Physical Therapy

I recently finished a round of physical therapy & have since had several IC patients ask me about the results, etc. I decided to do a blog post about it to help answer some questions & break down what all was involved. I am only referring to my specific therapy regime, with my specific therapist, and cannot guarantee results or methods. Having said that, I personally believe that each IC patient suffers from PFD- Pelvic Floor Dysfunction, and I believe Physical Therapy to be a huge step in recovering from PFD.

I decided to start with a FAQ, then I'll follow that with a break down of what we did at each session of PT. I hope this helps those looking for answers, and gives anyone reading this a better idea of what living with & treating Interstitial Cystitis/Vulvodynia is like!

"Pain is your new normal"

Sounds like something your sergeant would say during boot camp, right? Well, it has sort of become my motto these past few years! I told my Physical Therapist what I meant, and she got it. My pain threshold has been raised (or lowered, depending on how you look at it) so that I am used to living in the level of pain that I have on a daily basis- it is my new "normal", the new "me".

I hadn't really noticed how used to pain I was until a couple of days last week I realized I had spent a couple hours with NO PAIN (at all!!) and it didn't hit me until the pain started up again. Wow, I wasn't in pain! That's kinda cool! (It's also kinda weird, as it feels like something is wrong with me!) Made me realize how much PT has helped me, and how far I've come since being diagnosed. So I thought I'd do a post about how I came to this point in my life.

Let's talk about S-E-X!

Ok, so right now, I'm going to give you fair WARNING. If you have no desire to hear about my sex life (and who could blame you) walk away NOW. If you're my brother or my mother in law, and you really don't want to know this... if you are one of those people who doesn't believe in TMI... just stop reading, hit the back button, and get on with your life!