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I had my first Physical Therapy yesterday. I am currently in a flare. Because of my IC, both my bladder and pelvic floor have been spasming. The physical therapist was specialized in relaxing the pelvic floor muscles and knew all about IC. The PT went great I think.
After getting a very detailed history, she had me work stretch in different ways to see if my body was "protecting" my bladder area. It wasn't too badly. Then she tested my flexibility to see how else my body was being affected by IC.
She found muscles that were spasming and/or tight in my lower abdominals. It reminded me of seeing a masseuse--how they press and hold in areas where their is lactic acid build up. First she pressed around and found areas along my abdominal wall that were painful. The most painful area was right where I imagined my ovaries being. When she pressed in on it, it felt a lot like very strong, deep menstrual cramps. Apparently, what she was pressing on was top of my hip flexors--i did not realize hip flexors went up and into your lower abdomen. But honestly, this felt NOTHING like what I think sore or tight muscles feel like. It felt like a much more internal, damaged pain.
I am in the military, so I am used to having sore and tense muscles, and lactic acid bubbles in my neck and back. The reason I am pointing this out is because I think a lot of women would also misinterpret this kind of pain and sensitivity as being more internal, when in fact it is muscular and can be treated with massage or PT like this.
She told me that my hip flexors were very tight, probably from defending the area around my bladder. What I find interesting about this is that for the past 2-3 years I have knee issues (patellar subluxation, where the knee cap does not fully seat correctly, and thus it grinds back and forth or gets stuck slightly out of alignment). When I saw a physical therapist before for this, eventually they determined that my patella was being pulled out of alignment because my IT band and hip flexors were so tight.
*As a side note, in eastern medicine, kidney and bladder issues also typically have knee pain issues. I wonder if this is the "western" reason why..When you are having bladder issues, your body "protects" that area, thus tightening your leg muscles/IT band, which can eventually lead to knee issues. Just a thought.
So she pressed in on those muscles with one of those 4 pronged plastic massage things you can buy in a drug store. Even thought it was pretty painful and uncomfortable, she told me that the if she stopped pressing the pain would be worse and the muscle would remain clenched. And after like 20-30 seconds of pressure, the pain from pressing lessened substantially. She said she did not decrease the pressure, that it felt better because the muscle was loosening up.
Then she did the same thing using her fingers inside my vagina. It was uncomfortable, but I could feel the muscles loosening. She had me do kegel exercises while she pressed. Apparently, i need to practice relaxing those muscles as their clenching is causing a lot of my IC pain. She told me to expect some soreness later on in the day; I had a little, but compared to the pain I have been it, it was not too bad. She gave me kegel exercises to do every day and also suggested I go to yoga a few times a week.
Overall, it was a really positive experience. Today, I am urinating better--a constant stream instead of stop and go. And I did not have to take as high dosage of pain killers as I have been. And overall, I don't feel the same level of pain that I had been feeling.
I just wanted to encourage other women to get this kind of treatment if they can! Even if there is not a specific "IC" physical therapist in your area, you might be able to find a regular physical therapist who can help with the lower abdominal tightness, which for me has been causing a lot of additional pain.
After getting a very detailed history, she had me work stretch in different ways to see if my body was "protecting" my bladder area. It wasn't too badly. Then she tested my flexibility to see how else my body was being affected by IC.
She found muscles that were spasming and/or tight in my lower abdominals. It reminded me of seeing a masseuse--how they press and hold in areas where their is lactic acid build up. First she pressed around and found areas along my abdominal wall that were painful. The most painful area was right where I imagined my ovaries being. When she pressed in on it, it felt a lot like very strong, deep menstrual cramps. Apparently, what she was pressing on was top of my hip flexors--i did not realize hip flexors went up and into your lower abdomen. But honestly, this felt NOTHING like what I think sore or tight muscles feel like. It felt like a much more internal, damaged pain.
I am in the military, so I am used to having sore and tense muscles, and lactic acid bubbles in my neck and back. The reason I am pointing this out is because I think a lot of women would also misinterpret this kind of pain and sensitivity as being more internal, when in fact it is muscular and can be treated with massage or PT like this.
She told me that my hip flexors were very tight, probably from defending the area around my bladder. What I find interesting about this is that for the past 2-3 years I have knee issues (patellar subluxation, where the knee cap does not fully seat correctly, and thus it grinds back and forth or gets stuck slightly out of alignment). When I saw a physical therapist before for this, eventually they determined that my patella was being pulled out of alignment because my IT band and hip flexors were so tight.
*As a side note, in eastern medicine, kidney and bladder issues also typically have knee pain issues. I wonder if this is the "western" reason why..When you are having bladder issues, your body "protects" that area, thus tightening your leg muscles/IT band, which can eventually lead to knee issues. Just a thought.
So she pressed in on those muscles with one of those 4 pronged plastic massage things you can buy in a drug store. Even thought it was pretty painful and uncomfortable, she told me that the if she stopped pressing the pain would be worse and the muscle would remain clenched. And after like 20-30 seconds of pressure, the pain from pressing lessened substantially. She said she did not decrease the pressure, that it felt better because the muscle was loosening up.
Then she did the same thing using her fingers inside my vagina. It was uncomfortable, but I could feel the muscles loosening. She had me do kegel exercises while she pressed. Apparently, i need to practice relaxing those muscles as their clenching is causing a lot of my IC pain. She told me to expect some soreness later on in the day; I had a little, but compared to the pain I have been it, it was not too bad. She gave me kegel exercises to do every day and also suggested I go to yoga a few times a week.
Overall, it was a really positive experience. Today, I am urinating better--a constant stream instead of stop and go. And I did not have to take as high dosage of pain killers as I have been. And overall, I don't feel the same level of pain that I had been feeling.
I just wanted to encourage other women to get this kind of treatment if they can! Even if there is not a specific "IC" physical therapist in your area, you might be able to find a regular physical therapist who can help with the lower abdominal tightness, which for me has been causing a lot of additional pain.
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