What is Reddit's opinion of Heal Pelvic Pain: A Proven Stretching, Strengthening, and Nutrition Program for Relieving Pain, Incontinence, IBS, and Other Symptoms Without Surgery (All Other Health)?

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

Thanks! It’s been an experience. I actually shifted my career a bit from a more physically demanding position to a less active one due to ic. (Not a mover, but an archivist and I was moving a lot of boxes, items, collections, etc.) Diet does help-at least at first-you may be able to cheat more as you recover. This is just a stupidly frustrating road block before you get better. It does get better. I just got a new bike after being unable to really ride for years!

It’s very easy to feel hopeless and down on yourself, but try to remember that just because your life has changed doesn’t mean it’s over. Ic has made me more empathetic, helped me help others, and given me new perspectives on life and my own strengths.

Meal prepping and finding a protein shake you can tolerate might help since eating on the road is tough. I still have fast food, but might have a plain burger, plain fries, and a water or a plain grilled chicken sandwich.

I do outdoorsy stuff on weekends, but I definitely have to time it out and give myself downtime. I’m also on medication that helps and do bladder installations at home. Find a urologist who specializes in IC.

Meditation and managing emotions can also help, though that’s easier said than done, as I am learning.

I did PT for a year twice a week. It was a slow process, but it’s an effective one. It helped to start with a consistent practice and learn what I could do at home, which is what I do now. There’s a book called Heal Pelvic Pain that gives exercises you can try at home.

https://www.amazon.com/Heal-Pelvic-Pain-Strengthening-Incontinence/dp/0071546561/ref=nodl_

It’s not quite as effective as a specialist I imagine, but it’s something you could try to become comfortable with the process.

Definitely get rid of that doctor!

I was having the same issue and no infection, terrible bladder pain and urgency. For me, I had scar tissue on my bladder (outside not inside so not seen on a cystoscopy but found during another surgery). My doctor recommends this book to lots of patients:

Heal Pelvic Pain: The Proven Stretching, Strengthening, and Nutrition Program for Relieving Pain, Incontinence,& I.B.S, and Other Symptoms Without Surgery https://www.amazon.com/dp/0071546561/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_A7RtFb3RX3ZAD

Yes, it comes and goes. Sometimes I sleep with a 4% lidocaine patch on my lower back and that helps, too. My PT recommended this book: https://www.amazon.com/Heal-Pelvic-Pain-Strengthening-Incontinence/dp/0071546561/ . About half of what it recommends for pelvic pain also happens to be effective when the origin of the pain is OA.

It is unlikely you need to strengthen your pelvic floor, so don't do kegels, these could actually be detrimental if you are tightening up an already tight floor and I think are more for women with a loose pelvic floor after childbirth say. Look up reverse kegels. This is the act of relaxing and 'dropping' the pelvic floor. I found Amy Stein's book helpful which talks through how to drop your pelvic floor whilst doing deep breathing.

Yeah mate it is tough in the UK to find a PT. Where are you based? There is Gerard Greene near Birmingham if that is helpful. I've not seen him but he is recommended on the UCPPS forum. Otherwise if you are really struggling you could always look up womens pelvic floor physios and then check to see if they would also do mens.

Hi, I can relate to how you feel.

Someone else on Reddit recommended this book and it has really helped me. https://www.amazon.com/Heal-Pelvic-Pain-Strengthening-Incontinence/dp/0071546561

I am not completely painfree but have made huge improvements in the past two months.

> I was told it was pelvic floor tension, and slowly over the years the flare ups just kind of became less and less.

That's interesting. Who told you this and what did they recommend for you at the time?

If the pain you're having is a recurrence of that issue, I'd recommend the book "Heal Pelvic Pain". Hopefully it's available in your country. There's a digital version you can read right away. It's effectively a home PT/physio program of gentle stretching, which is almost identical to what I was taught in PT.

It would make sense that you're continuing to experience breakthrough pain if the underlying condition isn't being treated. It's possible there may be more to it given the pain coinciding with your implant, but that's a good place to start.

I’ve found this book to be helpful https://www.amazon.com/Heal-Pelvic-Pain-Strengthening-Incontinence/dp/0071546561.

Every day is a new chance to make progress. I wish you the best.

taking walks, doing yoga and stretches for the pelvic floor- namely pigeon pose, the similar one where you lay on your back with your knee bent up on you against your other leg, and stretches that get into your hips. also stretching sideways to stretch your probably tight arm muscles into your obliques. for me anyway, bc mine's usually related to dehydration combined with pelvic floor weakness that comes back when i don't go on walks enough, don't stretch enough, and don't work on building my glutes with all those little pilates butt exercises.

of course if you're injured be careful and listen to your body to know what's safe. but you might want to work on your core/lower back/glute strength in general to help with this stuff. the yoga and stretches really helps both to release pent up stuff caught in there, and to stretch and release the painful spots so they can flow better in general. make sure you're breathing through your diaphragm, deep breaths in (open belly like you have an expanding balloon inside), and out (the balloon is sinking and deflating).

