We said it before and we will say it again: HEALING FROM PUDENDAL NEURALGIA IS POSSIBLE! Brad is another shining example of this. Brad came to us with the inability to sit for even 1 minute due to Pudendal Neuralgia.

Fast forward to today —> Brad is 100% pain-free and discharged from physical therapy. He can successfully sit through meals, meetings and even movies—without a cushion—no symptoms and no pain! Again, it is possible to recover from Pudendal Neuralgia, despite what many say. Congratulations, Brad, on a long race well run.

What inspired us most about Brad is how he ran his race to beat PN.

healing from pudendal neuralgia – male patient
He used this John Wooden quote as his guiding philosophy (we now have this hanging in our office) in his healing journey:

“When you improve a little each day, eventually big things occur. When you improve conditioning a little each day, eventually you have a big improvement in conditioning. Not tomorrow, not the next day, but eventually a big gain is made. Don’t look for the big, quick improvement. Seek the small improvement one day at a time. That’s the only way it happens – and when it happens, it lasts.”

He also used the analogy of repairing an old rotting ship by focusing attention on repairing 1 weak plank at a time for more serious work and lasting repair. When Brad was formally discharged from PT, he gifted us with an original drawing of a rotting ship that hangs in one of our treatment rooms with his story to inspire others, whether they suffer with pudendal neuralgia, interstitial cystitis, vulvodynia, pelvic pain, or coccyx pain.

Thank you Brad for inspiring us all!

All of her contributing factors (phenotypes) were:

• Pelvic floor muscles
• Irritable pudendal nerve
• Chronic recurrent yeast infections
• Stress (learn more about the pelvic floor / stress connection here)
• Hormones
• Diet

These are all phenotypes that caused her vulvodynia. In order for the patient in this example to heal, it is not the “vulvodynia” that needs to be treated. Rather, each and every underlying, perpetuating cause need to be addressed.

Please note: vulvodynia pain will vary widely from woman to woman. Symptoms may be primary (possessed consistently for a lifetime) or acquired (periodic, inconsistent pain symptoms).

So what’s the big deal?

The medical term out there right now, vulvodynia, does not tell us much. All it says is that you have burning or irritation in the vulva. This particular patient spent 11 years with doctors who looked only at the medical component of it, for its face value as a descriptor. Her “treatments” for those 11 years were medications of various types, including yeast suppressants, Vitacain (to stop the burning), and an anti-fungal diet. The muscles themselves? Completely ignored. When she came in to us, her pain was down within the first treatment.

I asked the question I always ask,

“Hey, did your OB/GYN doctor actually do a muscular exam of your pelvic floor?”
To which the answer was, and almost always is:

“No…”
Sure enough, one I went in and palpated, she had significant both superficial and deep muscle spasm.

This patient, though perturbed by 11 years without what she now knows are extremely important pelvic floor physical therapy treatments, now carries a significant amount of hope into her future healing journey.

I guess it’s true what they say…the truth sets you free! Whether you are a patient or clinician, be sure to dig deeper into descriptions of pain to find the (sometimes numerous) underlying causes of it.

The Pelvic Healing team believes healing is multi-modal, and requires a customized treatment plan for best results.