features) of the PD scar. Since photos do not tell me anything about the size, shape, density, surface features of the PD scar, they are of no value to me to help me guide you toward the success you want. Please keep in mind that the only thing I care about in this treatment process that you are undergoing is, “Is your scar getting smaller, softer, less well defined, rougher or more irregular on the surface?” If the scar structure is showing signs of reduction, then I suggest you keep following whatever plan you are using. If the scar structure has not changed or has stopped changing, then I suggest you slightly increase your plan every 7-10 days until you begin to notice structural changes. Photos do not interest me nearly as much as details about scar structure because the scar is really the heart of your problem. Your bent shaft is not what is wrong with you. The presence of the internal scar is what is wrong with you. When you get rid of the internal scar the bent shaft will go away on its own.
I started my treatment by purchasing your Small Plan and took the maximum recommended dosage listed on the manufacturer's bottle for each supplement. I did this treatment plan for three weeks. No results, but I understand that it was way too early to have any expectations for change. Here's what I was taking.
PABA 2 pills, once a day, with food
Natural C 1 pill, twice a day, with food
Vitamin E 1 pill, twice a day, with food
Fibrozym 2 pills, 3 times a day, in between meals
Nattokinase 2 pills, 3 times a day, in between, meals
Sulfur 1 pill, 3 times a day, in between, meals
For the next step in my treatment I increased the Fibrozym by one pill for each time I took it daily, so that I was taking 3 Fibrozym pills, 3 times each day (9 total).
I also incorporated some external therapies. Below is my treatment plan that I started for my second three week stage. I am still following this plan today as I write you this email.
PABA 2 pills once a day, with food
Natural C 1 pill, twice a day, with food
Vitamin E 1 pill, twice a day, with food
Fibrozym 3 pills, 3 times a day, in between meals
Nattokinase 2 pills, 3 times a day, in between, meals
Sulfur 1 pill, 3 times a day, in between, meals
External application of the Super CP serum + Unique liquid vitamin E + PMD DMSO.
During this second three week phase of my treatment I also started incorporating some stretching techniques from your video, which I have watched many, many times. It is good that you are increasing your treatment, but I notice that you have waited three weeks to make your first increase. I suggest that you consider an evaluation and possible increase every 7-10 days rather than 21 days. If the increase is small and incremental, doing so every 7-10 days should be well tolerated by the body. This rate of slow plan increase has not resulted in any report of harm or problem from any follower of the PDI protocol in almost 11 years. From the deformed area of my erection, I have determined the area to be stretched. When I use the various stretching techniques I do not feel any sensation from the scar area. For example, when I use the "head stretching technique" I do not feel any sensation coming from the scar tissue or area surrounding it. There is a possibility that the sensation you are referring to is coming from a part of the scar tissue that you are not expecting. Sometimes PD scars are larger and more complex than a person realizes. These tissue stretching sensations are extremely difficult to localize to determine where they originate. I suggest that if you are applying the head stretching method and feeling the much-desired deep dull ache that signals the scar is responding to your gentle stretch, that you should continue to use it just as are you are now doing. If what you are feeling is not the much-desired deep dull ache, then that is another matter. Please advise. The sensation comes from inside the shaft where the shaft connects to my body from being stretched. Perhaps this is exactly where the tissue needs to be stretched, regardless of what you might think. When you are using the head stretching technique, are you applying a stabilizing hand somewhere on the shaft below the area of the scar? I noticed that you mentioned your scar is 5/8” long and is located in the middle of the shaft. But you did not mention anything about the width, the general shape, the density or the surface features. All of these things are critical to know. They are important because sometimes the length of the scar can be the last thing to change. If you only are aware of the length of the scar, and pay attention only to that, you will miss changes in the shape, density and surface features. Actually, I have mentioned several times in past newsletters and in posts on the PDI website that “most often, the first changes that will occur in the PD scar are changes in the density and surface features of the scar tissue. This is not an absolute rule to look for, but is true most of the time. This is why it is essential to pay attention to all aspects of the foreign fibrous material.” If you do not have in mind a clear and detailed description of the shape, density and surface features of each of your scars, do it now. In fact, I have lately been getting back good reports from people who are drawing the scar on paper and dating it in order to create a visual image of it for their records This is helpful because you can insert notes and arrows pointing to different parts of the drawing to show where an elevated area, a rough area, a slick area, a dense area might be found that gives you a better record of the condition of your scar on a particular day. When I use the "bend stretching technique", even without curling the shaft over any of my fingers, I feel no sensation from the scar area. How far are you bending the shaft when you are not using any of your fingers? You might not be going far enough when bending. If you do not feel the deep dull ache, then two things are possible: 1. You are working too hard, or being too forceful with the technique. 