If you have pain from endometriosis and are wondering if physical therapy helps endometriosis, the answer is yes! Read on to learn how we can help your endometriosis pain!
We are Purple Mountain Physical Therapy, a specialty pelvic health and TMJ disorder pain clinic in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Our licensed physical therapists have advanced training and extensive experience providing physical therapy to help endometriosis related pain. There are so many benefits you can experience with physical therapy, it truly can improve your quality of life. If you are suffering with endometriosis related pain that is making it hard for you to function, to go to work consistently, to attend college, to engage in an intimate relationship and to be active, happy and upbeat, we have helped women just like you get back to feeling like themselves again.
If you would like to learn more about our specialized physical therapy to help endometriosis related pain, function, intimacy issues, bladder and bowel problems call us at 616-516-4334 or contact us here and we will reach out to you! There is physical therapy treatment available that can help your endometriosis pain and improve your ability to function and enjoy life.
Physical therapy does help endometriosis pain by working on muscle spasms, joint stiffness, irritated nerves, faulty posture, guarded and restricted joints, altered movement patterns, scar tissue and abdominal visceral restrictions, overactive bladder and bowel and pelvic floor muscle spasms.
When you work with our doctors of physical therapy you can expect us to provide you with whole body care that includes a variety of therapeutic measures customized to your findings and designed to work on:
- Improving nerve pain, muscle pain, postural guarding, pelvic floor dysfunction, stiffness in your movement patterns, shallow breathing, scar tissue and so much more. If you are wondering if we may be able to help your endometriosis pain, please call our office at 616-516-4334 to speak with one of our knowledgeable staff members or contact us here and we will reach out.
- Treating pelvic floor muscle spasms and stopping the constant muscular pain associated with these muscle spasms. Pelvic floor dysfunction is a huge driver of chronic pelvic pain such as tailbone pain, SIJ pain, vaginal pain & pressure and abdominal pain.
- Improving your ability to have pain free intercourse and to stop vaginal and vulvar pain.
- Improving your scar tissue, so your organs (viscera) can slide and glide without pinching and pulling. The lack of normal viscer mobility causes a signal to the spinal cord and brain and, therefore, contributes to chronic pain and central sensitization. We work with very gentle therapeutic hands-on methods that included specialized abdominal massage and visceral mobilization to help this problem.
- Improving your spine and hip mobility, so your joints and low back hurt less and move better.
- Activating the calming portion of your autonomic nervous system, your parasympathetic nervous system. Our licensed PTs who specialize in treating endometriosis give you multiple techniques to help your Vagus Nerve, which calms your fight or flight, to work better for you.
- Getting you moving and physically active, in a safe and purposeful manner. We know that exercise can boost mood, reduce inflammation and provide benefits a the molecular and endocrine (hormone) level. Yet, our patients don’t know what exercises to do, they also have faulty movement patterns, their posture is guarded, they lack full range of motion of their hips and back and they need the skilled guidance of our physical therapists to teach them which exercises would best help me.
Source: -Ricci E, Viganò P, Cipriani S, Chiaffarino F, Bianchi S, Rebonato G, Parazzini F. Physical activity and endometriosis risk in women with infertility or pain: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Medicine (Baltimore). 2016 Oct;95(40):e4957.
- Calming your bladder so you don’t experience bladder pain, urinary urgency and frequency and urinary incontinence.
- Optimizing your bowels so you have less pain when passing a bowel movement, you experience improvement in constipation, reduction in diarrhea and your pelvic floor muscles learn how to lengthen and relax to allow for easing of passing stool.
If you would like more information about our treatment to help endometriosis related pain, please reach out to us at 616-516-4334 or contact us here.
A special note to acknowledge that physical therapy can help endometriosis related painful sex. If you are wondering why sex hurts and if anything can be done about it, we help women every day who experience painful intimacy. There is hope!
Helping painful intimacy is one common aspect of endometriosis related pain and other pelvic pain conditions (such as vulvodynia, interstitial cystitis, pudendal neuralgia, high tone pelvic floor, pelvic floor muscle spasm, tailbone pain) that our specialized physical therapists treat. We are dedicated to providing comprehensive treatment to help pelvic pain. The treatment can be directed externally to your abdomen, low back, hips, inner thighs or internally (with your permission) to the pelvic region, nerves, pelvic floor muscles and connective tissue.
If you are wondering why sex hurts, we can provide you answers. So often our patients tell us that no one has ever provided them with the level of education and insights into what is going on with their body that we offer.
Painful sex is very common with endometriosis and physical therapy can ease your pain. Our staff members who answer our phones are very familiar with our physical therapy treatment for endometriosis. To get your questions answered contact us here and we will be in touch or call us at 616-516-4334.
