Dr Michael Durtnall

[Aelwen]

I initially felt some discomfort after sitting in an armchair in 2013. It went off after about a week, so I thought no more about it. Then it happened again 3 months later. This time it didn't clear up so after a couple of weeks I went to my GP. He mentioned a potential involvement of the pudendal nerve, told me to take paracetamol, and especially to avoid sitting as much as possible. My GP was familiar with work done in France on the pudendal nerve.

My work involves using a computer so avoiding sitting was difficult but I bought a special cushion that helped some. In early 2014, it was not better and I started to get sharp pain in the perineum. The paracetamol did not agree with me and I discontinued. My GP was at a loss.

I saw a doctor in Bristol that booked me in for 3 nerve blocks that were temporarily effective and then proposed decompression surgery of the pudendal nerve.

Having read about Michael Durtnall I decided to give him a try because the prospect of surgery scared me. Fortunately, Dr Durtnall immediately put my mind at ease saying that he could help me and that surgery is almost never warranted.

He started to treat me. Even after one treatment I noticed an immediate improvement. After the 2nd treatment, I was 90% better.

I then had a few sessions with Sofia his talented physiotherapist. I can confidently say that at this point Dr. Durtnall healed me. I wholeheartedly recommend the Sayer Clinic.

[Violet M]

Aelwan, I would be interested to hear a little more detail on the type of treatments you had at the Sayer Clinic. Did you have a tense pelvic floor, misalignment, SIJD, or anything else contributing to your pain?

Violet

[Andy_Pablo]

Dr. Durtnall certainly seems to get a lot of recommendations...

[wannagetbetter]

Yes. I find it curious, though, that the recommendations are from people who had not posted before and come on to post their recommendation never to be heard from again.

[Alan1646]

Dr Durtnall is a "Hope Advisor". I asked quite a while ago how he came to get that title and what the selection process was. No reply so far.

[Violet M]

HOPE has some PT advisors, some of whom are considered the top PT's treating people with pudendal neuralgia. We don't have them listed anywhere but they are kind enough to offer us advice if we ask. Michael Durtnall has worked and studied with some of the top PT's who treat PN and was gracious enough to consent to be an advisor. When we checked his license, he had no complaints against his license, which is in good standing. He meets all of the eligibility requirements to be an advisor of HOPE, meaning that he has done extra study in this area and his license is in good standing.

If we limited our list of advisors or providers to only providers who had 100% success in curing PN patients, there would be no list of PN/PNE advisors or providers.

This is a public forum and as such, there is no way to prove or disprove what patients say. Everyone who comes on this forum should keep that in mind. We have not prevented anyone from telling their stories, whether negative or positive, as long as they do so courteously. You can read the terms of service to find out what is acceptable to be posted on this forum.

Violet

[Alan1646]

The key word in your post is "considered". So I would ask: considered by whom, and using what criteria?
The only two considerations you've mentioned would put a lot of people in scope.
Anonymous contributions to a forum aren't empirical evidence, so that's why I asked what evidence there is that any chiropractor has successfully treated PN or PNE.

[Alan1646]

Another point: I do understand what you've said : your information on Dr Durtnall is merely information and not advertising, and I understand the distinction you draw between a recommendation and a "Hope Adviser" but from the point of view of someone in pain who is desperately looking for effective treatment...seeing someone's name right at the top of the list with a long encouraging bio that distinction might not be obvious. Only three doctors are there at the top of the UK page , including Dr Baranowski who has published a great deal of evidence regarding pain treatments. Can you see that by association and that by putting Dr Durtnall at the top of the page you are encouraging people to contact him for treatment? Yet you publish no verified evidence that his treatments are effective for PN. A number of people have left messages saying that Dr Durtnall helped them but as has been noted by several other posters, those people usually post only once and of course their stories are posted anonymously, so can't be checked by readers. So is there anything other than anecdotes to show that Dr Durtnall's treatments are effective for PN?

[wannagetbetter]

Maybe Dr. Durtnall could kindly ask his patients if they would mind following up and making themselves available to reply to posts for a couple weeks or so after they post? I would love to correspond with someone who has gotten well from him. If I had, I would certainly make myself available for at least a month or two.

[Violet M]

Alan,

If you look at the list of doctors on the website they are typically listed in alphabetical order, not in order of importance. http://www.pudendalhope.info/node/57#UK
I think most patients are smart enough to see that.
The order posts are listed in on the forum have nothing to do with order of importance. Just because Dr. Durtnall was listed most recently, making him at the top, has nothing to do with importance compared to Dr. Baranowski.

The key word in your post is "considered". So I would ask: considered by whom, and using what criteria?
The only two considerations you've mentioned would put a lot of people in scope.
Anonymous contributions to a forum aren't empirical evidence, so that's why I asked what evidence there is that any chiropractor has successfully treated PN or PNE.

I consider Amy Stein to be an extremely knowledgeable pelvic PT, based on what I have read from patients over my 12 years of moderating the forum, based on the fact that Amy Stein has published a book on pelvic PT and is very well-known in the PT community for her expertise in treating PN. She also speaks nationally on the topic. She is on the executive board of the International Pelvic Pain Society. You can also go to pubmed and see that she has published on the subject of pelvic pain along with some physicians. You don't have to consider her a top pudendal neuralgia PT. I do.

Rhonda Kotarinas has been treating people with PN longer than most PT's in this business and is also well-known in the PN community for her expertise. You can go to pubmed and see her publications. She was president of APTA Women's health section for 7 years. Dr. Durtnall may be a chiro rather than a PT but he studied under these two PT's.

Yes, there are a lot of people who we could consider as advisers. Why should that disqualify Dr. Durtnall from being an adviser when he graciously agreed to do so?

The criteria for being listed on the HOPE website is that you are a licensed provider and that your license is in good standing. For PT's they also have to have had some special training in the area of pudendal neuralgia or pelvic pain -- in related fields such as manual therapy or visceral manipulation. You don't seem to agree with the criteria. What criteria would you use? If your criteria is as you suggest, that providers have a proven track record in successfully treating patients, how could you possibly prove that? The IRS is satisfied with our criteria and if we can satisfy them, that's a pretty tall order. We also meet HONcode criteria.

Violet