Molly's self PT techniques

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This is what I did. I am not telling anyone to do this, I am just telling my story. This is a copy of a file I put on the happypelvis site.

love, Molly

I would lie in bed with the soles of my feet together and my knees falling outward and drop my pelvic floor. I would fall asleep like that and still do sometimes. I sleep with a pillow between my knees. You should NOT sleep on your side and let your top hip and knee fall forward so knee is touching mattress. The pillow is bulky at first, but you'll get used to it. I used my heating pad constantly. It was a flax seed filled sack that my friend Joanne made for me while I was in California while I was so terribly sick. Joanne mentored me through this terrible illness. She picked me up from the airport (I was the one with the green bandana in my hair - she didn't even know what I looked like). She put me up at her house and fed me vanilla milkshakes - that's all I could eat. She took all my midnight hysterical

phone calls and kept my chin up and told me again and again and again that I would get well. We called the heating pad "the elephant". It is shaped like an elephant's head in that it is big and round on top with a long "trunk" coming off of it that I would put between my legs. There was so much love in that pad. I even wore a hole in it and set it on fire in the microwave a few times. Ice did not work for me. Have someone to talk to (see above). This list is great. I had my husband stretch me. I lie on my back and he pushes my knees up and out very carefully of course. You can resist by pushing back for about five seconds and then he can get more of a stretch afterward. You can do this resistance several times during the stretch. I also would lie on my back with my knees up and look to the right and let my knees fall to the left and he would push my knees to the left and push down

on my right shoulder and then we would do it the other way. I kept tweaking my arch supports until I felt that they were helping me. I used cut up sanitary napkins and put them under my insoles under my arches. I always wore good supportive shoes with laces and good arch supports and I never go barefoot even around the house. I never wear flip flops or shoes without backs (clogs). Dr. Weiss told me that. Now I can wear other shoes, but I try to only wear them when I'm going out. I don't get cold. I always dress warmly and I even already wear silk long johns sometimes. I took lots of baths and peed in the water. I would just keep my pelvic floor dropped the whole time in the tub. I remember this fondly. It was a good thing for me. I peed in the yard or in the tub squatting. I would hang out in that position and just keep my pelvic floor dropped for a while.

I peed when I had to pee. I did NOT hold it. I used my take home biofeedback machine to see what set me off and when I was clenching. It also helped me learn how to not just drop my pelvic floor on command but to KEEP it dropped for a half hour at a time, while the phone was ringing and the kids were screaming. I made the monumental effort of going to California and seeing . I had been seeing other PTs who said they were successful and experienced (who was I not to believe them). It was only in seeing that I realized the PT thus far had been woefully inadequate and substandard ( at 200.00 a pop). Send love to your vagina, she doesn't want to be this way. I also found a good chiropractor who adjusts my pelvis and stretches my glutes and hamstrings. He is the fifth chiropractor I found. I go to him about every other month. I wear boy shorts instead of

underwear. I don't think I like them because of the elastic or because of the vagina thing at all because I can wear regular undies and even thongs now just fine. I think I like them because they're kind of tight around my hips kind of like a minimal SI belt. Anyway, I just like them. I also went to and external PT for SI joint imbalances. My husband did PT on me almost daily. I would do all I could myself and then he would get in a little deeper and inflict a little more pain. I was sure to "pay" him for his exceptional talents at physical therapy (no kidding there, he was amazing) and heck we already had out the lubricant. I just did whatever seemed like a good idea at the time, but mostly hand jobs. I really wanted him to want to help me and I know he did, but I wanted him to continue to want to help me if you know what I mean. He was suffering, too. I took care of myself and did

not push myself to the limit. I rested when I felt I should rest. I did a lot of walking and took a lot of babysteps in activity. I remember pulling one wimpy weed out of my yard and ending up in bed for three days. Thank goodness I did not pull up more. My journey was NOT easy, it was hell as you all know. I had many setbacks, but I really tried to be patient with myself and not push too hard. I have been pain free for 2 1/2 years now with only a couple bumps in the road which I can smooth out with PT. I don't think we'll have the luxury of ever completely forgetting about this issue. I believe my pudendal nerve has lost some of it's protective coating and I will need to forever be kind to it and be aware of keeping my muscles loose and my hips in line. I do PT anywhere from once to twice a month to everyother month if I'm being lazy (I hate doing PT on myself). I do it because I think

it's time to do it and not because I hurt, but I am ALWAYS glad that I did it because I usually find myself tight. I am on no meds, I have sex, and ride horses and eat whatever I want. I have an extremely strenuous job that I do well and I am well respected in my field (farrier/blacksmith). I run and play with my kids and they are so glad to have their Mommy back (my oldest remembers me being so sick and crying all the time and not being able to sit on my lap). These are just some of the things that I did and they aren't necessarily right for others. I would like to encourage others to be creative and see what works for them, even if it's just a little stretching and skin rolling. I didn't discover these things all at once, I slowly progressed into new moves. Some I did daily and some sporadically. I hated every second of self PT, but I tried to remind myself that this was part of my journey, my

