I Told You So!

I had my first PT appointment yesterday on my bladder and pelvic pain issue, and the physical therapist thoroughly examined me. But, let me start from the beginning because this is interesting. So, she walks in and I tell her about my 9 month battle with this thing. I told her my entire history all the way from docs, to all tests I've done that ALL have came out negative, to meds, and to my symptoms. I also told her about me being a dancer and that I think this is where it all stemmed from. BEFORE even examining me, she confidently already knew what was wrong. I can't remember the name of the diagnosis she hypothesized, but she basically hypothesized that it's a lower spine issue mixed with a neuromuscular issue, but it probably pretty much started with my back. When it came down to it, her hypothesis was EXACTLY what I've felt was wrong with me all along. She then examined me, and sure enough, both her hypothesis and my theory were right on the money! But, there is ONE detail that I didn't even take into account, and that was my flexibility. Who knew?!

Basically, I'm apparently OVER flexible from my history of dance. I'm too flexible in my hips, so this has caused my lower back to have too much range of motion. As you move up my back, I'm really tight. This combo has caused my lower discs in my spine to shift out of place and probably compressing nerves. The ones she found that weren't how they were supposed to be are the discs that contain the nerves that control bladder function. My nerves have become inflammed and irritated, and this has caused tension in my pelvic floor which is creating a vicious cycle of inflammation which prevents my body from healing. That is why 9 months later, I still feel pain and the CONSTANT need to go. My body is unable to heal because the tightness is restricting bloodflow to my nerves, and they need that oxygen from the bloodflow for them to calm down. Sound familiar from my last posts?????!!! Also, my back needs to be put back into the right place. Apparently, she said that the problem that she was feeling and seeing with my back is quite typical of a dancer. I'm not surprised because I was required to do some heavy duty stuff back in high school, and my lower back has ALWAYS hurt me so badly after standing and walking for a while. It also would hurt after I'd wake up. I used to blame it on the matress. I would complain to Tyson how sore my back would feel and that we needed a new matress. I have this habit of kneading my fists into my lower back after walking and standing for long periods of time. I used to think this was normal, but I guess not.

The PT did numerous exams and we found that I was tight in the left side of my body from pelvis on down. Sure enough, that is where I feel most of my bladder symptoms. She had me do numerous exercises, and we found that my range of motion and other physical aspects IMPROVED! Once she did all of her exams on my back, she basically told me that she wasn't even going to do a pelvic exam. She told me that she can pretty much already tell I'm VERY tight in my pelvic floor, and there's no reason for her to go poking and prodding and making my symptoms worse when she already knows what's wrong from the few simple tests she had done already. My PT said that we're going to work on the back problem before we start hunting for trigger points in my pelvis. We need to take care of the problem that started it all FIRST, and then work out the "injuries" I've gotten from this. Trigger points are bascially painful muscle knots in the deep tissue. I have already found TONS in the past 3 months, and the tennis ball has become my new best friend. Oh how it hurts so good when I put pressure on the trigger point with the tennis ball! All of this lower back problems my PT found would explain why putting pressure with the ball in my lower back causes my bladder symptoms to dissipate!

My PT is allowing me to use the tennis ball if it's working for me, but I need to be careful not to aggravate the nerves more than they already are. She's given me exercises I need to do at home. One is a breathing one that relaxes everything, but at the same time, is core work that strengthens the core.......I'm guessing to strengthen my lower back??? I also have to do this yoga-ish push up that you wouldn't think would do a thing, but sure enough, after I did ten, she turned me on my back, and a lot of my tension was released. My range of motion was also better. CRAZY STUFF! Even Tyson was able to see the difference. I got a "Wooooowwww..." from him and I blurted out "Wooooooow..." as well because I felt the difference! It's AMAZING to see how our bodies work, and what controls this and what controls that! The pose looks like this, but I don't hold it. I do like an army push up 10 times but without lifting my hips off the ground:

My PT told me that doctors never think to take a look at the spine for the source of "mystery" illnesses. When we go to the doctors, we tell what hurts, and the Dr. is trained to treat the part that hurts. In my case, I was complaining of bladder problems, so EVERY doctor I saw focused on the bladder and prescribed meds for it. This is why NOT A SINGLE bladder medication did ANYTHING for me because the real issue isn't coming from the bladder. The issue is my lower part of the spine that controls my bladder. She basically said what I've said in a past post; they don't think to think outside of the box. Actually, she put it as, "They use the gold standard methods in examining, but they don't think to look at the platinum lining that surrounds the gold standard." She also brought up an interesting point and that was that doctors are not trained the way PT's are in examining the DETAILS of the whole body. Docs take a more holistic approach. She then said, "I bet you got a lot of people telling you it's all in your head and that you're crazy?" I said yes (wanting to almost cry), and she said, "Well, you're not, and you are right. There is definitely something going on."

It's been one day into my exercises, and I'm already telling a difference both good and bad. There have been times when my symptoms increase and times where they're almost completely gone. My symptoms will usually fade after I do my exercises and I can relax, but they slowly creep in within 5 minutes and I get sad again. It's just going to take time because nerves take time to heal. She has me doing that breathing thing every other hour, so I guess this a constant way of keeping my muscles from tensing around the nerves.

I go back tomorrow, and I'm going to pretty much be going 3 days a week for now. I will continue to update everyone on my progress, as I'm SO MUCH MORE optimistic and hopeful.

The house is still moving along quite nicely. They got the roof on a couple of days ago. It looked like they were starting to put the A/C unit in today. The sales guy says that it looks like it'll be finished by the end of April. Tyson and I say HALLELUJAH!!!! :)