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physical therapy

Thinking of trying "physical therapy"?

At CureTogether, thousands of people worldwide are sharing data (anonymously) on their experience with Vulvodynia - and hundreds of other health conditions - to help each other better understand their health and find the right treatments.

In our live, online study of 962 people with Vulvodynia, 36% of 428 respondents have tried "physical therapy":

Tried "physical therapy" for Vulvodynia?

What effect did "physical therapy" have on your Vulvodynia?

much worse	(1)
slightly worse	(1)
no effect / uncertain	(46)
moderate improvement	(48)
major improvement	(22)

See how "physical therapy" compares with other Vulvodynia treatments.

10 comments on physical therapy:

I did this for 6 months, beginning with biofeedback (which seemed to aggravate my particular symptoms) and then internal trigger point massage which hurt like hell but seemed to give me hours of relief. 'It' always came back however, usually the next day, to the extent that my very experienced and able PT referred me back to gynae saying that there was either a structural or an allergic causation. Gynae is not sure that the mild rectocele I've got is causing the pain. I'm sure something allergic is going on with me. Anyhow, strongly recommend that sufferers try to get hold of good PT because it definitely helps some folk. Beware of those PT types who are jumping on this particular bandwagon recently however - check out their actual knowledge and understanding.
Posted by: matilda August 20, 2009 12:40 am

PT didn't do much of anything for me. However, I recently learned that I have a tailbone misalignment issue, and that this has made my pelvic floor asymmetrical. Am hoping to see an alternative PT in Ohio who has much familiarity with pelvic floor misalignment. He doesn't do the typical internal stretching, but that stuff never helped me anyway (I've had extensive PT).
Posted by: Little One July 5, 2009 11:56 pm

Go to therapist who specializes in pelvic pain. Of all the medical providers I have seen or currently see, she has the best suggestions about whom else I might/should see. Sometimes the PT helps; sometimes it makes it worse. Now i've learned that this is because of the Bartholin's gland; when she doesn't touch this, it's better. When she does, it's worse. Now we both know this. She helped me learn how to recognize and relax my pelvic floor muscles.
Posted by: freepress February 23, 2009 6:51 pm

My Pt listened well % was helpful in letting me know what wasn't wrong, but seemed to have more experience with vaginal pain. Mine is vulva. Did vaginal stretches & bladder triggerpoints that didn't help pain. But ultrasound helped lower the pain for hrs, maybe the rest of the day. My time is used up in PT now, so no more relief.. Doing the stretches, trigger points & kegels at home seem to make my pain worse all day. So I don't know what to do now?? Just do it off & on.
Posted by: hollyleaf February 10, 2009 11:55 pm

I get temporary relief from manual therapy on pelvic floor muscles. The longest length of time it has helped is about one week. I hope the longer in therapy the better the results. One thing for sure is that my physical therapist has been the most understanding and willing to listen to my symptoms than any of the drs. I've seen. I was referred to the PT by my gyn, but the gyn was not helpful in offering anything else besides the meds I was already on for fibromyalgia and back pain for 10 years before having this.
Posted by: no.help.in.atlanta February 7, 2009 7:17 pm

I feel so much better now - I also got a vestibulectomy BEFORE starting PT so that makes PT itself more tolerable.
Posted by: marit_pk January 25, 2009 2:07 pm

MY physiotherapist showed me ways to monitor the pain and to understand where it was coming from. Was a great help mentally to have someone explain it and physically help me towards understanding and hopefully fixing the problem.
Posted by: Cara_Rouge January 23, 2009 7:31 pm

One way to find a specialized PT is to go to the APTA women's health web page for a list by region. It isn't a guarantee. As a PT who does do pelvic floor PT I sometimes get patients who have not had good experiences elsewhere. Go by your gut. If you call to make an appointment tell the secretary you will make an appointment AFTER you speak to the PT. If the PT won't make time for you or you get a bad feeling...don't go. Usually vulvodynia is related to an overactive pelvic floor and kegal exercise can make it worse. If the PT assigns you kegals and tells you to keep doing them even if you feel a little uncomfortable....red flag.
Posted by: sinatra December 30, 2008 10:11 am

had some very good results with this. it'd be even better if i were able to follow through on daily exercises -- but it really wears me out emotionally.
Posted by: rothko November 21, 2008 8:30 pm

Pelvic floor dysfunction is a big part of vulvar pain, surprisingly. Treatment of PFD is specialized and not routinely part of PT coursework. There are three courses taught in grad continuing education programs, but even those courses do not teach some of the techniques developed by the clinical experience of a handful of PTs nationwide. PT has been one of the MOST helpful things for me, but finding the good PT is hard.
Posted by: McTwirly October 4, 2008 11:19 pm