pelvic floor question--help--ouch! (Girly Stuff Warning)

[alphito]

I hope this isn't too TMI, but if I can't ask a bunch of fellow practitioners of a pelvically-focused dance form, who can I ask?

Moved to new city to dance my behind off. Core strength isn't quite where I'd like it to be; I pick up and move the lighter boxes, but a few times feel a pelvic floor muscle on one side strain. (Stop lifting stuff immediately and wait until icky feeling goes away, then resume carefully...but still have to lift some things some times.) Several days after the move is done, I still have the icky, sore feeling inside. This has happened before when lifting boxes at my job at a used bookstore, and it did go away after a few days, but I just wanted to know if any of you marvellously-body-aware dancers, many of whom have had bebes and gone through pelvic floor changes/restrengthenings, had ever experienced anything like this?

The first time it happened, I realized that the old-fashioned prohibitions regarding women and heavy lifting may have had some basis in fact. Even though this isn't what is actually happening, the strain in that area makes one horribly aware of the fact that stuff could actually drop out of there! Important stuff! And it doesn't feel good at all.

If this is still a problem in a few days, I'm hitting a clinic. I was bleeding and cramping during the move, and have chronic ovarian cysts, and think these things may have contributed to the owieness, which today feels like one-third strained muscle, one-third menstrual cramp (that's the cysts), and one-third UTI (which I know it isn't). I've been doing Kegels and the BD moves that feel good, avoiding those that don't. I've tried just sitting on the couch reading and resting and it's making me crazy; the move interrupted my (mostly) daily practice and my body needs to be put through its paces. (I also went to see some live electronic music three nights ago and tipsily boogied down a little more than I had intended, and I know that probably didn't help.)

Anyone have stretches, particular exercises, or, most especially, experiences to share? It would help immensely! Thank you.

-----alphito--is Antoinette--is in Chicago now!--chomping at the bit to get out there, dance, and meet everybody.

[alphito]

--don't know if a *bump* is still necessary or not.

[kina]

If I were you, I'd go to the doc now. I wouldn't wait. Go now.

[Lauren_]

Wow, that sounds deeply awful. Not something I've ever experienced, two pregnancies and all.

I hope it's just a strained pelvic floor muscle. I do know that when I work out on the abs machine at the gym, I can feel it in my pelvic floor and that's usually what stops me from adding more weight, NOT any weakness in the abs themselves. So there *could* be a connection to heavy lifting, I'd think.

What else could it be? A hernia?

This bit

the strain in that area makes one horribly aware of the fact that stuff could actually drop out of there! Important stuff!

made me think of a dropped uterus, but I don't know much about that. But I strongly agree with your thoughts of visiting a clinic and getting a professional opinion -- and I'm Miss No-Go-To-Doctor, so that's sayin' something.

[ssipes]

I have had pains in those muscles before for no reason; they just go away after a while. However, I have similar ephemeral and unexplained pains, sometimes very acute, in just about all my muscles fairly often, and have long suspected I have a mild type of fibromyalgia or chronic myofacial pain.

it is possible with the other health issues you mentioned, that you have developed chronic trigger points in the pelvic floor that are irritated by exertion. It is also fairly common to have chronic trigger points in the iliopsoas muscle, which can cause pelvic pain. But I agree you should check with a doctor.

[alphito]

Thank you so much Kina, Lauren, and Sedonia for the support and advice (and pets!)...I don't think it actually *is* anything dropped or torn (it all seems to be in the right place), just sore. I'm definitely going to P.P. Monday if it hasn't improved as much as I feel it should. Today it is a little bit better than yesterday.

I am so tired of having this weird body that doesn't do anything normally and has 2-5 things wrong with it and sapping my energy and peace of mind at any and all times!! I was also up all last night with asthma, which is like running a race, but it's just to breathe (and you're not getting nearly enough, and every muscle in your chest is seizing), for as many hours as it takes to let up. When it's like that, I get to bed at dawn. If it couldn't dance, I don't know what I'd do. I keep telling myself that the fitter I get and the better my diet is, the better all these things will get, but sometimes it just wears me out. I just want to go to class, or even do a video all the way through. Really good doctors would help, but they're a rarity when you're uninsured.

Sedonia, I also suspect some autoimmune weirdness in myself for the same reasons and a few others. You seem to be extremely knowledgeable about diet, and that's something I'm really working on myself, because I know it's a recommended holistic method of dealing with that kind of thing. I cut out gluten and it ended 3 years of bloating and stomachaches, am now removing the occasional dairy item to see if it helps the asthma, and may go vegetarian at some point...but boy, does it make eating out/with others frustrating! In America, every-fricking-thing has bread or breading in or on it. Thank goodness for Vietnamese, Korean, and Thai.

Thanks again, all of you. Going to take some more vitamins and sit and read and relax, and wait for my cells to regenerate :)

[bintbeled]

Asthma is awful stuff. Sending positive energy your way, poor thing...

