I had pelvic physio today. I have met with the physio before and feel she really understands endo, however, I have had a very bad case and I am currently awaiting more surgery with a specialist, as my last op caused an unexplained sharp right side pain.
So today I had an internal. She believes my muscles are too tense (I agree) and she literally tried to “stretch” them. Anyone with endo can image how painful this was and she eventually had to stop. She was absolutely obsessed with telling me this is why I have painful sex even though I don’t and have never mentioned that!
The worst part is this whole thing has left me with that right side pain and I have literally been bed ridden with my hot water bottle, taking codeine and trying not to vomit since 9am. It’s cost me another sick day with work and potentially tomorrow.
I just don’t see how extreme agony all day afterwards is normal for physio?
They expect me to return for more but I feel pretty jaded about the whole thing now. Although I agree that things are too tense and I can see how manipulating these muscles could help, I also know that painful examinations is a very severe endo symptom for me and if they can’t even finish it, and I still have endo pulling things out of whack, I don’t see the point in putting myself through it.
Apologies for the long post. Has anyone else had an extremely painful experience? Is there light at the end of the physio tunnel?
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Ash24601
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I went to a private physio when I was diagnosed a few months ago. I got diagnosed through a referral to orthopaedics for back/hip pain so I new it would be a couple of months before I saw anyone endo related and went to the physio as I'd had good experiences with her in the past for other issues. I spoke to her and she seemed really confident that using pelvic visceral manipulation would help and so I had 2 sessions. It was all external but she was very heavy handed- I told her it was very sore and felt like she was pulling my organs apart, she laughed and said that's pretty much what she was doing! I went along with it, thinking 'no pain, no gain' but the reaction I had from both sessions was so extreme that I decided to stop. Each time left me bed ridden for a week, with really awful symptoms and having to use codeine just to sleep. It also seemed to have an impact on my periods which (despite my severe endo) are not an issue and always very regular but I was 10 days late and it was like no period I'd ever had- very heavy and painful. I didn't get any benefit from the sessions at all.
I also see a chiropractor for my back pain who is like a magician. She also does other body work with me that helps to release emotions stored in the body. When I told her about this, she was pretty concerned. She said that tissue dues not respond well to this type of heavy handedness. She said that it should be gentle pressure, not just pulling things apart. I'm really into yoga and have read a bit about how our internal tissue is held together with fascia, which is like a thin mesh over our body. When we push to hard into this, either through stretching or manipulation, it hardens and causes a stiffening but if we gently lean in to it and press against it slowly and gradually, it will begin to soften and give you space (this is what you do in restorative/yin yoga when you hold poses for long periods of time). It all made a lot of sense to me and was enough to help me decide to not go back.
I think with any type of healing, there may be an initial worsening of symptoms as the body heals. Like after a massage, you can feel awful as the toxins clear out but then a day later, you'll feel amazing. I think it can be hard sometimes to know if it's that 'healing' type of reaction or if it's just actually not doing you any good.
It's got to be your decision but I really do think you should trust your body- it will let you know (or maybe already has?!).
Thank you! This physio is part of a pain team in my local hospital but they also tried to talk me out of my upcoming surgery with the specialist so I have my concerns.
I have a friend who is a masseuse and she said the same thing about avoiding deep tissue on the belly. I’m so grateful she knows her stuff when it comes to endo!
That's not helpful to get conflicting advice from NHS. I think people are always going to have their opinions and i think it is good to hear a range of outlooks bit it's still your body and you're the expert in your own body. Any time I've had my reservations bout went along with someone else's view, I've always regretted it. I'm learning to just trust my gut (even if it is full of stinking endo! 😂).
Would you have a chance to talk it over with the endo specialist to see what they though?
First of all- ouch! I think we’ve all been there at some point and it’s still makes me grimace to hear of your ordeal.
Muscular pain largely comes not from injury itself but a build up of lactic acid in the affected areas. When they are manipulated into relaxation the lactic acid will be redistributed back into your blood stream. I have often felt and been sick after rigorous physio or osteopathy sessions and you definitely can feel achy. It sounds like your specific pain may be a nerve issue which means that your physio will need to work through your muscle tension repeatedly to get to the root of the problem. It will take time and you will be sore.
There’s a lot to be said for meditation to help compartmentalise some or most of the different types of pain you feel. I would suggest alternating between hot and cold, very light stretching and tapering off codeine into more manageable medications. The side effects of codeine will add to your discomfort inside a week. Hang in there! Xxx
I meditate and do yoga every day, outside of Endo flares I am a very active person. But this rightside pain comes on suddenly and literally makes me collapse in pain, oramorph and codiene don’t even help.
Unfortunately I cannot take many other painkillers as paracetamol gives me migraines, nsaids make my stomach bleed and I’m allergic to tramadol
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