Exercise brought on pain?

[Sheila6830]

I don't know what I was thinking, but a week ago I started working out pretty hard (running, working with a personal trainer doing squats, crunches, etc.). I have now noticed that my pelvic muscles hurt and are very tight. It also feels like the pelvic nerves throb sometimes. I have been taking muscles relaxers and vaginal valium to help ease the throbbing and muscle tightness/pain.

I'm guessing this is due to my recent aggressive workouts?

Am I just supposed to walk? No workouts?

[Kara29]

Dear Sheila,

Since this board is my specialty area of knowledge at this time, I will share with you a little about what could be causing you pain if it relates to the Pudendal Nerve. Pudendal Neuralgia is a life long injury that does not go away and has little treatment options. I would hate to see you go through any of this due to continued, stressful workouts that can be nipped in the bud before it progresses.

People who have chronic pelvic pain for whatever reason sometimes have to adjust their exercise routine to fit what their body needs. It would be more important to not cause yourself an injury that you can't fix than to lose weight and or gain muscle. Pudendal Nerve Entrapment can be caused by serious workout routines such as riding a bike hard core and squatting too much.

Pudendal Neuralgia or Pudendal Nerve Entrapment can be caused by: PN can be caused by an injury to the nerve or any disease of the nerve that causes inflammation or demyelination of the nerve. Some people have associated their PN symptoms with post-herpetic neuralgia, Lyme’s disease, multiple sclerosis, or other autoimmune illnesses. Other people can point to an injury or pelvic surgery as the start of their symptoms. Heavy exercise is considered one of the causes of PN. Activities that require repetitive hip flexion such as cycling and weightlifting can be the culprit. Jobs that require heavy lifting or many hours of sitting may be the cause.

PNE is usually precipitated by prolonged sitting or trauma to the sitting area, combined with a genetic and developmental susceptibility. Each person's body is unique. Tissue mass varies. Nerve routes vary. The amount of pressure a nerve can take before responding with inflammation varies. And so on. Putting all this together explains why some people can sit for 10 hours a day for 30 years and not get PNE, while someone else may sit 6 hours a day for 5 years and get it. However, some cases of PNE involve no prolonged sitting or trauma. Life has its mysteries....

PNE is common in high mileage bicyclists who do not stop cycling when the pain starts. It's so common in this group it's nicknamed Cyclist's Syndrome. The prolonged sitting pressure, the continual nerve rubbing and stretching from pedal pumping, and the extremely high seat pressure on the ischial spine and perineum all combine to form the ideal conditions for PNE. Similarly susceptible groups are those using rowing machines or doing lots of sit-ups. The human body was simply not designed for these behaviors.

If it hurts.......don't do it anymore. It may be wise to listen to what your body is saying to you.

Some of us are suffering so bad that we can't work out at all, let alone walk or even sit.

You may want to check in with your Doctor or Physical Therapist to see what you can still do to stay in shape. I would err on the side of caution until you can talk to someone.

All of us are different with respect to what is wrong with us and how our bodies handle exercise.

Good Luck and Take It Easy on Yourself.:angel:


Kara

[kadi]

Many IC patients who do not have PNE also have difficulty with exercises that put a lot of direct emphasis on the lower abdomen (example: crunches) or pelvis (example: adductor machines).
Here is a link to a short video on exercise and IC patients with some options to consider.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNU4SR0WdPQ

I've been very happy with an exercise program my physical therapist set up for me. I regret having let IC sideline me to the point that I gained 45 pounds & am now having to start from scratch with exercise again. I need the expertise of the physical therapist (who is trained in working with pelvic pain patients), rather than the trainer at the gym. She understands much better what will work for me with the unique problems IC can cause.

It's important to find things that you enjoy doing & can do without increasing pain. Do check out Jill's video & you might also check out the book "Heal Pelvic Pain" - it's a really good reference on exercise & how the pelvic muscles affect IC pain or mimic IC symptoms.

Good luck! Don't give up on exercise, it just may need a bit of tweaking to find a plan that works for you...

[Krisssy]

Could going on the treadmill cause a reinflammation of the pudental nerve?

[Sheila6830]

I find that I can walk on my treadmill, but if I walk too long or at too fast a pace or at an incline I do hurt. So, I have to keep it to 30 min, low incline and easy pace. Doesn't seem like much of an exercise.

I also try to stretch afterwards (which has helped). My chiro said my muscles in my behind get too tight from over exercise and it causes pain. So keeping it simple and stretching so far is good.

Its frustrating, because I would really like to work out hard and lose weight. But when I work out hard I hurt, my urine becomes acidic and I have pain in my bladder and in my SI joint.

I hate this!

[Krisssy]

16 months ago, I started going on my treadmill, and that's when the pain started up again.

[Glenda2]

I can almost bet that any form of exercise would cause IC pain to worsen.

To me , it would seem that your Internal Organs are getting Jarred about.
Things get stretched / pulled and that inturn would cause discomfort and pain.

I can't exercise anyway , Due to having dozens of Spinal Tumors and Leaking Spinal Fluid. Way too much pain to be moving around in all these exercise
positions people do.

The Best form of Exercise for anyone ( My Opinion only ) is to go out and walk every day. If you cannot walk outside , then it might be beneficial to get a TredMill and walk a mile in your front room.

Start slow , and gradually build up to the amount you want.