physical therapy

[icsue]

Here's the theory. IC is caused by over use of the pelvic floor muscle. When you lose your butt muscles it causes you to use the pelvic floor muscle to walk with and therefore irritates and damages your bladder and colon.

I've been trying to build my butt muscles up for over a year. I started with swimming twice a week. It took me a year to ride a bike for 30 minutes twice a week. I've been seeing improvement the last few months. The bike riding still stirs things up but I mostly my IBS is getting better.

I've had IC for over 15 years and it got worse a few years ago which is why I started this physical therapy. The PT was recommended by my urologist. I'm very hopeful I can fully recover in the long run.

[Sunflower2]

I am not sure how my IC is started. I can think of so many reasons. But I do know now is that my IC/PFD is so related to my hip muscles. I have been seeing a PT for PFD over 3 months now. I think my IC is under control now, but my PFD is still long way to go. I hope your condition gets better with help of therapy :)

[glassd18]

I read somewhere on the internet that people who bike ride a lot can get nerve entrapment. For info google pudental (sp?) nerve entrapment. My IC am pretty sure was caused by defunct hormones, but I was an avid bike rider. My bike was my car, and for a while I thought my IC was being caused by nerve damage, which I'm still not sure it isn't because I still have pain that runs from my hip, through my coccyx, and down my right leg above the knee. So just a heads up about bike riding and the nerves down there!!! I'm sure though that your therapist would have mentioned that if it was relevant.

[icsue]

All the physical therapist did was try to get me riding some kind of bike. The pain was so great in the beginning I couldn't do it. I had to swim twice a week for a year to get my butt muscles in good enough shape that I could ride it without it upseting everything. It still upsets it a little but not as much as it did. Hopefully not at all in the future.

[icsue]

I have that same pain in my hip that runs down my leg. My knee often hurts and the bottoms of my feet hurt almost all the time. My hip was rotated and she worked on that but I have to keep up with the exercises so it doesn't rotate again.

[glassd18]

Isn't it wierd how some of us have this in common. It really makes you wonder if it's L3, L4 nerve damage causing our problems. I went to physical therapy too, but I was unable to continue due to my schedule.

[icsue]

She thinks it's from using the wrong muscles. Somehow things get out of wack. Over using some and under using some.

[glassd18]

I bet forcing while going to the bathroom too can hurt your muscles down there, and or holding it too long etc...Having babies doesn't help our muscles either I'm sure.

[L. Thomas]

I've never thought about tight pelvic muscles until I read a post the other day. I think it makes sense. Since then I have caught myself "tensing" my pelvic floor for no reason. That seems so odd. At first I thought it might be related to my stess incon..but that has been "fixed". Now I think it may have deeper inplications. I wonder if my pelvic floor might be tense because of sexual abuse? or for that matter another pelvic trauma??
Any thoughts?????

[glassd18]

I'm trying really hard to be conscientious of how tense I am in general, but especially down there. I had an extremely stressful three years at a company I worked at and my IC really took off during this time, and I believe it contributed to it all. So I really have to pay attention to relaxing. I am thinking of starting yoga, and pilates to try and retrain my core. Hopefully this will improve things somehow, but this disease is very mysterious. Regarding sexual abuse, If you were forced etc... then sure why couldn't it have something to do with it, but so many things come into play with this disease it's hard to know for sure. I've seen other posts regarding IC and sexual abuse before. Maybe you could search the threads for other posts about this subject. In any case I'm sorry you suffered sexual abuse. I did too by my cousin when I was 4 on and off until I was around 10. Not often, and not extreme, but abuse nonetheless. It can really screw up a person.

[icsue]

I don't know if you've heard of the book, :A Headache in the Pelvis". It claims that IC along with other diseases are caused by pelvic floor tension. It gives you suggestions about exercises and relaxation techniques to relax the pelvic floor. I've read a few posts from people that have gone into remission using the techniques in the book. I mentioned it to my PT and she didn't seem to be impressed. If my current PT exercises don't work, I'm going to try that technique.

The suggestions my PT made seem to be making enough of a difference that I want to continue until I hit a brick wall. It might be another year of this before I give up on it. It's helped my IBS too much for me to think it doesn't have something to do with it.

I've been doing yoga for 10 years. I was convinced that it would cure my IC. I think in some cases it made it worse because I wasn't doing any other kind of exercise. I've been doing the rigorous yoga, so maybe that's not the kind of yoga I should be doing anyway.

I've also heard that many people who have IC have been sexually abused. I haven't but one of my doctors asked me if I had. My doctor (Kristine Whitmore) wrote on IC website that she thinks there may be different types and causes of IC.

[ICNDonna]

I have read in many different articles that there may be many different causes of IC. In my case, I feel it was the trauma of an abdominal hysterectomy.

My theory about pelvic floor dysfunction is that it also can have different causes. When we experience pain, our muscles in the area of the pain have a tendency to become strained and tight. Just this past June, I had a severe frozen shoulder, which was caused by a slight injury and the natural reaction of tightening the muscles to "protect" the shoulder joint. It took a cortisone shot in the joint and controlled exercise for many weeks to get my shoulder moving again --- and it's still not 100% and probably won't be for several more months.

I think the same kind of thing can happen when we have bladder pain.

Donna

[gypsyjoy]

I agree with Donna totally. And understand both the pelvic and shoulder tighting...and knee...and lower back....and hips. and on and on and on.

Gypsy

[icsue]

I've never thought about tight pelvic muscles until I read a post the other day. I think it makes sense. Since then I have caught myself "tensing" my pelvic floor for no reason. That seems so odd. At first I thought it might be related to my stess incon..but that has been "fixed". Now I think it may have deeper inplications. I wonder if my pelvic floor might be tense because of sexual abuse? or for that matter another pelvic trauma??
Any thoughts?????


I would also pay attention if it feels like the you are actually using the pelvic floor muscles to walk with. I stopped all exercising after I read Headache in the Pelvic floor. I was trying to relax my pelvic floor muscles. I realized I couldn't relax them because I needed them to walk with. It seemed like I couldn't walk without clenching my pelvic floor muscles! That convinced me to try the PT exercises. Sure enough the more I built up my other muscles the more I could relax the pelvic floor muscles. My IBS has really turned around. I was having as much problems with that as with IC. I think I have another year to go but I'm very hopefull.

[Freckles]

I have found myself tense at the weirdest times. I am really trying to notice when I tense up. I tense up a lot. I've noticed it even when I'm laying down watching TV. Not sure why I do it, but I tense up. I'm trying now to relax or notice if I'm relaxing or not. It's really surprising how tense I am.

[Lenee]

Just caught this thread and had a question for you ladies:

Did your PT use a 'tens unit' to treat your pain? I started PT for PFD about 3 weeks ago and when she did the biofeedback my pelvic floor muscles were screaming literally. We tried relaxation, massage and nothing seemed to work until we started the tens unit and within minutes everything calmed down and my pain shot way down. I am so curious as to whether anyone else has had long term success with this or not? I have been using the unit at home and work and it had taken the need for pain meds way down but I also notice that I have had to increase the volume(or whatever it is) since starting. Any input would be great. Thanks!!

[kimberlyJB]

CAn you explain the tens unit? what were your chief complaints with the IC as far as symptoms.

[Lenee]

KimberlyM

Here is a link to one of the threads from this site titled ideas for using tens, there is a lot of discussion on it and postings on how it works that are pretty detailed. Hope this helps!

http://www.ic-network.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29781&page=2