YES! Do it. i was so upset and terrified to do PT at first but it has changed everything. I would be nowhere near where I am today in terms of health without my physical therapist. I would say she helped almost as much as my surgeon did.
PT is honestly very important. Your pelvis and all those muscles are practically the core of your body. I've had it help my hips and lower back a ton.
I kinda hate pelvic PT because of how awkward it can be. But I still go and do it when I am supposed to. Since it does help a lot and improved my quality of life.
Just make sure you find a PT that will listen to you and not push you beyond your limits of pain or comfort.
I did and I was in so much pain I was unable to work for some time. Getting better with debilitating pain, especially when Endometriosis is the root takes a multimodal approach my specialist told me on my first appointment. He was right. Pelvic Floor PT was one important piece in my (ongoing) recovery. However, it took me some time until I found a therapist with whom I felt truly comfortable with and who was confident she could help me even tough I didn’t wanna do internal work.
I wouldn't be surprised if your hips and low back were compensating for your tightness; the muscles are interlinked. Personally speaking I did almost immediately (my pelvic floor is also pretty tight).
I went to a pelvic PT many years ago that wasn’t particularly helpful. I’m now seeing one who’s been working in the field for a long time and has a lot of knowledge around endo. After the first appointment I was already feeling some relief around my urgency and frequency for emptying my bladder (they think the endo is probably on my bladder) and she was also SO validating and SO reassuring. 100% recommend!!
Yes! See https://pelvicpainrehab.com/blog/the-jaw-and-foot-connections-to-the-pelvic-floor/
I had my dentist assess my jaw muscles and they found them to be very tense. So I opted for a mouth guard. My headaches are better and my pelvic floor has gotten a lot more relaxed as well.
You are welcome! I believe Endometriosis needs to be treated from different angles and finding the puzzle pieces that work for oneself is a lot of trial and error. The mouth guard turned out to be an important piece.
Have your dentist assess your jaw muscles and ask if they see any damage on the teeth from the grinding. Where I live, a mouth guard is quite expensive but it was worth it. Putting so much force on your jaw every night can’t be healthy 🙈
as a musculoskeletal physiotherapist with endo - yes! both pelvic floor and physiotherapy to look at the movement and strength around your hips and lower back will definitely help ☺️
Im currently on a break from pelvic pt (taking time off to do some dental surgeries) but yes I totally recommend physical therapy! The multiple ladies who have helped me through this journey have all taught me different things and helped improve my pain and range of motion after two laparoscopic surgeries left me with chronic pain.
I actually started with a more general PT and focused on stretching and mobility and breaking up scar tissue around my incision sites and that really helped me. Then I moved on to some posture work and now pelvic therapy.
It’s hard for me but I recommend trying it but be super honest with yourself and your therapist about what works and how bad your pain is and what your goals are. My pelvis therapist was honest with me that PT likely wouldn’t be a cure for endo or pelvis pain but our goal was to help make things more manageable and give me more tools to be aware of my body.
100000% worth trying. I went twice only and had a ton of relief after just the first visit. And this pelvic PT didn't know anything about endo so there are probably even better ones out there.
10/10 recommend. Also, if you find someone who can do cupping I found a huge relief with that on my lower abdomen. Hurt like heck when it was being done, but it helped soften some of the scar tissue and it helped reduce the pain greatly.
You have to find a really good pelvic PT who is knowledgeable about Endo, then it will be worth it. I’ve been to ones who aren’t, and they just don’t give me much relief. But I have an amazing one now and she is so good at what she does. Hip and lower back muscles are connected to the pelvic floor. It will definitely help you a lot.
If you're nervous about seeing someone, you can look into Bloom, it's virtual using a "pod" that senses your muscle movements, it's still awkward but it's done in the privacy of your own home on your own time. It really really does help though
Thank you. I have PTSD and am so angry that the only treatments for this god awful illness are ones that feel literally like all my worst traumas. Trying to find ways to do pelvic floor PT without strangers touching me and sick of being told it's necessary and the only way.
Bloom would be perfect for you, they can see your readings, but thats it. it's all self reported and you do the exercises on your own. The one downside is if you need to trouble shoot you're kind of on your own, but talking to someone else who has done it or a quick google can usually help. It may not be *as* effective as in person, but i can say from experience it made a world of difference.
