My Experience with Pelvic Floor Physiotherapy So Far

It’s been two sessions. Just two sessions, and I’m loving physiotherapy and the results it’s bringing me.

Recently, I made the decision to seek physiotherapy and nutritional support. Well, I found an incredible physiotherapist who not only happens to be local, but also happens to play a really active role in the professional women’s health community in the UK. Because she’s not in London, she’s also much, much more affordable than the previous prices that I had seen when living in the capital.

Finding a physiotherapist

A few people have asked me how I found her. I’ve never had any NHS practitioner offer me or recommend physio for endometriosis, so I didn’t waste my time. Instead, I reached out to my community of IWHI students and she was recommended there. My suggestion to others is to ask around and find out what you should be looking for in a pelvic floor physiotherapist. A great book to help you know what to look for in a physio is Beating Endo, and you can also listen to my interview with Heba Shaheed.

My first session

I had my first session with my physio about a month ago and it was the most comprehensive consultation I’ve ever had. I was listened to for a full 40 minutes before the examination even began, by which point I was so comfortable with her that I wasn’t even nervous or shy about the internal examination. I was asked questions such as:

• How many times a day do you urinate?
• Do you wake up to urinate at night? How often?
• Does your bladder hurt? When and where?
• How much water do you drink?
• How are you bowel movements?
• Is sex comfortable/uncomfortable/painful?

She also did a deep dive into my medical history and any history of possible pelvic trauma such as falls, surgeries, etc. After our chat, she did an examination and discovered multiple adhesions, muscle tension, and a tight pelvic floor, with trigger points inside my vagina.

I was given four very easy and accessible exercises to do every day, holding for 30 seconds each: Cat cow pose, side lunge, forward fold, and child’s pose. I’ve been doing these every day since, and the results have been so quick, it’s remarkable.

The benefits

The benefits I’ve experienced so far are:

Reduced bladder frequency

This was the first thing I noticed. My physio told me to reduce my water intake as I was drinking way too much for my size, and the combination of this and the exercises seemed to lessen my frequency by at least 25% in the first 7-10 days. I can’t tell you how freeing it is to not have to interrupt my day 20-30 times to go to the bathroom!

Less painful hips/more flexibility

The day after my second session, I went for a cliff top walk. Usually, there’s a point I get to where I have to turn around because my hips are seizing up and my pelvis feels like it’s made out of lead! But we reached that point, and I realized I felt good – no pain, no stiffness! So we kept walking... and walking. I ended up walking for four hours that day, two hours more than I usually can!

Less bladder pain

This has been the most recent change. My physio has helped me identify some of my trigger foods I wasn’t aware of, and avoiding those in combination with my exercises seems to be reducing the inflammation in my bladder and I am now rarely being woken up with bladder pain. It feels like a miracle!