cross to bear if you will. I also kept in mind how blessed I was to be able to do PT on myself and see the progress I was making. I was also thankful that I did not have this 20 years ago or 100 or 1000 years ago and that I am in the United States where I am free to travel to find a good PT and learn from her. I suggest that only those who have been to excellent PT consider trying any of this. The difference between mediocre PT and excellent PT is night and day. I would not have known what kind of pressure and what it should feel like had I not been to see . I also stopped anytime I felt a zinger (nerve pain). Nerves should NOT be manipulated. Some PT moves I did: The Open Wide: squatting slightly, pull butt checks apart and drop pelvic floor. The Open Wide Strut: same as above while walking upright The Bubble Gum Crunch: while lying in bed, reach

hand behind back and down to buttocks, squeeze and pinch all over buttocks especially that really painful spot right next to the butt dimple and perineum. Try to find "chewed gum wads" and squeeze them. Skin Torture: At night while reading, roll skin with one hand while holding book with other. Use too little lotion so skin is sticky rather than lubricated. Roll skin next to vagina, roll through pubic hair, thighs, calves, stomach inside butt cheeks etc. ( I did this every night for a year) Try to not to tighten pelvic floor while doing this. Inch Pulls. with fingers about one or two inches apart press down on skin and pull it apart, and do indian burns too. (only for skin that has a good thickness) This moves helps make skin pliable for rolling. Perineum Stretch: (I still do this a lot) While in shower put right hand down front to right of vagina and left hand

down the backside to left of anus and pull hands apar, one forward and one back. Then do the opposite. Internal PT Bubble Gum Crunch on Potty: insert thumb into vagina with fingers down and keep fingers external on buttocks. Squeeze thumb and fingers together finding "chewed gum wads" and little bumps and pin pricks and squeeze them to try to get rid of them. Bathroom Counter PT: put right foot on counter out to the right, left elbow on counter or head against wall on left, keep left foot on floor to form a tripod for balance. Optional: hold Readers Digest in left hand and read two pages per trigger point or painful spot. Insert thumb into vagina and work sore muscles and trigger points. Push, stretch and manipulate sore spots and tight muscles. I did this one daily for one year. Work both sides of vagina, then do opposite. Round the Bend: put arm behind buttocks and

insert fingers into vagina from behind, work muscles and pull them. The Back Door: Don gloves and plenty of lubricant. Squat and insert one finger into anus and very slowly stretch, then insert another finger and pull sphincter muscles apart. Insert fingers deeper and pull apart on deeper muscles. Optional: magazine on floor in front of you. This was a really good one for me. I hated it. Of course seeing a professional PT twice a week would be the best, but I did not have that option, short of moving to San Francisco. I am not telling anyone what to do, just passing on what I did. love, Molly

Re: Fear of Dilators ! Was-----> How do I tell my PT)

--- Sounds like you need a new PT!My first PT was like that and would say things like, "How do you know if this is working if you never try?"My current PT, who actually helps, told me NOT to try sex or dilators for a long time, until she could comfortably insert a finger for internal work. Once she could do that, I knew I could do that smallest dilator, at least, and I would apply my lidocaine and lubricant and do my deep breathing and just put it in slowly and let it sit - no moving it around or anything. It's a very slow process. And if you are doing it and it hurts, you are only contributing to the pain cycle and it won't get better. Have you consider trying estrace to make the opening stretchier and more elastic? Get a new PT if you can! =)Melinda

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Re: Fear of Dilators ! Was-----> How do I tell my PT)

--- Sounds like you need a new PT!My first PT was like that and would say things like, "How do you know if this is working if you never try?"My current PT, who actually helps, told me NOT to try sex or dilators for a long time, until she could comfortably insert a finger for internal work. Once she could do that, I knew I could do that smallest dilator, at least, and I would apply my lidocaine and lubricant and do my deep breathing and just put it in slowly and let it sit - no moving it around or anything. It's a very slow process. And if you are doing it and it hurts, you are only contributing to the pain cycle and it won't get better. Have you consider trying estrace to make the opening stretchier and more elastic? Get a new PT if you can! =)Melinda

[Guest guest]

Hey Molly,I was FINALLY able to upload your list of self PT instructions in our files section. Thanks so much! For those interested in doing PT at home, it can be extremely beneficial to go to a really good 'updated' PT and learn the techniques first. If you look in the files section we also have some info on Skin Rolling. One final note, we have several PT's listed in our Database. Again, if anyone has a really helpful Doctor, PT or Naturopath, please feel free to add them to the Database. ~Chelle