Home based MFR managements for pelvic floor dysfunctions: Part I

Myofascial Release for Women’s Health Problems

Pelvic Floor Dysfunctions and Treatments

There are thousands of women and men who believe that incontinence (loss of bowel or bladder control) and pelvic floor dysfunctions are normal part of aging. It is NOT a normal part of aging. We do not have to endure pads and medication - there are non-surgical options for retraining the bladder and pelvic floor that are proven through research as effective and efficient.

For Women, normal pelvic function also means that there is not supposed to be pain in the pelvic floor. Insertion of tampons, sexual intercourse, gynecological examinations and clothing should never cause pain. The muscles and tissues of the pelvic floor can be aggravated by many conditions including vulvodynia, vestibulitis, prolapse or cystocele/rectoceles or pudental Neuralgia. Myofascial release is a new tool to ‘down train’ the muscles of the pelvic floor, and to help restore normal flexibility and tolerance to the soft tissues both externally and internally.

Myofascial practitioners specialized in perineal, external and internal pelvic floor releases can help those sufferers retrain the muscles of the pelvic floor and assist with bladder and bowel training to return women and men to normal function.

Normal function means you can:

Allow the bladder to expand (fill) and contract (empty) normally and without pain.
Have the sensation and awareness of when the bladder is full – and be right.
Have the ability to get to the bathroom.
Have the ability to remove your clothing.
Participate in sexual intercourse without pelvic pain
Sit comfortably
Tolerate gynecological examinations

Myofascial Release Eases the Pain of Women's Health Problems

Myofascial Release has been on the forefront of health care for the past two decades particularly in the resolution of complex chronic pain problems. In that time, there has been an increasing number of women reporting problems such as urinary incontinence, pelvic pain, menstrual problems, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and/or headaches. It is unclear whether this rise in these complaints is due to an increased prevalence or that women are just communicating more about their problems.

Whatever the case may be, it remains clear that the numbers are staggering in terms of the women who are affected by these problems. For instance, in 1996 the US Department of Health and Human Services reported that 13 million Americans are incontinent; 11 million of them are women. One in four women ages 30 to 59 have experienced an episode of urinary incontinence. 16.4 billion dollars are spent each year on incontinence-related care and 1.1 billion dollars is spent yearly on disposable products for incontinent adults.

How the Myofascial Release can help:

Incontinence: Some women undergo pelvic or abdominal surgery to help resolve incontinence, menstrual, or pelvic pain problems often associated with pelvic floor muscle weakness following multiple child births. This solution, however, often puts these same women at risk for developing other pelvic pain problems or reproductive dysfunction and infertility problems because of the scar tissue that forms following surgery.

Myofascial Release has been a tremendous help to women suffering with incontinence and pelvic pain. Myofascial Release techniques specific to the pelvis are helpful in decreasing the restrictions in that area that lead to incontinence and pelvic pain. This technique has also been adopted in areas such as the urology department at Stanford University, as noted in “A Headache in the Pelvis: A new understanding and treatment for prostatitis and chronic pelvic pain syndromes” by Dr. Anderson, MD.

Infertility: It is common to hear about the infertility problems that many women suffer with through the media or through family and friends. Many women go through expensive hormonal therapies and attempts at in vitro fertilization that offer no guarantees and are generally not covered by insurance. Expenses can run into the tens of thousands of dollars for the best technological advances that modern medicine have to offer in order to merely bypass what often is a structural imbalance in the body caused by myofascial restrictions.

Many women who have gone through all types of fertility treatments and had given up on ever becoming pregnant have been pleasantly surprised of the effects that Myofascial Release have had on their infertility...they became pregnant when all else failed! While they may have originally been receiving Myofascial Release for other pain problems, the effects of Myofascial Release particularly in freeing the pelvic region of adhesion has allowed for more normal reproductive function in these women.

The Myofascial system and chronic symptoms:

The myofascial system surrounds and interpenetrates every organ, nerve, blood vessel, and duct within the pelvic floor. Trauma, inflammation, surgical scars, and child birth very commonly tighten the myofascial system around these delicate and pain sensitive structures. Tightness and restriction within the myofascial system can cause or contribute to many women's health issues including pelvic floor pain and dysfunction, infertility, incontinence, vulvodynia, coccydynia, pelvic adhesion from endometriosis and surgical scars, painful episiotomy scars, interstitial cystitis, fibromyalgia and pregnancy related back pain and sciatica.

It is estimated that a large number of women experience infertility as a result of fascial restrictions from scar tissue, endometriosis or inflammatory processes. These fascial restrictions may physically interfere with fertility by compressing the reproductive structures such as the fallopian tubes or ovaries and can be helped with Myofascial Release. In addition, because the fascial system surrounds every system of the body, including the endocrine system, fertility problems related to hormonal imbalance may be helped using Myofascial Release. For example, the pituitary gland, the master gland of the body is housed within the sphenoid bone of the skull. Fascial restrictions throughout the neck, dural tube and particularly the suboccipital region often create compression of the sphenoid bone, which houses this delicate gland. Releasing fascial restrictions helps to free these structures and restore more normal function of the endocrine system thus helping to resolve fertility problems related to hormonal imbalance.

Painful or tight episiotomy scars are another common cause of pelvic floor pain and dysfunction and can be effectively treated by the therapists using this highly specialized form of Myofascial Release.

In addition to the various general and specialized myofascial release techniques for women with pelvic pain and incontinence, the therapists at the Myofascial Release Treatment Centers also address problems with back pain, neck pain, headaches and pelvic imbalance and instability that are frequently associated with these problems. Special techniques are utilized to eliminate pelvic torsions and upslips. Patients also learn valuable home self-treatment techniques to ease their pain.

Understanding the relationship between pain, anxiety, and structural changes allows trained therapists to restore the normal length and tension of the structures and connective tissues supporting the pelvic organs. Along with this, specific exercises and home care techniques are taught to correct faulty postural and movement patterns and restore function.


Don’t settle for less than health

You can contact Dr. Ajimsha through his official mail scebcaptmfr@gmail.com to discuss these treatment techniques and the possibility for you regaining control and use of your pelvic floor. Pain, loss of function for sex, inability to exercise and bladder problems are not a normal part of aging.