PFD and NO one to help

[melanie626]

HI-
I was told I have PFD and I saw a PT for this a few years ago, then had to change insurance, went to a PT who just wanted to do bladder retraining and biofeedback which didn't help...is there anything at home I can do??? There isn't anyone in my PT dept in my HMO that has a clue about this....and I can't afford to go elsewhere..I mean, who can. I am in a flare and having more pain and pain with intercourse...

Melanie :bonk:

[kelly McC]

Melanie,
I went through PT and did not get much relief my PT suggested a tens unit I do get more relief with that. My Pt told me see finds alot of IC and Pfd patients she see's have more pain in the beginning before getting better. I chose not continue for me each visits caused long term flares. Can your PCP help find a pt that treats pelvic issues?
Kelly

[melanie626]

Hey-
someone sent me a link to the PFD articles, but I can't find the May article which talks about more options for treatment. Can any send me the link- it is the May article...

[bunnymoomoo]

Hi,

i'd just like to post some links i found on PFD that i found to be very helpful. i have a lot of positive response from doing stretches and excercises for my PFD (i don't have IC).

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/quer...0&dopt=Abstract

this one is a very helpful article by Dr. Moldwin that i found on bio-medical.com:

http://www.bio-medical.com/news_display.cf...e=INC&newsid=47

here's another one from the IC Association also by Moldwin which discusses IC, but has a very intersting section on describing how to discern b/w a possible IC sufferer and someone suffering from PFD:

http://www.ichelp.org/FeatureArticles/Mold...elvicFloor.html

http://www.ic-network.com/guestlectures/weiss.html
http://www.ic-network.com/guestlectures/rh...transcript.html
http://www.ic-network.com/guestlectures/anderson.html

hope i've helped some ... if you'd like to ask me questions, please don't hesitate. i'm not on the forums too often anymore, so go ahead and drop me an email or what not.

[massagedoula]

I am someone who goes to a PT that is a women's pelvic specialist. I do not think that PFD is my main problem, but I think that the bladder pain and frequent urination I experience cause my muscles to always be tight, which causes PFD. It is a cycle. I like going to her, but she and I know that my insurance will not cover it for much longer. She had my husband come in one day and she taught him what she was doing, where to press to find the trigger points and how to do it correctly. I still have not had to ask my husband to do it on me, but I feel happy to know that when I financially cannot see my PT anymore, that he will be able to take over, even if he needs to practice a bit. Could you find a PT that would be willing to teach your spouse (if you have one) or a friend (if feel OK about that) what to do to release your trigger points? My PT told me that she teaches a lot of people how to do it on their spouse or friend.

[PikkuMyy]

My PT gave me copies of stretches from an exercise book that stretch your thigh, hip, pelvic, and buttock muscles. These really help. I also have an acrylic dildo that was specifically designed to massage prostate and vaginal muscles. I use that with some lubricant to stretch out my vaginal muscles (It's in this wierd S shape so you have leverage) and also to press and massage my trigger points in my vagina and that also really helps. I also have my husband do it sometimes with the dildo and also press my trigger points on my hips and on top of my buttocks.

[icsue]

Sometimes you can release the sides of the vagina muscle by putting your right thumb in and pushing in your left side and then change sides. I usually do it in the bath tub. It stretches things out but sometimes if I over do it I get a yeast infection for some reason.

[Lola12]

You might be getting the yeast infection because you're doing the release in the tub. Try doing it after your bath (use some KY jelly if you need the lubrication)

[massagedoula]

Is it an actual yeast infection or just burning and redness? Because I thought that I was getting yeast infections too, but it was just burning and redness from all the blood flow to the area.

[icsue]

No, it was a full blown yeast infection. It was either from doing in the bath tub or pressing too hard. It's of course fine now but I'm hessitant to do the inner massage with my thumbs now

[sjackso]

Thanks for the links--I am a new user and found them quite helpful--especially the one from Dr. Weiss. His ideas mirror those of Dr. Rodney Anderson who wrote A Headache in the Pelvis. I found the stretches outlined in the 3rd edition of that book to be very helpful for the frequency and pain of IC.