Physio how to find uk

What's the best way to find a physio to asses pelvic floor muscles I'm in Northern Ireland researched a couple of times online with no great results , as I do feel they are exstremly overworking with all the tension with the pain any suggestions would be great ! And dialators any use or waste of money debating on buying some ? Xxxx

Hi there - usually a GP/specialist would refer you or if you want to go the private route have you tried PGOP? (Pelvic Obstetric and Gynaecological Physiotherapy) which is linked to the Chartered Society of Phyiotherapy. It's specialised for women's physiotherapy which is what you'll need.

http://acpwh.csp.org.uk/

If you go to the bottom of the page and the Find a Physio box and type in Northern Ireland a few options come up. Hope you find someone who can help.

Can't comment on dilators as I didn't use them but I know a lot of women on here have so i'm sure they will comment.

Thanks !!! I'm starting acupuncture on Monday , iv tryed googling womens pelvic floor assement a ect but obviously here they don't seem to be as many but yeah I am with a private gynocologist but luckily she's putting the rest if my treatment threw the NHS thank goodness this is all becoming exspensive !!! Did you find physio helped ? X

For me it was a chiropractor that made the biggest difference. The women's health physio I first went to focussed on my pelvic floor assessment but she missed the problem with my misaligned pelvis! I only found out about it cos I went to see a chiro about an unrelated problem with my neck and shoulder and she spotted the pelvis problem (due to a sacro-iliac joint that had been stiff and stuck probably for many years) which turned out to be the cause of my vvd. So make sure your physio checks out your back and pelvis structure as well as your pelvic floor just in case. A chiro will automatically do that but most can't/won't do internal pelvic floor work (I think McTimoney chiros can tho as there's been a vvd study using them)

I also did some home physio exercises from the Amy Stein book - Heal Pelvic Pain and i started yoga and pilates once my misalignment was corrected. It took a long time but it worked.

I know what you mean about expense tho! My physio was NHS but the chiro was private, but its worth it to get sorted. And i hope your acupuncture gives you some relief while you get the rest of your treatment sorted.
Lx

Thanks for the great answers I now think I should maybe atleast seek a chiropractors advice , iv had alit of random pain lol tbh I never thought a fall would cause all this !!! Well that's the main thing I think could trigger it yeno , are you cured now ??? Xo

Yes I would def say get as much professional advice/opinions as you can, keep your options open. I also never believed it could be related to my back or pelvis - I was convinced for ages that it was some type of sub-clinical thrush. But i'd had problems with my back before so when the chiro/yoga/pilates started to work it all kinda made sense in the end.

And yes I'm cured and back to normal now   So keep going - it's not a life sentence!
Lx

Thanks for the positive advice !!!!! Tomarrow I have my first acupuncture maybe it will give me. Bit of relief while I find the next parts to this puzzle ! Congrats on feeling better I think with feeling this way for five months if I felt better I'd cry with relief xxxxx

Chriopractor researching in the morning it is possibly the woman doing acupuncture may know of a good source. Yes I was thinking of buying that book is it good ? I just bought recently when sex hurts I'm about half way through so far it's interesting. Are you on any medication ? Was yours all over or one area ?? Sorry for a the questions it's just great to talk to someone in the uk who deals with referrals ect thanks xxxxx

Hi - sorry for delay in replying to you ZBrown, i only pop in here now and again. To answer your questions (and please don't worry about asking questions! I'm happy to answer in the hope it will help) - the Heal Pelvic Pain book is very good and easy to follow. But if any of the exercises or stretches cause you further pain just miss those out until you start to feel some improvements - listen to your body and don't push it too hard in the beginning especially if you do have tense muscles. Slow and gentle is best and it does take time to retrain your muscles so stick with it.

The only medication I ever took was painkillers (tho they didn't really help tbh). Personally I wasn't keen to do the Ami/Lyrica/Gabapentin etc cos I was concerned it would only treat the symptoms and not the cause - and also I hate taking any type of medication! So I went down the physio route first (with some acupuncture for pain relief), but if that hadn't worked then I would definitely have tried the medication.

My pain was all around my vestibule and when it was at its worst it also affected my clitoris. At its worst I also had some lower abdominal discomfort and a feeling of always needing to pee. The pain in my vestibule felt like a raw, burning feeling and when it was really bad it was like an intense stinging. Soooooo awful. As it gradually got better the burning eased to become more of a feeling of discomfort before finally disappearing.

How did you get on with the acupuncture?
xx

I find the acupuncture so far has not done much but iv only been twice , thanks for all the advice currently now the pains very raw and sore feeling ouch x