Category: Exercise

4 Tips for Your Exercise Routine

5/5/2016

EXERCISE ROUTINE TIPS FOR THOSE WITH PELVIC PAIN

4 Tips for Exercising {with Pelvic Pain} | PainDownThere.com

1. Be Cautious About Routine Exercises You May Already Be Doing

The pelvic region has many more joints, muscles, and ligaments than you may imagine. Some exercise practices such as the use of stationary bicycles and stair climbers, may otherwise be healthy for you, but if you experience sexual and pelvic pain these types of exercises might cause extra stress and spasm.

"Toning up" may actually be a "sexual downer" on body parts that need to be the most relaxed and comfortable for those intimate moments.

2. Seats and Clothing

Find the softest, most pliable seat possible and wear loose-fitting clothes when riding a bicycle, motorcycle, or scooter. Better yet, consider giving up these activities. The pressure against your already sensitive genital area can cause symptoms to flare up.

3. Give Up the Attitude of "Playing Through the Pain"

While coaches often urge athletes young and old to "play through the pain", it's vital to abandon this attitude when it comes to enduring painful sex as an adult. Please don't believe that you must have sex to please your partner despite the pain and if you don't something is fundamentally wrong with you. Nothing could be further from the truth. A loving partner would never want to cause such suffering.

4. See a Pelvic Floor Physical Therapist

More and more physical therapists (PTs) are incorporating pelvic pain treatment into their practice as the urgency of effectively treating sexual pain increases. A growing number of doctors consider pelvic floor physical therapy a vital component of a complete treatment plan for sexual pain. Specialized pelvic floor PTs utilize various methods to release trigger points in the body. Trigger points develop through contraction or spasms in the muscle groups surrounding the vagina, bladder, and lower bowel. Using manual pressure, biofeedback, and other techniques these health care providers can often aid sufferers. Patients are eventually given techniques to maintain wellness at home.

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Lady Bits: A Review

3/18/2016

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Understand Your Body, Elevate Your Health, and Reclaim Your Spark ~ Naturally
LADY BITS
Book By: Dr. Brianne Grogan, DPT
Founder of FemFusion Fitness

I'm so thankful to Dr. Brianne Grogan for this inspirational book for women. With a background in women's health physical therapy she is the perfect author to take us through the challenges (and delights!) of being female. I would recommend that any and every woman read this book. It's not specifically for women who are experiencing sexual and pelvic pain but it is for women who are experiencing being a woman! (Redundant, I know). But truly, I gained valuable insights and perspectives from Brianne's knowledge base that she's built up over years of both clinical practice and personal study and research.

Certain pieces of these "lady bits" of information have really stuck with me after finishing the book. I love that Brianne acknowledges that not everything in the book is going to connect with every woman all the time. But she encourages you to really own the pieces that do resonate with you. For instance, since reading the book I daily think about these suggestions from Brianne:

- Move everyday
This way of phrasing the importance of movement just lifts pounds of pressure off of me. While I certainly will not (and frankly cannot) "exercise" everyday I can sure move everyday. One day I can do some heavier household chores while appropriately engaging my pelvic floor and core musculature. The next day I can dance to a few of my favorite songs. I can practice yoga, I can get up from the computer and take a walk. I can chase my kitten around the house. I can move everyday.

- The 80/20 Rule
When it comes to my lifestyle: diet/nutrition, stress management, physical fitness, minimizing my exposure to toxins, etc. it is completely unrealistic to think I'm going to get it right 100% of the time. So, I'll be quite content to get it right 80% of the time. Even if I aim for 100% and land at 80% I'll accept that. Can't crockpot my bone broth for 24 hours (to get the most benefit) but I can crockpot it for 16 hours? That's ok. 80/20 Rule! Ate clean all week then indulged in too many potato chips on Saturday afternoon? It's ok. 80/20 Rule!

- Stop Rushing to Pee
Of all the things that we do in a rush, peeing shouldn't be one of them. For goodness sake, I need to give my body some relaxed moments if at no other time, then during urination. Instead of pushing it out as fast as possible so I can get back to my day, I now try to mindfully pee. Gently relax my pelvic floor muscles and allow it some time, concluding with some pelvic rocks (tilt back and forth) to help fully empty the bladder.

Those are a few of the bits I've learned from Brianne that I use and think about everyday. The book is so rich with practical, inspirational, and simple tools to empower you with information that isn't overwhelming and will make you smile. I also love, of course, that she spends plenty of time on the importance of pelvic floor function and health. How this topic continues to get missed in women's health is still baffling to me. No such issue in this book, however. Brianne helps us understand our body and the inner core mechanics and postures that will help us age radiantly! Brianne also provides free online videos to walk you through what she calls the "Inner Core Energizer".

