Can stretching make it worse?

[john_m]

I've tried some of the stretches described in A HEADACHE IN THE PELVIS, but I always felt a bit tense and sore afterwards.. for a day or two. Once I even experienced something that felt a bit like the often described golf-ball-feelling, which I never ever experienced before and thankfully went away after a couple of days.

I'm not experiencing any pain. I just feel some tension and my main problem is that I always have the slight feeling of needing to urinate.

Would streching make things even worse for me or is the tension/soreness I feel afterwards something good?

Thank you!

[CppsDad]

If stretching aggravates symptoms, that's a pretty telling sign that you need stretching. I don't think stretching can make things worse, but it can cause flare-ups and aggravate things. This is usually a good sign, however. Early on in my recovery, I stopped treatments from stretching and external therapy whenever they caused pain - this was almost always a bad decision, and I ended up doing that therapy later on anyway.

Now - overdoing stretching can probably be a bad thing. You don't want to injure muscles, or tear muscles either. Go slow, however, and you'll be OK.

Mike

[alprost]

Stretching muscles which contain trigger points can make the trigger points more symptomatic. Ideally, stretching should be introduced gradually and at the appropriate time in your treatment on the advice of a treating physiotherapist. Stretching, on it's own, is unlikely to help. You really need to seek out a PT who is able to diagnose and treat trigger points.

Unfortunately, this is easier said than done.

[GP2]

Alprost,

Did you use Bill Taylor in Edinburgh & if so how was his treatment?

thanks

[alprost]

Alprost,

Did you use Bill Taylor in Edinburgh & if so how was his treatment?

thanks

Bill is one of a handful of Physios in the UK who has an awareness of CPPS. Bill was able to find a couple of trigger points in me which gave me some relief. However, he also missed many more both internally and externally (as did another Physio I visited in Canada), and I eventually went over to Stanford for treatment. Although Bill has a lot of experience in treating 'pelvic pain' of mechanical origin, I was one of the first people he treated with regards to the pelvic trigger points relating to CPPS. I spoke with Bill about a year ago, and he mentioned that he was planning to go over to Stanford to learn from the Physio's there, but I'm not sure if has has done this yet.

My advise is this: in the UK, as in most places, patients are not exactly spoiled for choice. Therefore, if you can find a Physio who has any experience, they are probably 'worth a try'. The danger is that if they miss trigger points, this can send you down another treatment path, when what is causing your pain is actually trigger points. You just need to be aware of this, and not give up on pursuing treatment for trigger points if you only get so far. As stated above, this happened to me twice prior to visiting Stanford.

Make sure you read the appropriate parts of AHIP, and follow their advice to the letter regarding other aspects of your treatment, such as relaxation/stress management etc, no matter what other clinicians may tell you. This book is the only source of credible information in this regard.

Looking back, if I could go back in time, I'd have spent the money and gone straight over to Stanford as soon as I was diagnosed. Doing this would have prevented a lot of problems and confusion which arose later on.

Sorry I can't give you a better answer here