There are many musculoskeletal causes for painful sex, which is caused dyspareunia, that are very treatable by our pelvic physical therapists. If you have endometriosis and painful sex, physical therapy does help your pain!
- Sometimes the pain is from nerves that are irritated and we can work to gently decrease your nerve irritation.
- Other times the issue is related to muscle spasms in the pelvic floor. Our PTs will provide you a detailed assessment of your pelvic floor muscles, by checking layer by layer each muscle and also by checking your superficial and deep pelvic floor muscles. No other specialist provides this level of detail.
- To alleviate your pain with sex we can include mobilization of your connective tissue in and around your abdomen, thighs and pelvic floor; this includes in the area of the pudendal and pelvic nerves and their surrounding muscles and fascia.
- We also include myofascial trigger point release and pelvic floor muscle retraining. We work to improve your hip mobility, tailbone, SI joint and lumbopelvic mobility.
- We provide gentle care to your bladder, uterus and lower abdominal area because sometimes that is causing painful sex.
- Our PTs will assess and treat your hips and usually we discover tension in hip muscles and loss of hip range of motion that can also cause dyspareunia. We will treat this.
- We teach you how to breath and to work on opening your vaginal region and relaxing your pelvic floor to allow for penetration.
- We include instruction in home program for working towards your goal of penetrative intimacy and we also provide counsel on how to restore pleasure and work towards a healthy sexual relationship again. Because your pelvic area has been associated with pain for so long, we have found that all of these things combined help unravel the causes of pelvic pain and help you to get back towards a pleasurable intimate relationship. Our patients have come to us with gratitude at how this has helped their marriages, their self esteem and their sense of being a woman. We approach this care with sensitivity and compassion and you can expect to find both physical and psychological relief when working with our PTs who understand your predicament in a way that allows you to discreetly and openly discuss your situation. We have private treatment rooms and invite partners to appointments.
We have worked with countless other women who have endometriosis and helped them get back to intimacy. If you would like more information about our PT for endometriosis, call us at 616-516-4334 or contact us here.
If your endometriosis causes you to feel like your nerves are burning, our physical therapy for endometriosis can help your pain.
Does your endometriosis sometimes feel like you are on fire in your deep pelvis, lower back, legs or abdomen?
It is very common that patients tell us that they have burning pain. It can be located in a wide variety of places throughout their body, not just their abdomen. The burning nerve pain may be abdominal, located in the pelvic region (vagina, perineum, pelvic floor, tailbone, SIJ, etc.) lower back, neck, in your hips, thighs or lower down your legs. Our patients describe sensation such as tingling, numbness, stabbing pain, sharp pain, burning, and “crawling” or “vibrating” sensations that may be anywhere from their neck to their toes. Some patients also experience headaches that may not directly be caused by endometriosis, but can be related to the muscle guarding, postural guarding and generalized muscle tension that endometriosis pain causes. The physical therapy you receive at Purple Mountain Physical Therapy to help your endometriosis pain is comprehensive and will treat your whole body; you will work with your same doctor of physical therapy at every visit, in a compassionate, therapeutic setting. Call 616-516-4334 or contact us here to learn more.
Additionally, if your lower back, hips, neck or pelvis are stiff and having muscle spasms, your nerves can become inflamed.
Endometriosis is an inflammatory condition and, unfortunately, this inflammation can cause disruption and irritation of your nerves. Finally, when the adhesions and endometriosis lesions are present they may be located in an area that involves a nerve. For all of these reasons, and others, nerve pain is common with endometriosis. Our PTs specialize in endometriosis treatment, chronic pelvic pain, low back pain, neck pain and TMJ disorders. From your first phone call with our staff, you will experience compassionate care and understand that there is help for your endometriosis pain. Call 616-516-4334 or contact us here to learn more.
Fortunately, our licensed physical therapists have specific training and experience working with women who have endometriosis to help calm down their nerve pain.
Your physical therapy begins with an evaluation where we discuss your goals, symptoms and concerns. In the evaluation, we gently assess the many nerves in your mid and lower back, pelvis and abdomen that can be contributing to burning pain. If we find an area where you have muscle spasms, scar tissue (from ablation surgery or laparoscopy) or joint stiffness (like low back pain) causing your pinched nerves, we will begin gentle treatment to help the inflammation of the nerve to begin to improve. This treatment will include a variety of hands-on manual therapies such as myofascial release, gentle visceral mobilization, scar tissue release, joint mobilization, pelvic balancing and stretches to your mid and lower back, hips, pelvic floor and thighs. We also include corrective exercises such as whole body vibration, postural balancing, fascia flow movements, core muscle coordination & strength and pelvic floor exercises. If you are curious about our treatment to help endometriosis related pain, please reach out to us at 616-516-4334 or contact us here.