hope any of these leads help you out. i would be careful with the advice to add a lot of fiber, bc when you're trapped up it can just lead to more time trapped up on the toilet and you end up in more pain and discomfort and can end up with hemorrhoids (rutin helps this). if you want to increase your fiber maybe blend some food into a soup. like i made carrot ginger soup last night with carrots, ginger, onions, garlic and etc so those are nourishing foods, and they're still fiber, but they're in a more easily digestible form so the body won't get more blocked up. when i was adding more fiber i was just miserable. it wasn't until a post i saw with an "unpopular opinion" about not adding fiber- it made so much sense.

the problem isn't to add stuff to your dry trapped waste. it's to get it out, and making the muscles stronger, moving and lubricating the pathways, that's what gets things going. also i would generally look into prebiotics and probiotics, and get a nice healthy dose of kombucha or yogurt to help sort things out. your gut health might be suffering if you're anything like me and you might see some "unrelated" symptoms that eventually all end up being down to the same basic failures you need to correct. all the issues i had all needed the same methods to fix them and it turned out to be basically that i have a super weak and also tight pelvic floor. so stretching helps me from my toes to my tmj (yes, that can be pelvic floor tightness!) and glute exercises makes me stronger. it's a combo. if you think this might be your issue then there's a book about healing pelvic pain that i highly recommend.

i also left a smaller message below you might want to check out.

i have a very tight pelvic floor that causes issues all over. i also have very tight hips. i've had to figure out mostly on my own, bc my drs were more like taking data than helping with options, but this is what i surmise about myself, that could be true for you.

a) i am very very weak. mostly due to having adhd/trauma combined with wrist issues and pelvic floor issues. one or another thing always gets in the way of anything that could help me consistently stay fit and gain muscle.

b) due to this severe weakness, my core and lower back muscles are pretty weak and atrophied and other parts of my body are overcompensating. i also have shit posture if i'm being honest.

c) i also have to actively constantly practice not tensing my gut and not breathing shallow. i have to focus on long deep breathing.

d) putting a pillow under my legs makes my low back pain worse and my hips tighter. likely bc my core and back muscles are so weak and this leads to further atrophy.

e) pelvic floor exercises and breathing help. walking consistently helps. doing glute bridges and clamshells and related exercises helps. this leads me to believe my weak glute muscles are a large part of the process for me personally.

f) this 12 minute video may or may not help with the rest of it, but you hold your core the whole time and i went from barely being able to move even with stretching all day long due to extremely tight hips and constant back pain (that's worse when the pelvic floor issues clog me up)- to within two days feeling like my back is just fine and my hips aren't tight anymore. you absolutely have to be consistent with this video! not only are you building strength in those muscles that over time will help you support your body better, but taking time off just makes you start over repeatedly in this process. the most i can take off is 2 days between bc i'm very weak and i feel the results of doing the things or not doing the things quite quickly.

g) i also have a paid program called restore your core that i would say is worth it but that i am not consistent with bc i have my own issues. and i have a book that i used before i had access to all of these methods, that is full of stretches, called Heal Pelvic Pain

This book: https://www.amazon.com/Heal-Pelvic-Pain-Strengthening-Incontinence/dp/0071546561

hi! so this book is one i was recommended and have been using.

also here is some info saved in a comment, but i don't personally have experience with these specific resources.

> The two most popular books are probably The Interstitial Cystitis Solution by Nicole Cozean (covers information relevant to all sexes, but emphasis on vaginas) and A Headache in the Pelvis (also relevant to all sexes, but emphasis on penises). They both have pretty good descriptions of at-home techniques. I have read both and got useful information from them, which in the case of Cozean's book was a bit of a surprise because of the clickbaity title.

here's another quote- i would add to this one that katy bowman has a ton of books, articles, and podcasts, as well as some tailored videos you can purchase with restorative stretches and exercises for various issues. her writing is great.

separately, there's also kit laughlin's work, which i highly recommend if you're in need of some seriously deep stretching.

>There is also a video on DVD for PFD exercises that I’ve used called “Pilates Dawn“. The author is a licensed OT therapist who specializes in PFD therapy.

also here are three youtube channels that might be useful. the flower empowered, restore your core, femfusion. i will note that though these are focused more on women, men can still find them helpful.

You might try this book: https://www.amazon.com/Heal-Pelvic-Pain-Strengthening-Incontinence/dp/0071546561, I worked on those stretches when I was living abroad and it helped me some.

There's a great book called 'Heal Pelvic Pain' that I am working my way through - it includes a whole section on stretches that help your pelvic floor, and intra-vaginal massage you can do with just your fingers. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0071546561?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

I think there's a kindle edition that you could have on the ap on your phone or PC if you don't want the physical book lying around where people can find it.

I've only been doing it once a day before bed for a few days (building up to the two/three times a day recommended in the book) but it has helped my overall comfort levels - especially with working from home, sitting down a lot, and having a lot of soreness and tightness.

https://youtu.be/2yx0_PK0Q-4 there's also this video on stretches to relax your pelvic floor that I've used before, but I switched to the routine from the book. They are similar though!

I think stretches are really helpful - I don't know that they will 'cure' anything on their own, but they are certainly a good start for relaxing tight muscles.

