Has anyone experienced more pain after doing pelvic floor exercises?

Hi,
I've been seeing a women's health physio for a year and a bit, worked on lots of massage a release work. Adventually I got referred on the Nhs the first session I got told to do pelvic floor exercises. I tried but experienced pain in my tummy,my stomached muscels when I started this whole physio process were so tight and I have spend a lot of time trying to relax them so I stopped do the pelvic floor exercise and went back. This time I was examined and I find it hard to tell the difference between squeezing and releasing and most of the time I'm not releasing completley.

Anyway to cut a long story short within a hour it felt like someone was pulling in my stomach muscles in and I got so much pain that has lasted a week over the pubic symphysis bone it's like someone has kicked me really hard in that area, been putting ice there but don't know what else to do ?


Anyone experienced this?
Many thanks

Kt

Yes, if I do kegels my pain shoots through the roof and if you can't tell the difference between contracting and releasing chances are you're not releasing properly. You can buy feedback items to tell you when you're doing this, there's one and the name escapes me I'm afraid but it's really cheap and consists of a plastic probe with a plastic wand on the outside and the wand moves down when you contract and up when you release so you know what you're doing. Has the physio not got access to a biofeedback machine to give you some sessions so you get used to how it feels? Just sending you away with kegels after all your hard work to relax the muscles is very sloppy practice and you need to stop them until you've either had a go on a machine with the physio or you get something to give you feedback. I've got one of the ones with a plastic wand and I'm pretty sure I bought it on Amazon so have a look on there for pelvic floor exercisers and you'll see what it is, cost about £10 I think. Also you need to start slowly, low reps at first so you don't overdo it. The transversus abs co-contracts with the pelvic floor which could be your abdominal pain or it could be you're doing them completely wrong and hitting the rectus abs instead.

I get conflicting advice from my drs and physical therapist. Kegels make my vulvodynia worse. the physical therapist insisted upon it. saying to focus more on the release than the contraction because my pelvic muscles are too tight. my gyn and urologist say no kegels at all. Who do you listen too? mY urologist just recommended a new physical therapist and I am going for an evaluation tomorrow.

I have a tight pelvic floor, no one has ever suggested kegels. I have done biofeedback and increasing awareness of muscles while attempting to release the pelvic floor and surrounding hip stomach and butt muscles. My pelvic floor physio gets me to squeeze or contract first then release as much as possible but never exercise. I get quite a bit of pain after release with the physio and also chiro appts in my stomach, SI joint, lumbar spine, butt and sometimes thigh adductors. I have been told this is normal as I am cchanging a lot in my body, changing things to where they should be and my body is it is not used to it.

I've tried both doing kegels and not doing kegels and I think it's which one works for you, if kegels cause more pain you shouldn't be doing them at this stage, fully relax the pelvic floor then reassess and see if you need kegels is what I would go with.