Physical therapy also helps endometriosis related pain by including exercises movement pattern retraining and postural correction to improve your spine and pelvic posture, enhance movement patterns, stretch tight muscles, joints and fascia and strengthen weaker muscles.
While the benefits of movement and exercise are generally recognized by most people, for people who have endometriosis there is an inability to move without pain which can lead to a hesitation and avoidance of movement and exacerbation of pain, deconditioning, muscle guarding & spasms and endometriosis postural changes. For our patients who have endometriosis, our licensed physical therapists observe hunched posture, stiffness in their hips and spine, shallow breathing, weakness in the glutes, tension throughout the abdominal wall and generalized reduction in quality of movement patterns. Our patients also tell us that they don’t know which exercises would help them and which ones should be avoided. Call 616-516-4334 to learn how you can begin to work with one of our doctors of physical therapy to get a customized program that helps you to move, exercise and have less pain. Alternatively, contact us here. and we will be in touch.
When you work with one of our PTs to help your endometriosis pain, we customize an exercise program based on your specific findings, your pain triggers and your goals.
In PT we will complete therapeutic, corrective exercises, under the watchful eye of your physical therapist who is always by your side to instruct your movement patterns and coordination of your muscles and breathing. We also provide you with a customized self care home program that gives you tools and a clear roadmap for what would be most helpful for your body to help your endometriosis pain and deconditioning. Research has supported that physical activity and exercise are anti-inflammatory, can reduce pain, improve posture and provide molecular and hormonal level benefits. Our PTs love to work with women who have endometriosis so we can help you feel better. If you are suffering in the darkness of endometriosis that is slowing you down and preventing you from enjoying life to the fullest, we are here to help you. Call 616-516-4334 to speak with one of our knowledgeable team members or contact us here.
“After 8 weeks of performing the exercise regimen, there was a statistically significant decrease in the patients’ pain intensity and thoracic kyphosis angle program in compared with pre treatment. [Conclusion] Ultimately it was proven that eight weeks of an exercise program is very effective in decreasing pain and postural abnormalities associated with endometriosis.”
-Awad E, Ahmed HAH, Yousef A, Abbas R. Efficacy of exercise on pelvic pain and posture associated with endometriosis: within subject design. J Phys Ther Sci. 2017 Dec;29(12):2112-2115.
If you have endometriosis, you likely also experience other pain related conditions, such as migraines, chronic TMJ pain, interstitial cystitis or myofascial pain syndrome. Our PT program will treat these problems, as well.
By providing whole body care that works to calm down all of your pain, you will notice that your function improves. You will experience less overall pain and improved confidence with being active in life. We have helped patients who have endometriosis to get back to running, to start exercise programs, to be able to return to college, to be functioning and out of bed and to be experiencing pain free intimacy, including penetrative sex. If you are wanting to work with our physical therapists, we offer in-person treatment in Grand Rapids, Michigan or remote consultations for those who qualify. Our program for helping people with endometriosis is specialized and from your first phone call with our staff, you will detect an attentive level of taking care of you with specialized physical therapy for endometriosis. Call 616-516-4334 or contact us here to learn more.
Research looking at the impact of chronic pain on your quality of life is very clear that endometriosis related pain effects so many aspects of your life.
Our physical therapists understand this and will work with you to create a pathway forward so you can function at a higher level, defecate, not be bothered by your bladder, become intimate again and simply feel more hopeful about your ability to provide for your family
“Chronic pain (related to endometriosis) is negatively associated with almost all (12/14) aspects of daily life investigated, including standing, walking, sitting, defecation, sleep, sports activities, family and domestic responsibilities, sexuality, social functioning, professional life, mood, and joy of life.”
-Leuenberger J, Kohl Schwartz AS, Geraedts K, Haeberlin F, Eberhard M, von Orellie S, Imesch P, Leeners B. Living with endometriosis: Comorbid pain disorders, characteristics of pain and relevance for daily life. Eur J Pain. 2022 May;26(5):1021-1038.
Fortunately, at Purple Mountain Physical Therapy we specialize in treating chronic pain, including TMJ disorders, interstitial cystitis, bladder pain syndrome, myofascial pain syndrome, pudendal neuralgia, chronic low back pain, dyspareunia (painful sex) and other chronic pelvic and spine conditions.
Our whole body approach to helping endometriosis related pain will fully treat all of your pain. We cannot ignore your other pain conditions because these also keep your nervous system activated and cause muscle guarding, tension and postural changes that perpetuate the type of pain you experience with endometriosis.