[HotDogYogini]

I had bloating myself which ended by taking up a Dr. Atkins / South Beach dietary approach. (also jibes w/ the blood type diet for my blood type - O) I limit all carbs, don't eat any fruit, hardly any sugar. I eat mostly veggies and meat, eggs, cheese, & yoghurt. Diet & allergies are very idiosyncratic. I seem to have a mess of allergies coupled with a tendency to candida (yeast) overgrowth. I am not sure if you have allergies causing your asthma but many do. You might want to try a good acupuncturist. Maybe a Chinese. My sister's family is having very good luck with allergies, cravings & female trouble. I used to go to some good Westerners trained in Worsley (5 element) school as well as 8 principles, but they are going to a Chinese fellow & he sounds terrific. I tried the Naet & it didn't work for me, but I do know someone it worked for. (Nambudripad's Allergy Elimination Techniques)

Also, yoga breathing techniques could be helpful & they aren't hard. My old teacher has a CD for practicing. I am pretty sure it starts at a very easy level. "Pranayama: Preparations and Beginnings," John Schumacher, CD $18.00 See:

http://www.unitywoods.com/boutique.html

[HotDogYogini]

Another thing I found out to my surprise from a chiropractor is that a bad allergy day can equal muscle weakness by itself. (Yogis know that the body can act very differently on different days.) So, about a yr & a half of rain (I have a bad mold allergy) was a partial cause of fatigue & injury. I also found that I need to eat before exercise to help avoid injury. I also eat more earlier in the day now & that helps to maintain energy throughout the day. My secret weapon (since about age 46) is that I take DHEA. A pharmacist told me about that. If I miss my DHEA, I am tired & cannot exercise or dance as well. Research it though, I seem to need it, but, it's not something sanctioned by the FDA or universally recommended by holistic practitioners either.

[Genisis]

I don't know if this is relevant at all but I managed to pinch both sciatic nerves about a year and a half to two years ago. I don't know how it happened but it did and man did it make dancing hard. Thats one of those things that you need to see a chiropractor for unless you get incredibly lucky. I happened to get pregnant shortly before the second nerve got pinched and I decided to wait it out betting that as my hips expanded that the nerve would be released. I was right! Yay!

Your original post for this was a couple weeks ago so hopefully you've been to the Doc and everythings doing ok. I hope you get better. :-)

Yours,
~*Genisis*~

[alphito]

The little muscle has gotten better, but I am extremely aware now of how weak my core is, and am going to retailor my practice to address that. (I've had the pinched nerves off and on before, and they suck!! but this is something else.) Too often, if I'm alone and on 'down time', no one watching, I let my core awareness go and slump. How stupid is that? *I* am always here, in both my beauty and my imperfection. Every moment is the moment. I'm aggravated with myself that after years of meditation, etc., I still haven't completely integrated 'every minute of the day' with 'what really matters.' Stupid traces of childhood programming!

I do chest stretches, and breathing exercises sometimes, but to be honest, for years they just aggravated the asthma into an attack every time. I think it has to be snuck up on, since what causes it is at a deeper level than the lungs.

The DHEA thing sounds interesting, and I'll do one of those mail-away tests to see if it might be ok for my hormone profile. Something I've just read is that asthmatics typically have almost none in their bodies!! My chiropractor suggested adrenal fatigue months ago when I rolled out my list of problems, and all of this looks to be coming together...it's linked to arthritis, allergies & asthma, digestive trouble, weird sleep patterns, fatigue, brain fog, bad skin, weight gain around the middle...all of which is my life! There are two pressure points beneath the collarbone that he showed me, and mine are so sore/inflamed that I'm red there all the time, and if I press, there's a white mark like on a severe sunburn. I haven't been working these every day...another thing on the list of to-dos.

I'm currently testing a 'cocktail' of double doses of magnesium (another chronic deficiency in asthmatics...they give you a shot of it in the emgcy. room if you come in with a bad attack!), NAC, C, E, and fish oil. It seems to be helping so far: I can feel the mag. in particular open up my lungs a bit, right away upon taking the pill.

I so desperately hope to be able to figure out why my body is kinda miswired and responding improperly to things. I've taken some big steps this year and look forward to observing the results as my body adjusts. Supplements are becoming some important puzzle pieces. I want to rebuild what's weak, not drug it all into submission.

I couldn't even find the strength of heart and spirit to tackle any of it were it not for dance!

[maliam]

Hi Alphito,

I'm currently 7 months pregnant and having some severe pelvic floor pain. I've been prescribed physical therapy and am hoping to start next week. If I learn any helpful exercises I'll be sure to share. I don't know the cause of your pain, but my midwife mentioned that my pelvic floor muscles are getting extremely fatigued and when coupled with less-supportive bones (due to my pelvis spreading) it causes the cervix to drop down a bit. It sounds like you may have just made your muscles tired. Don't forget to stretch after lifting so much.

Also on a side note, do you drink a lot of caffeine? I'm prone to ovarian cysts and had to give up drinking coffee and soda to prevent them. Many women I know get cysts, either ovarian or in the breast tissue, due to caffeine. Vit E pills will also help rid you of them.

Hope this helps!

[antimony]

If you have access to a pool, there's a great water exercise to strengthen your core without putting stress on your neck or spine.

Push off on your back with your arms held together over your head, instead of doing a flutter kick, do a dolphin kick. The movement is basically an undulation or camel that you let continue through your legs. (It ripples through the hips/knees/ankles the same way snake arms ripple through shoulder/elbow/wrist) Concentrate to power the movement by moving your hips with your abdominal muscles, not by just kicking from the knee. The water applies resistance against your hip movement, which makes your abdominals work harder. In addition, the obliques and other smaller core muscles engage to keep your movement symmetrical, and keep you level in the water.

It works as well or better than crunches and other "land" exercises, but the water supports your neck. Oddly enough it works much better on your back than it does when you dolphin kick face down. I think it's because you're up on the surface when you're on your back, so you have to push harder into the water.

[nasila]

I have to revive this thread because it reminds me of something Heather Shoopman (tribal fusion dancer/teacher in LA) said:

A reverse camel starts in your vagina.

I've never heard it put quite that way, but when you think about the move that way you could be practicing your kegels and your dancing at the same time. :)

[shimmycelia]

hope you are getting somewhere with all this - I do sympathise - I'd leave off any heavy lifting at all - some of us are just not designed to do this.

more nasty girlie stuff !!
I 've had one pelvic floor op already and another scheduled very soon - I did think that lots of pelvic and core muscle work would preclude this but apparently there are some things that you just can't guard against - or fix by yourself.
B***ger!