That's awesome. Do you know if it's available outside the US? And also roughly how much does it cost? Thanks again for bringing this to my attention, it sounds like a really good solution for people like me
Yes pelvic floor physio has saved my life and given me so much freedom from pain from a hypertonic pelvic floor resulting from hyper mobility in the pelvis. I absolutely recommend. I wish I’d had it after my Laproscopy
Hey, no one told me to see a PT for this... I wish they had. Those tight muscles and a desk job eventually led to back and neck pain so I saw a chiropractor/ physical therapist for that.
Funny thing was, I had made so much progress then I had an endo flare up and the PT was astounded at how much I had regressed in 2 days after 3 weeks of really good progress.
It all clicked for me. Now I stretch going into my flare ups (during period and ovulation) and really spend time focusing on opening my hips. It's made a ton of difference in discomfort. I get endo belly pretty bad and this helps that too. It's like I get blood flow moving again which lowers inflammation, but could be my imagination.
Long story short, if you can afford it, do it. Learn as much as you can and see them at different points in your cycle. It's been 2 years and I legit just finished my stretches for the evening. Not even experiencing a flare up, they just help me wind down after a long day!
Yes, I’ve gone through 2 rounds of PT after my first surgery - both helped immensely. I also had daily horrific lower back pain. The first round of PT made my overall pain levels, including pain with exercise, way lower. I hardly get the back pain anymore.
Yes I went to PT as a teenager after my first surgery and I still do the exercises every day 6 to 7 years later.
Recently I had the thought that challenging my flexibility more like it was a challenge in the beginning would probably give me more benefit, and it has! I decided I wanted to be able to do splits both ways and put my feet behind my head and added stretches to that end. I was able to do vertical splits in 6 weeks. Still working on horizontal and foot-behind-head.
Hey, I got a vibrator paid for by my health insurance! My daughter and I still joke about that.
In reality it was because my pelvic muscles were (are) locked into “guarding” me from the extreme pain, which of course causes more pain. It screwed up my lower back and hips, which cause me more pain now than the endo. Learning to relax those muscles is really hard, but does help, and is definitely something you’ll want professional guidance from a PT to do correctly.
So really weird question, and totally understandable if you're not comfortable answering:
Some women with endo/adeno experience really bad pain with orgasms. Do you find that using the vibrator (to that point, or not) helps with muscle tightness or makes it worse (tighter pelvic muscles)?
My fiancee was diagnosed with hypertonic pelvic floor and starts PFPT in a month or so. I feel bad for even thinking that orgasms might help "loosen" the muscles/organs in the pelvic area.
I don’t mind your question, but my particular experience probably won’t answer it.
My endometriosis wound up costing me my whole reproductive system, meaning uterus, cervix, Fallopian tubes, and eventually ovaries. This was over the course of four years and five surgeries (including exploratory laparoscopies). The pelvic PT helped a little, but sex/orgasm wasn’t really a thing for me at that point due to pain, and later due to the lack of estrogen (which I can’t replace with HRT because I have the BRCA gene mutation that makes breast and other cancers more likely).
The vibrator comment, while true, was meant to be light-hearted (I guess someone didn’t take it that way, since I was downvoted! 🤷🏻♀️) but it wasn’t so much a sexual thing as a muscle relaxer. It didn’t really work for me, but I know it helps some people!
With all this said, I have talked to MANY women who had great success with pelvic PT, and for some of them orgasms made the hypertonicity better, and for some orgasms got more satisfying after treating the hypertonicity. I hope your fiancée has a good experience with it, and she gets the results she needs!
Thank you very much, do you feel as though any of your "-ectomies" helped with pain or quality of life? Like many women, my fiancée doesn't really have any quality of life - and I wonder if a hysterectomy (while not a cure) will help with a significant amount of her "uterine cramping" pain.
And thank you for the feedback, that's kind of how I was imagining it being used - as a physical muscle relaxer.
I definitely recommend it as long as you find a good therapist who doesn't push you too much with your pain and comfort and you do the excersices they give you you should see some comfort i go once a week for the last 6 months and it's been great at first i hated it because it's awkward but now i don't mind it bc it made it where i can manage my endo pain while i deal with the rest of my health issues
absolutely do it! pt changed my life, i’m still in pain as i’m waiting for my lap but omg i can actually feel relief sometimes. I owe everything that i am capable of doing now to my PT
Im very curious if anyone can explain a bit about what the PT is like (or just tell me to google it if that’s a good resource). I was told to just do PT as well and I felt like that was a waste of my time/money because I’d spent so much of my time growing up in PT for so many other things, I didn’t want more PT visits to hope I’ll get better.
