Reddit reviews Heal Pelvic Pain: The Proven Stretching, Strengthening, and Nutrition Program for Relieving Pain, Incontinence,& I.B.S, and Other Symptoms Without Surgery

The book Heal Pelvic Pain may be beneficial to her as a supplement to her pelvic floor therapy. Best of luck.

It's all so confusing haha I feel you. My PT appointment was definitely promising! I'm in NYC and go to Beyond Basics Physical Therapy, the head woman there is very invested in pelvic pain and came out with this book that I also bought! you should check it out if you're waiting to get in to see a PT as it has alot of exercises and massages in there, and the reviews are also very promising.

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https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0071546561/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I'm going to leave this book here in case she finds sex after this incident to be painful.

If anything hurts, stop.

Three fingers used shallowly will do nothing to help train your muscles, because they are an inch or so inside your vagina. Explore with one finger inserted past the muscle band. Then work up from there.

Stop attempting intercourse. There are plenty of ways to pleasure each other without it until your body is ready. Hands, mouths, sex toys (or safe objects covered in condoms) and other body parts (eg intercrural sex).

If you want more professional help, see a urogynaecologist (urogynecologist in US English) for diagnosis and referral to treatment.

I highly recommend working through the book "Heal Pelvic Pain" by Amy Stein. Lots of libraries have it.

Find a obgyn who specializes in vaginal disorders. Sounds like some form of vulvodynia. Topical medications and physical therapy can do wonders. Also, check out this book which has great advice for various vaginal disorders and exercises you can do at home:
https://www.amazon.com/Heal-Pelvic-Pain-Strengthening-Incontinence/dp/0071546561

I suffered for two years with a vaginal disorder (chronic years infections which caused vulvodynia) and still have issues from time to time so I know how frustrating it can be.

If you keep coming back negative for UTI and other infections, I would try to see a specialist. I see IC already mentioned here and it could be that or another one of many pelvic pain conditions that don't involve infection. I thought I had a problem with UTIs too. I saw several doctors. Medications and antibiotics didn't help. I finally saw a gyn specializing in pelvic pain and a urologist. Between the two of them, we worked out a solution. I recommend this [book](https://www.amazon.com/Heal-Pelvic-Pain- Strengthening-Incontinence/dp/0071546561/ref=sr_1_fkmr2_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1492197691&sr=8-1-fkmr2&keywords=heal+your+pelvic+pain+book) as well.

I'm assuming you've been checked for diabetes. It could be pfd as it sounds like they did thorough testing for anything else. Just warning you the tests for pfd are not pleasant.

I have pfd but it doesn't cause urinary problems too often for me but that doesn't mean you don't potentially have it. Also letting you know that with pfd, the mind is thought to be a major contributing factor and physical therapy is often accompanied with talk therapy. It's really up to you if you want to pursue testing and see if this route is worth it.

There's also a good book about pfd excercises if you just wanted to try them at home. Most of the exercises in the book are just regular stretches but there is some inner rectal work involved.

> I was told it was pelvic floor tension, and slowly over the years the flare ups just kind of became less and less.

That's interesting. Who told you this and what did they recommend for you at the time?

If the pain you're having is a recurrence of that issue, I'd recommend the book "Heal Pelvic Pain". Hopefully it's available in your country. There's a digital version you can read right away. It's effectively a home PT/physio program of gentle stretching, which is almost identical to what I was taught in PT.

It would make sense that you're continuing to experience breakthrough pain if the underlying condition isn't being treated. It's possible there may be more to it given the pain coinciding with your implant, but that's a good place to start.

I've got the same problem as you OP and, though no doctor has referred me to a specialist yet because they never fucking listen, I have some advice:

1. Stretch. Check out the pelvic floor stretches in this book and do them two or three times a day, every day.
   
   
2. Hot porridge/oatmeal for breakfast every morning with a hot cup of coffee/English Breakfast tea – the temperature of both foods, plus the fibre and caffeine stimulant usually create enough of a storm for me to have a big enough shit to be productive (completely evacuating is basically a non-starter for me now).
   
   
3. If you can, play browser games while you poo. I'm not joking, find a little surface you can put your laptop/iPad on slightly to the right/left of your position on the toilet, easily reachable, and play away. I find Transformice helps me the best, but you just need something that requires minimum mental effort but that is stimulating enough to distract you from your bowels.
   
   
4. Learn where the apex is. Pushing to shit with dyssynergic defecation only helps if you time it right. You need to completely relax right up until the point you know it's gonna come out, and then push from the upper abdomen downwards, if you get me. Not too hard, because that makes breaking up the shit more likely and having to start over. You want to get as much out in one push as you can, so start soft, and breathe through it.
   
   
5. If you've got something important to do, like an event or party, and don't want to have to think about shitting, two suppositories make the entire world fall out of my arse (do not do this too often – it becomes less effective with frequent use for anismus sufferers from what I can gather) and leaves me with decent relief.
   
   
6. When you go for a shit, remove your trousers/pants, underwear and socks. If you are flexible enough, literally pull your knees up and rest your heels on the rim of the toilet. This is a weird piece of advice, but one that has proven invaluable for me.
   
   
7. Last thing: stay mobile. I've recently finished uni in London for the year and have been extremely bored in my village family home. Played Skyrim for a week straight pretty much and barely moved. Made the problem so much fucking worse.
   
   
8. If you do not get regular exercise (walking is fine) and if your diet is shitty, this problem will get worse and rapidly. I just had to take sodium picosulfate (industrial-strength laxative, swear to God) for three days to go for a shit and I write this to you in the aftermath of an agonising episode on the toilet.
   
   
9. Botox injections are nothing to be worried about and are 80% effective in the short term, and almost 50% effective in the long term, IIRC. If you have the access (I envy you if so), go for it!
   
   EDIT: Regarding number 9, if the botox injection is not effective at all, there is usually a hidden prolapse that would not show up in regular tests – keep that in mind!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Heal-Pelvic-Pain-Strengthening-Incontinence/dp/0071546561

Get that book. It's by a proper physio and has things you can do for all manner of pelvic ailments. My physio recommended it too me for something else and it was great. Also see if you can find a womens health physio to check you out and see if there is anything you can do. The pelvic floor is often overlooked when people have pelvic area type issues.

My pelvic floor was over tight and it was aggravating things, may well be worth investigating.

Okay, my story itself may not be what you're looking for, but I'll go ahead and tell you a little bit about it. I have vaginismus due to having very severe endometriosis. I mean I'm just in constant pain, so whenever I try to insert something vaginally I usually get really overwhelmed and emotional and it will hurt in varying degrees usually depending on how bad my pelvic pain and or/depression is at the time.

Now, I haven't tried to have sex, and I'm nowhere near over it, but as a student hoping to be an OB/GYN, I can try to point you toward some help. I don't know your personal situation, but pelvic floor therapy is often the first line treatment for vaginismus. Pelvic floor therapy is something you can do on your own or with a physical therapist. If you're going to do it on your own, I'd recommend the book [Heal Pelvic Pain by Amy Stein.] ( http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0071546561?pc_redir=1411220987&robot_redir=1) If you want to try to find a physical therapist, [this] ( http://www.pelvicphysicaltherapist.com/home.html) site may be able to help you understand what goes in to this. I myself will probably see a pelvic floor therapist next semester. A huge key is just having a good support system. My parents and my family doctor are fantastic and make everything easier to bear :)

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me!