Working with our PTs, you will receive a private, one-on-one appointment with your doctor of physical therapy.
Each appointment is up to 55 minutes long and, in contrast to others who do not specialize in helping endometriosis pain, we provide whole body treatment, never leave your side and include manual therapies, visceral mobilization, neural calming, corrective exercise, pain neuroscience education, dietary recommendations and more. We don’t use lesser trained staff, such as aides, to monitor you during exercise, because we need to be right by your side to teach you how to effectively coordinate your movements, breath, calm your pelvic floor and get your hips, ribcage, neck and spine in the optimal position. We also help your abdomen to move so you have less muscle guarding and cramping. It takes attention to detail to best help you and we will be with you every second of the way. If you have questions about our physical therapy for endometriosis, including cost and availability inquiries, contact us here or call us at 616-516-4334 to speak with one of our knowledgeable team members.
A special note to our patients and readers who have endometriosis! You are strong. We know it. You might not believe it because you have been tested beyond compare, but we see you for who you are: a person with a lot to offer this world who is being challenged in ways that most don’t understand. We understand you. We are here for you to provide you physical therapy for your endometriosis pain and to help you feel better.
For the women we treat who have endometriosis, when you come to us we see a very strong person who has endured more than most. You may come to us with your vibrancy diminished, your energy levels low, your mood in a low place and your body hurting. And, we also see someone who is persevering, who is looking for relief, who has uncommon strength. It is our goal in physical therapy to partner with you to find a path forward so you can function again. We are Purple Mountain Physical Therapy in Grand Rapids Michigan. All of our PTs have advanced training specific to providing physical therapy to help endometriosis pain, to calm muscle spasms and guarding, to alleviate bladder and bowel disorders, to help you be intimate without pain, to provide you with pain neuroscience education, calming measures for your nervous system and exercises and lifestyle interventions at home to improve your function. We love this work, especially working with women who have endometriosis; we have a heart for helping you and a mind devoted to keeping up with the research related to endometriosis and how to help your chronic pain.
If you want to start feeling better and get treatment for your endometriosis pain, you have found the right place. We offer in person care and also remote consultations for those who qualify. Call 616-516-4334 to talk about your needs and answer your questions
Peace,
Dr. Maureen O’Keefe, DPT founder of Purple Mountain Physical Therapy and specialist in treating pelvic pain, TMJ pain, neck and back pain. All of our physical therapists are fully trained in advanced treatments for endometriosis pain. We love this work and consider it an honor to help you.
You may be interested in reading these other articles:
Are you looking for Painful Sex Treatment in Grand Rapids?
Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy for Overactive Bladder in Grand Rapids
5 Tips To Ease Pelvic Pain that Won’t Go Away!
Tailbone pain and How Pelvic Floor PT Can Help You! Plus Some Self-Care Tips!
Vulvar Pain and Pelvic Floor Dysfunction go together.
Interstitial Cystitis Treatment in Grand Rapids!
Physical Therapy for Lichen Sclerosus
References:
Arendt-Nielsen L, Morlion B, Perrot S, Dahan A, Dickenson A, Kress HG, et al. Assessment and manifestation of central sensitisation across different
chronic pain conditions. Eur J Pain. (2018) 22:216–41.
Awad E, Ahmed HAH, Yousef A, Abbas R. Efficacy of exercise on pelvic pain and posture associated with endometriosis: within subject design. J Phys Ther Sci. 2017 Dec;29(12):2112-2115.
Leuenberger J, Kohl Schwartz AS, Geraedts K, Haeberlin F, Eberhard M, von Orellie S, Imesch P, Leeners B. Living with endometriosis: Comorbid pain disorders, characteristics of pain and relevance for daily life. Eur J Pain. 2022 May;26(5):1021-1038. doi: 10.1002/ejp.1926.
Maddern J, Grundy L, Castro J, Brierley SM. Pain in Endometriosis. Front Cell Neurosci. 2020 Oct 6;14:590823.
McNamara HC, Frawley HC, Donoghue JF, Readman E, Healey M, Ellett L, Reddington C, Hicks LJ, Harlow K, Rogers PAW, Cheng C. Peripheral, Central, and Cross Sensitization in Endometriosis-Associated Pain and Comorbid Pain Syndromes. Front Reprod Health. 2021 Sep 1;3:729642.
Ricci E, Viganò P, Cipriani S, Chiaffarino F, Bianchi S, Rebonato G, Parazzini F. Physical activity and endometriosis risk in women with infertility or pain: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Medicine (Baltimore). 2016 Oct;95(40):e4957.