2. You are stretching the wrong area. And when I do the "local stretching", I have to apply more than just a gentle amount of pressure to feel any sensation from the scar area, and more often, it feels like I am stretching the outer layer of skin on my shaft rather than the tissue below. We are not looking to provide any old kind of “sensation’ from the gentle manual stretching method, but a very particular kind of sensation. We are looking only to provoke or create the much-desired “vague deep dull ache” that is thoroughly explained in the video. How much downward pressure are you applying in addition to the traction force? You must apply enough downward force to stabilize your fingers to the scar that is below the surface. The most important idea is to experiment with this light traction force. Try different degrees of downward pressure that will give you the best results (meaning the ability to create the desired deep dull ache that tells you that you are actually stretching the scar tissue). But because of the amount of pressure I have to apply to feel sensation coming from the scar tissue area, I am concerned that I could be causing further damage if done repeatedly. When done correctly all force and effort used in this technique is so minimal that no injury can occur. You might be too heavy-handed. Is that possible? Do you recall in the stretching video that I state that you should be able to apply the force of manual stretching to your eyeball and not have any particular discomfort? So I currently refrain from using that technique for now. Usually when a man reports the kind of response you indicate here, it is because of applying too much force during the stretching technique. Lighten up, please.
My questions to you are:
1. Can you offer any advice about what I can do differently with my stretching techniques? Is it possible that my scar is too small or narrow to be affected by stretching techniques? Not likely. More likely you are using too much force to the correct area, or you have not found the correct area to stretch (you are correctly applying the technique I teach but you are using it to stretch the wrong area). Perhaps we need to discuss this subject over the phone, since we can spend weeks writing these emails back and forth before finally getting down to the primary issue that is preventing you from getting the desired results. Sometimes a 15 minute phone call can clear up weeks of email confusion.
2. I am wondering where to take my treatment plan from here- what do I do next?. Can you offer any advice about how to modify my treatment plan? Or which dosage I should increase next? More Fibrozym? Usually the best approach is to increase the enzymes primarily, and secondarily to increase the other support therapies (Fundamental Sulfur, PABA, Scar-X, acetyl-L-carnitine, etc). Overall, your current dosage is not considered very high by standards most men follow. It is not uncommon for a man to have to increase dosage every 7-10 days for several cycles before seeing change in the scar structure. Are you positive you have correctly defined the size, shape, density and surface features of your scar so you will know have an accurate idea when changes do take place? TRH
I am vigilant and thorough with my PD treatment, in very good health, exercise regularly, and take no medication other than what I have been purchasing from your website.
I am a very healthy male that is 38 years old. So far, I have not noticed any physiological changes or side effects from taking the PDI supplements.
Thank you for your help, I look forward to your response
JBXXXXXX
So that concludes the two email exchanges for your review.
For those of you who are using the PDI gently manual stretching technique you have been given a good review and reminder about some of the finer points of this technique. For those of you who have not used this valuable tool, please consider adding it to your treatment plan.
I hope everyone found this issue of the PDI Newsletter interesting and informative so you can do a better job of helping your own PD or DC condition.
If things are going slowly for you, and you feel discouraged, put that wasted energy into doing something productive. Write me an email that describes what you are doing, explain how you are using the PDI and DCI methods, and include questions about those things you do not understand about your problem. I will do the best I can to help you so that you get the kind of results you want.
Stay focused on your treatment plan.
Regards,
Theodore R. Herazy, DC, LAc