Plus, this might be very dumb/naive of me, but I thought there’s no way this could help since I have such a strong core from working out.
It’s so nice to hear it has helped so many of yall though!!
DO IT. It helped my pain so so much. It was embarrassing at first because they do place their fingers inside your vagina to manipulate muscles but they didn’t do that until I was ready. They did cupping on my abdomen, TENs unit to my abdomen and legs. I had to stop because of my work schedule/money but the relief it gave me during those months was wonderful. I had sex without any pain during those months. My pain has gotten really bad again and I called them for an appointment a few weeks ago but they couldn’t get me in until July 2nd. It is absolutely worth it!
YES - it’s a game changer! I had no idea how much my pelvic floor dysfunction was adding to my pain spirals. I have severe hip and low back pain as well - a pelvic floor PT or OT can properly diagnose which muscles are effed up, and help you retrain them. It can help tremendously.
PT hasn’t helped me. I have severe endo and just wanted relief. HOWEVER, I really think it depends on who your PT is…
I was in tears sobbing to mine about how I can’t even go to work or school because when I drive the bumps in the road hurt too bad— mind you, I had a flare up so bad I had to miss my college graduation— and she told me, “you should consider going for a walk and seeing the sun when it’s that bad”… like… I CANT WALK LOL and also WTF?!?!. It’s just been three months of me going in, sitting in the chair, recapping my worsening symptoms, and she asks ME what I want to do… like… I don’t know?!?
So really advocate for yourself if you go into PT and don’t be afraid to say it’s not working and don’t stop until you find a PT you like and that helps you!
YES! Do it. i was so upset and terrified to do PT at first but it has changed everything. I would be nowhere near where I am today in terms of health without my physical therapist. I would say she helped almost as much as my surgeon did.
Absolutely do it. Pelvic floor pt is great for pelvic pain. I'm not sure what there is to be skeptical about!
PT is honestly very important. Your pelvis and all those muscles are practically the core of your body. I've had it help my hips and lower back a ton. I kinda hate pelvic PT because of how awkward it can be. But I still go and do it when I am supposed to. Since it does help a lot and improved my quality of life. Just make sure you find a PT that will listen to you and not push you beyond your limits of pain or comfort.
I did and I was in so much pain I was unable to work for some time. Getting better with debilitating pain, especially when Endometriosis is the root takes a multimodal approach my specialist told me on my first appointment. He was right. Pelvic Floor PT was one important piece in my (ongoing) recovery. However, it took me some time until I found a therapist with whom I felt truly comfortable with and who was confident she could help me even tough I didn’t wanna do internal work.
I wouldn't be surprised if your hips and low back were compensating for your tightness; the muscles are interlinked. Personally speaking I did almost immediately (my pelvic floor is also pretty tight).
I went to a pelvic PT many years ago that wasn’t particularly helpful. I’m now seeing one who’s been working in the field for a long time and has a lot of knowledge around endo. After the first appointment I was already feeling some relief around my urgency and frequency for emptying my bladder (they think the endo is probably on my bladder) and she was also SO validating and SO reassuring. 100% recommend!!
Do you grind your teeth in the night? If so, a mouth guard could improve your symptoms. The jaw muscles and the pelvic floor are connected.
WHAT?!? Really?
Yes! See https://pelvicpainrehab.com/blog/the-jaw-and-foot-connections-to-the-pelvic-floor/ I had my dentist assess my jaw muscles and they found them to be very tense. So I opted for a mouth guard. My headaches are better and my pelvic floor has gotten a lot more relaxed as well.
Wow! Thank you!
Wow, that’s fascinating! I also grind my teeth at night… thank you for sharing this info.
You are welcome! I believe Endometriosis needs to be treated from different angles and finding the puzzle pieces that work for oneself is a lot of trial and error. The mouth guard turned out to be an important piece. Have your dentist assess your jaw muscles and ask if they see any damage on the teeth from the grinding. Where I live, a mouth guard is quite expensive but it was worth it. Putting so much force on your jaw every night can’t be healthy 🙈
as a musculoskeletal physiotherapist with endo - yes! both pelvic floor and physiotherapy to look at the movement and strength around your hips and lower back will definitely help ☺️
Im currently on a break from pelvic pt (taking time off to do some dental surgeries) but yes I totally recommend physical therapy! The multiple ladies who have helped me through this journey have all taught me different things and helped improve my pain and range of motion after two laparoscopic surgeries left me with chronic pain. I actually started with a more general PT and focused on stretching and mobility and breaking up scar tissue around my incision sites and that really helped me. Then I moved on to some posture work and now pelvic therapy. It’s hard for me but I recommend trying it but be super honest with yourself and your therapist about what works and how bad your pain is and what your goals are. My pelvis therapist was honest with me that PT likely wouldn’t be a cure for endo or pelvis pain but our goal was to help make things more manageable and give me more tools to be aware of my body.
