u/Hannah-Higgins

My physio thinks that my tight pelvic floor muscles are irritating the nearby nerves. I get this pain similar to a burning sensation )but it’s not actually burning) in the vulva area but it doesn’t feel like the skin or muscle, I can’t quite pinpoint where the pain comes from. It can fluctuate a lot, some days I barely have pain, others i’m in a lot of pain most the day. But I can definitely tell peeing or pooing triggers this nerve irritation. Anywhere from a minute after to hours after peeing this discomfort begins. The worse the pain, the sooner the onset is after using the bathroom. I can definitely tell that it’s a major trigger. I haven’t really identified any other triggers so far.

A few weeks ago I tried a heating pad (one of those wheat ones you heat up in the microwave) and have been laying it over my genital area. I’ve noticed it helps with my pain caused by tight muscles. I wouldn’t say it’s a significant help, but i’ve definitely noticed it made my pain go from a 6/10 to a 4/10 so that’s an improvement!

I’ve seen a pelvic floor therapist a few times now. She has suggested i do belly breathing to help relax my tight pelvic floor muscles.

I noticed that after doing the belly breathing I am actually in more pain than to begin with. At first I thought my technique was wrong and I was forcing and pushing the muscles too hard to try to get them to lengthen and relax. I spoke to her about this at my last session. She said my breathing technique was pretty good and i was allowing the muscles to relax. She said to help the pain, I should take smaller breaths and on the exhale I lightly squeeze then release the muscles for a few breathes, then continue with the normal belly breathing. I tried this after the session and still felt the same worsened pain.

When i do the belly breathing I feel like because my attention and focus is on the pelvic muscles, I subconsciously tighten the muscles and this could be causing the worsened pain. I will speak to my physio about this, but if anyone could give some insight or advice i’d really appreciate it.