physio????

am starting physio on monday, scared and excited about it. scared of being touched but so hopeful of the relief it might bring, has it worked for any of u? also i get burning sensation in my inner thighs and down my leg as far as my knee, usually worse on right side and usually worse in the evening time, any one else have this symptom??

Hi there, don't be scared of having physio, it will involve an examination of your vulva and one finger inserted to assess the pelvic floor as you're told to contract it but it's nothing to be frightened or worried about. I would think your pelvic alignment would be looked at too probably in standing and possibly in laying too, your leg lengths should be checked and hip mobility is a possibility too, depends on the therapist. They may feel your spine and get you to bend in different directions to see how well it moves and your feet will be mentoned if you have fallen arches, it really depends on whether the physio is going to look at the whole picture or just the pelvic floor. Some women's health physios do internal massage and if it's too painful tell them. I've managed to get my resting tone from 20 to 12-14 with the help of a physio and my SI joints are a bit more stable than they previously were even if they're still very wobbly compared to everyone elses! It's a positive thing and may even be your solution. I also get burning down my legs, sometimes the front and sometimes the inner thighs but I have trigger points all over so it's no surprise really! If your pelvic floor is tight your adductors probably will be too as they work together. Good luck and let us all know how you get on.

thanks sarah, after speaking briefly to physio on phone and a quick chat about symptoms she sais she will probably be doing internal work, i hope it helps. sorry if a bit stupid about this, what are resting tones?

Your resting tone is the measurement on the biofeedback machine so most women with V have a high resting tone as their muscles are in spasm and the physio should talk you through some exercises while you watch the machine and can see when you relax the muscles and the resting tone gets lower. It does involve an internal sensor however and for me getting the sensor out of my clenched muscles at the end is the painful part! The resting tone is the most important part, the aim is to get it low and staying at a near constant level all the time you are doing nothing rather than spasming and clenching all the time.

ok thanks, hope u don't me asking, do u have a partner and has it helped in that department. i find it extremely difficult for penetration as muscles just tense up

No I don't have a partner he left me for someone else 6 months after the V started stating it was "one problem too many" and "holding him back" etc. I'm still in far too much pain to consider sex so up to now it wouldn't have been possible anyway, but remember I started at a totally ridiculous level of 20 as my resting tone whereas most people start at about 9-12 range so what I've basically achieved is to get to the point where most people start from so still shit loads of pain but at least I've got my resting tone down a bit. I also have the complication of Fibro but moe importantly Hypermobility Syndrome which affects my pelvis badly so relaxing the pelvic floor leads to more pelvic instability which in turn leads to spasm of the pelvic floor so I'm not really a typical case and lots of women with no pelvic instability can relax the PF quite quickly. Keep us posted.

got on great with the physio, she couldnt believe how tense all the muscles are, obviously will have to go more than once but i really think it will help, i hope anyhow. sorry to hear how much pain you are still in, hopefully you will get relief somehow too.