100000% worth trying. I went twice only and had a ton of relief after just the first visit. And this pelvic PT didn't know anything about endo so there are probably even better ones out there.
10/10 recommend. Also, if you find someone who can do cupping I found a huge relief with that on my lower abdomen. Hurt like heck when it was being done, but it helped soften some of the scar tissue and it helped reduce the pain greatly.
You have to find a really good pelvic PT who is knowledgeable about Endo, then it will be worth it. I’ve been to ones who aren’t, and they just don’t give me much relief. But I have an amazing one now and she is so good at what she does. Hip and lower back muscles are connected to the pelvic floor. It will definitely help you a lot.
YES YES YES. It’s incredible how much it teaches you about your body, and helps your well-being.
If you're nervous about seeing someone, you can look into Bloom, it's virtual using a "pod" that senses your muscle movements, it's still awkward but it's done in the privacy of your own home on your own time. It really really does help though
Thank you. I have PTSD and am so angry that the only treatments for this god awful illness are ones that feel literally like all my worst traumas. Trying to find ways to do pelvic floor PT without strangers touching me and sick of being told it's necessary and the only way.
Bloom would be perfect for you, they can see your readings, but thats it. it's all self reported and you do the exercises on your own. The one downside is if you need to trouble shoot you're kind of on your own, but talking to someone else who has done it or a quick google can usually help. It may not be *as* effective as in person, but i can say from experience it made a world of difference.
That's awesome. Do you know if it's available outside the US? And also roughly how much does it cost? Thanks again for bringing this to my attention, it sounds like a really good solution for people like me
I am not sure, I know its through Sword Health, we got it free through our insurance
pelvic floor pt is absolutely essential. A good pelvic pt therapist will be life changing!
Yes pelvic floor physio has saved my life and given me so much freedom from pain from a hypertonic pelvic floor resulting from hyper mobility in the pelvis. I absolutely recommend. I wish I’d had it after my Laproscopy
Hey, no one told me to see a PT for this... I wish they had. Those tight muscles and a desk job eventually led to back and neck pain so I saw a chiropractor/ physical therapist for that. Funny thing was, I had made so much progress then I had an endo flare up and the PT was astounded at how much I had regressed in 2 days after 3 weeks of really good progress. It all clicked for me. Now I stretch going into my flare ups (during period and ovulation) and really spend time focusing on opening my hips. It's made a ton of difference in discomfort. I get endo belly pretty bad and this helps that too. It's like I get blood flow moving again which lowers inflammation, but could be my imagination. Long story short, if you can afford it, do it. Learn as much as you can and see them at different points in your cycle. It's been 2 years and I legit just finished my stretches for the evening. Not even experiencing a flare up, they just help me wind down after a long day!
Yes, I’ve gone through 2 rounds of PT after my first surgery - both helped immensely. I also had daily horrific lower back pain. The first round of PT made my overall pain levels, including pain with exercise, way lower. I hardly get the back pain anymore.
Yes I went to PT as a teenager after my first surgery and I still do the exercises every day 6 to 7 years later. Recently I had the thought that challenging my flexibility more like it was a challenge in the beginning would probably give me more benefit, and it has! I decided I wanted to be able to do splits both ways and put my feet behind my head and added stretches to that end. I was able to do vertical splits in 6 weeks. Still working on horizontal and foot-behind-head.
Hey, I got a vibrator paid for by my health insurance! My daughter and I still joke about that. In reality it was because my pelvic muscles were (are) locked into “guarding” me from the extreme pain, which of course causes more pain. It screwed up my lower back and hips, which cause me more pain now than the endo. Learning to relax those muscles is really hard, but does help, and is definitely something you’ll want professional guidance from a PT to do correctly.
So really weird question, and totally understandable if you're not comfortable answering: Some women with endo/adeno experience really bad pain with orgasms. Do you find that using the vibrator (to that point, or not) helps with muscle tightness or makes it worse (tighter pelvic muscles)? My fiancee was diagnosed with hypertonic pelvic floor and starts PFPT in a month or so. I feel bad for even thinking that orgasms might help "loosen" the muscles/organs in the pelvic area.