Again, this book isn't specifically for women who are experiencing pain in the pelvic region and we wouldn't (nor would Brianne - as she does discuss) recommend that you take part in "Kegels" or inner core strengthening techniques until you are fully able to relax your pelvic floor. After years of holding my pelvic floor tight and clenched in, my pelvic muscles became hypertonic (too tense) and lost their proper function. Which lead to repercussions like persistently painful sexual intercourse. After rehabilitating the muscles through specialized pelvic floor physical therapy and the concepts in the video guide Healing the Pain 'Down There': A Guide for Females with Persistent Genital & Sexual Pain I can participate, though modified, in the Inner Core Energizer routine. And for my female friends and family members who are exhibiting symptoms of pelvic organ prolapse (when pelvic floor muscles become too loose and pelvic organs begin to drop because their support structure, the pelvic floor muscles, are weakened) I love telling them all about 'Lady Bits' and Dr. Brianne Grogan. Thanks again to Brianne for this comprehensive resource for women!

BUY LADY BITS NOW IN DIGITAL OR PRINT

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MOVEMENT: ONE OF THE KEYS TO SUCCESS FOR HEALING PERSISTENT PELVIC PAIN

3/16/2015

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"I know , I know . . .you're going to want me to exercise . . you're a PT for goodness sake" is what you might be saying to yourself reading the title of this blog. "But I hurt . . . and how can I exercise when I hurt?"

That is a FANTASTIC question. In GENERAL, pain is a signal our body generates to let us know that our body "is in danger" and makes us stop what we are doing in order to protect us. HOWEVER, those who have been living with persistent pelvic pain can't rely on their pain signals to determine if an activity we are doing is "safe" for them. In a nutshell, the pain signal is reliably unreliable.

So what is one to do when starting an exercise program . . how do we know how far to push ourselves? After attending a fantastic pre-conference course put on by the Section on Women's Health at our Combined Sections Meeting this year, the speaker, Neil Pearson, helped to answer that question, specifically for performing a yoga exercise program. Yoga is a fantastic mode of movement/exercise/mindfulness for people with persistent pain as part of their recovery process.

You should ask yourself these 4 questions when going through a yoga exercise program:

1) Can I keep my breathing relaxed . . .

2) Can I keep my muscles relaxed

3) Answer the questions: Is this safe? and Am I going to pay for this later?

4) Pain levels (Yes, pain is still included. If you use JUST pain as the determining factor, one may never return to movement/exercise which will just perpetuate the persistent pain. Therefore, the MINDFULNESS of the exercise and how your body is responding to the exercise are really important)

It is really important that you are able to say YES to the first 3 questions (and NO to the "am I going to pay for this later" question) and be aware of pain levels to help you better determine if the exercise program you are doing is at a good level for you. If no, then talk with your physical therapist, instructor about how to modify the exercise program for you.

Moving forward . . . must involve movement . . .

-Karen Liberi MS, MPT, WCS
Women's/Men's Health Specialist
Director of Rehab at NWO Center for Pelvic Rehab and Wellness

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Blog

4 Tips for Your Exercise Routine

1. Be Cautious About Routine Exercises You May Already Be Doing

2. Seats and Clothing

3. Give Up the Attitude of "Playing Through the Pain"

4. See a Pelvic Floor Physical Therapist

Lady Bits: A Review

Understand Your Body, Elevate Your Health, and Reclaim Your Spark ~ Naturally
LADY BITS
Book By: Dr. Brianne Grogan, DPT
Founder of FemFusion Fitness

MOVEMENT: ONE OF THE KEYS TO SUCCESS FOR HEALING PERSISTENT PELVIC PAIN

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Blog

4 Tips for Your Exercise Routine

1. Be Cautious About Routine Exercises You May Already Be Doing

2. Seats and Clothing

3. Give Up the Attitude of "Playing Through the Pain"

4. See a Pelvic Floor Physical Therapist

Lady Bits: A Review

Understand Your Body, Elevate Your Health, and Reclaim Your Spark ~ Naturally LADY BITS Book By: Dr. Brianne Grogan, DPT Founder of FemFusion Fitness

MOVEMENT: ONE OF THE KEYS TO SUCCESS FOR HEALING PERSISTENT PELVIC PAIN

Author

Archives

Categories

Subscribe

Understand Your Body, Elevate Your Health, and Reclaim Your Spark ~ Naturally
LADY BITS
Book By: Dr. Brianne Grogan, DPT
Founder of FemFusion Fitness