Copyright metro
Mark’s mental health is poor because he experiences debilitating pain and numbness (Picture: Mark Beattie/PA Real Life) Sitting at his computer, 14-year-old Mark Beattie panicked. He couldn’t feel his genitals. ‘It was sudden, I can remember it was almost like my pelvic floor had a freak out, and I felt like everything shifted,’ the now 32-year-old explains. ‘From that day on, I had a complete lack of sensation.’ In the 18 years since, the feeling in his penis has never returned, with Mark continuing to search for answers despite not yet receiving a formal diagnosis. After rigorously researching similar cases, he now believes he has pudendal nerve entrapment, where the a main nerve in the pelvis becomes trapped and irritated. He’s also sourced two surgeons who are willing to operate, which would be ‘life-changing’ for him, if successful. ‘I feel I don’t really have a future as such, I would say I’ve been sleepwalking through life,’ Mark, from County Antrim, Northern Ireland, says. Mark isn’t able to work due to the pain he’s in (Picture: Mark Beattie/PA Real Life) It’s not just his penis that has been affected either; Mark also has ‘very reduced bladder sensation’ which he says means he ‘won’t feel the need to go until it’s practically at bursting point.’ And while the loss of sensation was a sudden symptom, he’s experienced ‘gradually’ increasing levels of pain in his pelvis and legs ever since too, to the point he can currently only walk short distances before it becomes too much. ‘Initially, the pain was like a cold, burning sensation in my pelvis,’ Mark, who is unemployed due to his health issues, recalls. ‘As the years went by, it became more of a sharp, debilitating pain. Most of the time, it’s like a chronic, dull, throbbing pain but there’s days where it’s amplified and I can barely get out of bed.’ The search for the cause Mark has gone ‘back and forth’ with health professionals for years to obtain a diagnosis for his symptoms, going through multiple MRI scans on his brain and spine, as well as several tests on his blood and hormones – all of which came back clear. ‘I initially thought it was a psychosomatic thing, and it was linked to my mental health,’ he admits. Mark doesn’t have much of a social life or romantic life due to his condition (Picture: Mark Beattie/PA Real Life) Mark took his search further afield in 2022, heading to India, where he paid around £800 for a series of tests. ‘I wanted to get all the scans I could think of to categorically rule everything out,’ he says. ‘You can pick whatever scans you want, hire a few radiologists and the cost was astronomically cheap.’ Once again however, these revealed no damage to his spinal cord or brain, and his blood work came back normal. The possible culprit Mark now believes he has pudendal nerve entrapment, also known as pudendal neuralgia. The main symptom is sharp, shooting, burning or tingling pain, or numbness in your genitals, bottom, perineum or pelvis, according to the NHS. It’s possible you may also become constipated, need to pee more often, experience pain when going to the toilet, or feel a swelling in your anus or vagina. When it comes to sex, it can impede your ability to get an erection or orgasm, and can make sex painful. The 33-year-old now believes he has pudendal nerve entrapment (Picture: Mark Beattie/PA Real Life) Mark explains: ‘It’s largely a diagnosis of exclusion and I’ve come to this myself. I’ve spent the last 10 years reading up on anything it could possibly be. ‘The pudendal nerve is entrapped in multiple locations along its path – once it disseminates from your spinal cord, it goes through a tiny notch before going down your leg. ‘The piriformis muscle sits on top so the nerve can become damaged, it’ll be constantly squeezed and you have scar tissue which builds up and keeps the nerve trapped.’ The condition can last a long time but there are treatments, such as physiotherapy and medicines for nerve pain, with more specialist options like injections and surgery to relieve the pressure if other options fail. The mental toll and taxing relationships Thanks to 18 years of numbness and undiagnosed pain, Mark admits his mental health is ‘pretty much in the toilet’. ‘I’ve given up on the notion of having hobbies or pursuing any passions, he says. ‘It’s super hard in this state to kind of justify even continuing on.’ Establishing a long-term romantic relationship has been very difficult, because Mark feels his condition is a big burden to a potential partner. ‘I always felt that I wouldn’t really want to put another person through this,’ he explains. ‘There would be times, yes, but it always ended up breaking apart rather quickly.’ Mark says it’s ‘not particularly possible’ for him to engage in sexual activities either, adding: ‘I mean, with lots of manual stimulation or whatever, but it always quickly dissipates. It’s a very odd, alien experience.’ Mark is asking for people to donate to his Go Fund Me to help pay for treatment (Picture: Mark Beattie/PA Real Life) Even friendships are difficult, with his social life being ‘non-existent’ and him becoming ‘something of a hermit’. ‘For the most part, I’ve just kept it under wraps and tried to get on with it as best as I could by myself,’ Mark says. ‘Trying to keep up a brave face in social situations, it does wear you down after a while.’ The cost of a possible cure Having sourced two European surgeons, one from Belgium and the other from Vienna, who are willing to perform operations on his pelvis to release the trapped nerve, Mark is now hoping to raise £45,000 to fund the procedures. This money, raised via his Go Fund Me page, would also cover additional fees for travel and insurance. Despite this, Mark explains the damage to his nerve may be too extensive to rectify. ‘A lot of time has transpired between when the injury happened to now, so the prognosis might not be good,’ he says. ‘I’ll cross that bridge when I get there but I’ve got to remain optimistic.’ If the procedures were successful, Mark says: ‘It would give me a chance at a future – I hope to go to medical school after all this. ‘As far as my mental health goes, I don’t think I could put into words how life-changing it would be.’ Do you have a story to share? Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk.