I don’t mind your question, but my particular experience probably won’t answer it. My endometriosis wound up costing me my whole reproductive system, meaning uterus, cervix, Fallopian tubes, and eventually ovaries. This was over the course of four years and five surgeries (including exploratory laparoscopies). The pelvic PT helped a little, but sex/orgasm wasn’t really a thing for me at that point due to pain, and later due to the lack of estrogen (which I can’t replace with HRT because I have the BRCA gene mutation that makes breast and other cancers more likely). The vibrator comment, while true, was meant to be light-hearted (I guess someone didn’t take it that way, since I was downvoted! 🤷🏻♀️) but it wasn’t so much a sexual thing as a muscle relaxer. It didn’t really work for me, but I know it helps some people! With all this said, I have talked to MANY women who had great success with pelvic PT, and for some of them orgasms made the hypertonicity better, and for some orgasms got more satisfying after treating the hypertonicity. I hope your fiancée has a good experience with it, and she gets the results she needs!
Thank you very much, do you feel as though any of your "-ectomies" helped with pain or quality of life? Like many women, my fiancée doesn't really have any quality of life - and I wonder if a hysterectomy (while not a cure) will help with a significant amount of her "uterine cramping" pain. And thank you for the feedback, that's kind of how I was imagining it being used - as a physical muscle relaxer.
I definitely recommend it as long as you find a good therapist who doesn't push you too much with your pain and comfort and you do the excersices they give you you should see some comfort i go once a week for the last 6 months and it's been great at first i hated it because it's awkward but now i don't mind it bc it made it where i can manage my endo pain while i deal with the rest of my health issues
absolutely do it! pt changed my life, i’m still in pain as i’m waiting for my lap but omg i can actually feel relief sometimes. I owe everything that i am capable of doing now to my PT
Im very curious if anyone can explain a bit about what the PT is like (or just tell me to google it if that’s a good resource). I was told to just do PT as well and I felt like that was a waste of my time/money because I’d spent so much of my time growing up in PT for so many other things, I didn’t want more PT visits to hope I’ll get better. Plus, this might be very dumb/naive of me, but I thought there’s no way this could help since I have such a strong core from working out. It’s so nice to hear it has helped so many of yall though!!
It was a life saver for me and I cried when I “graduated”. It was so incredibly helpful for me. Make sure you find a knowledgeable provider.
PT has helped so much! Believe your dr on this one!
YES to pelvic floor therapy!!! critical and a gamechanger, coupled with other care/treatments.
Yes, do it. I doubted it for too long and it’s been amazing, almost immediate relief.
Yes! I have tried regular PT and pelvic floor PR, and the more I can incorporate the exercises in stretches into a regular habit the better I feel
DO IT. It helped my pain so so much. It was embarrassing at first because they do place their fingers inside your vagina to manipulate muscles but they didn’t do that until I was ready. They did cupping on my abdomen, TENs unit to my abdomen and legs. I had to stop because of my work schedule/money but the relief it gave me during those months was wonderful. I had sex without any pain during those months. My pain has gotten really bad again and I called them for an appointment a few weeks ago but they couldn’t get me in until July 2nd. It is absolutely worth it!
YES - it’s a game changer! I had no idea how much my pelvic floor dysfunction was adding to my pain spirals. I have severe hip and low back pain as well - a pelvic floor PT or OT can properly diagnose which muscles are effed up, and help you retrain them. It can help tremendously.
Yep I was skeptical, but it helped me out quite a bit. Good luck!
PT hasn’t helped me. I have severe endo and just wanted relief. HOWEVER, I really think it depends on who your PT is… I was in tears sobbing to mine about how I can’t even go to work or school because when I drive the bumps in the road hurt too bad— mind you, I had a flare up so bad I had to miss my college graduation— and she told me, “you should consider going for a walk and seeing the sun when it’s that bad”… like… I CANT WALK LOL and also WTF?!?!. It’s just been three months of me going in, sitting in the chair, recapping my worsening symptoms, and she asks ME what I want to do… like… I don’t know?!? So really advocate for yourself if you go into PT and don’t be afraid to say it’s not working and don’t stop until you find a PT you like and that helps you!
100% would recommend! But look for someone with experience with endo.
Do dry needling too