I’ve found this book to be very helpful

https://www.amazon.com/Heal-Pelvic-Pain-Strengthening-Incontinence/dp/0071546561

I've got the same problem as you OP and, though no doctor has referred me to a specialist yet because they never fucking listen, I have some advice:

1. Stretch. Check out the pelvic floor stretches in this book and do them two or three times a day, every day.

2. Hot porridge/oatmeal for breakfast every morning with a hot cup of coffee/English Breakfast tea – the temperature of both foods, plus the fibre and caffeine stimulant usually create enough of a storm for me to have a big enough shit to be productive (completely evacuating is basically a non-starter for me now).

3. If you can, play browser games while you poo. I'm not joking, find a little surface you can put your laptop/iPad on slightly to the right/left of your position on the toilet, easily reachable, and play away. I find Transformice helps me the best, but you just need something that requires minimum mental effort but that is stimulating enough to distract you from your bowels.

4. Learn where the apex is. Pushing to shit with dyssynergic defecation only helps if you time it right. You need to completely relax right up until the point you know it's gonna come out, and then push from the upper abdomen downwards, if you get me. Not too hard, because that makes breaking up the shit more likely and having to start over. You want to get as much out in one push as you can, so start soft, and breathe through it.

5. If you've got something important to do, like an event or party, and don't want to have to think about shitting, two suppositories make the entire world fall out of my arse (do not do this too often – it becomes less effective with frequent use for anismus sufferers from what I can gather) and leaves me with decent relief.

6. When you go for a shit, remove your trousers/pants, underwear and socks. If you are flexible enough, literally pull your knees up and rest your heels on the rim of the toilet. This is a weird piece of advice, but one that has proven invaluable for me.

7. Last thing: stay mobile. I've recently finished uni in London for the year and have been extremely bored in my village family home. Played Skyrim for a week straight pretty much and barely moved. Made the problem so much fucking worse.

8. If you do not get regular exercise (walking is fine) and if your diet is shitty, this problem will get worse and rapidly. I just had to take sodium picosulfate (industrial-strength laxative, swear to God) for three days to go for a shit and I write this to you in the aftermath of an agonising episode on the toilet.

9. Botox injections are nothing to be worried about and are 80% effective in the short term, and almost 50% effective in the long term, IIRC. If you have the access (I envy you if so), go for it!

EDIT: Regarding number 9, if the botox injection is not effective at all, there is usually a hidden prolapse that would not show up in regular tests – keep that in mind!

Good tips. Near identical story to mine. It's amazing how ignored this issue is.

Edit: Wanted to post this cause someone PMed me and I hope others can benefit from what I've learned.

Oh I'm not cured but it's getting better. My problem now is mostly back and leg pain. But no more several pain in the urinary system. I still pee more than it should but it's been worse.

First off, probably buy this book: https://www.amazon.com/Heal-Pelvic-Pain-Strengthening-Incontinence/dp/0071546561

And access that this condition will take time to cure. Like, months at the minimum. It sucks but you have to accept it.

Now your diet has something to do with it. In general you want to stay away from caffeine, alcohol, and spicy food. These tend to cause inflammation. But a strict diet alone won't cure this (diet is covered in the above book). Also in my experience weed doesn't help this condition. In my case it may have caused it. I don't smoke anymore.

Next you need to breath. Deep, belly breaths, as often as you can remember to. I'm still bad at this. In fact, you need to relax in general. Massages, hot baths, and taking it easy will help. Unclench your buttcheeks. Get into the habit of just...loosening muscles consciously.

Maybe you already know a lot of this stuff. Maybe you also know about internal pelvic floor massage. It's really not a pleasant topic. Look into a therawand.

I try to stretch for an hour a day and do cardio for 20 mins or more most day of the week, too. Gentle cardio, like ellipticals or hiking uphill. Don't do things that'll hurt you more.

Umm what else. Try to find a physical therapist that specialists in gyno-urological issues. One who specializes in PFD and Chronic pelvic pain. They exist. I also currently see a chiropractor for my back. Adjustments help a little. Gonna get an MRI soon. But in reality you're gonna have to do most of the work yourself.

Which is why I said you have to be patient and willing to put in effort. I've been slacking lately. But it takes a lot of effort, on the order of a couple hours a day at least. Trying not to sit any longer than you need (tough for me working in IT - it's gotten so bad I considered disability before). I barely play games or sit upright at home anymore. I try to lay down or otherwise get pressure off my pelvic whenever I can. Follow the stretching and strengthening in that book above, as well as other exercises.

Also heat and ice help. Apply them to affected areas. Yoga, Pilates, and anything like that definitely won't hurt.

I'll probably post this publicly for others to benefit from. I've been fighting this for months and done a ton of research and also seen like 20 doctors it feels like.

Hope this helps. If you know anything I don't I'd appreciate it.

This is probably overkill, but a friend of mine used the excercises in this physical therapy book to turn her painful sex into awesome multi-orgasmic sex.

http://www.amazon.com/Heal-Pelvic-Pain-Strengthening-Incontinence/dp/0071546561

It's under $13 on Amazon before shipping :)