In this video we're going to look at
some myofascial exercises to help with
chronic pelvic pain. Many people suffer
from chronic pelvic pain symptoms, both
men and women, and this can include pain
in the pelvis, the genitals, groin area,
even into the rectum. Also a lot of
people have other symptoms such as
digestive issues and also urinary urgency
or frequency. Chronic pelvic pain can be
caused by all sorts of things and for
most people it's usually a combination
of issues. Sometimes it can be
overuse through too much sport or too
much sitting, or it could be due to
Surgery, or it could be due to stress.
A lot of people are told when they have
chronic pelvic pain that the problem is
that their pelvic floor is too weak and
it's not supporting them. In actual fact,
in my experience, it tends to be that the
pelvic floor is too tight and in spasm
and because of where your pelvic floor
Is, which is right at the bottom of your
pelvis supporting your internal organs,
it is connected fascially to everywhere
else around your pelvis. There are
fascial connections to your back, hips,
to the abdominal area, and to your legs.
If any of those areas are tight
that can actually create the pelvic pain
and issues that you experience. The
exercises that we're going to do in this
video are actually for loosening around
that whole area and helping the fascia
and the muscles to get back to normal
Function. To do this at home use your
Bed - if you lie on your back on your
bed and allow your leg to just dangle off the
Side. It doesn't matter if your
foot is touching the floor or if it's
dangling in the air, as long as you allow
your leg to be nice and heavy and
Relaxed. This stretch helps to progressively
release the tissues in your thigh, front
of your hip and up into your abdomen, all
of which are areas that can contribute
to chronic pelvic pain. As long as
you're here for at least two minutes the
fascia and other tissues in this area will
start to release and let go. In this
exercise we're going to stretch our
adductor muscles. The adductors are a
group of muscles on the inside of your
thighs that extend up into the groin
area and when the fascia and the muscles
in this area get tight they can affect
pelvic pain. This is a good way to
help to start to release this area.
When you start to do this sitting on the
floor have the soles of your
feet together and just allow your
legs to drop out. You're not forcing
it, you're just allowing the weight of
your legs to create the stretch.
Sometimes people this is enough to do
the stretch like this, but if this area
is very tight you might actually find
that this is too uncomfortable, in which
case you should use some pillows as
props just to support your legs. You
can put pillows on either side
underneath your legs and this just
allows this area to relax without you
feeling that you're getting too much of
a stretch that's creating pain. As with
all fascial stretches as long as you're
in this position for at least a couple of
Minutes, you'll start to release your
Fascia. To progress the stretch you can
start to bring your feet closer towards
you and this will deepen the stretch
More.
Again waiting for at least two
minutes each time you change
Position. In this exercise we're going to
do a fascial squat. This is not the
type of squatting you do at the gym, this
is a progressive squat that allows your
joints and your tissues to start to
Release. To do this, if you come into a
squatting position, make sure that your
feet are flat on the floor and have your
arms inside your knees so you can
start to use your arms just to lever
your legs open a little bit more. When
you do fascial squatting the important
thing is to allow your bottom to relax
and drop down. This helps to release your
pelvic floor and takes the tissues there
out of spasm. It also
helps to open out the joints in your
Hips, your knees, and your ankles which
can get very tight and very restricted.
When you first start to do this you may
find that it's quite tricky and as you
relax you actually get a sense you're
going to fall over backwards. If that's
the case, then you can hold on to
Something. You could hold onto a
Doorframe, or a solid piece of furniture
that can take your weight. By doing this
it means that you can allow yourself
just to relax and drop back a bit more.
When you first start to do this
maybe just do it for a minute and then
come out of it, and progressively over
time you'll find that you can do this
for longer and it becomes more
Comfortable. In this exercise we're
going to do a stretch that helps to open
out the front line of your body so
By that I mean everything from your feet,
up through your legs, your abdominal area,
your chest, into your head. To do this it’s
very simple, you just lie on the floor
with your legs flat and, if it's
Comfortable, bring your arms up over your
Head. You can create a slight
sense of stretch just by stretching out
your arms and your legs away from you.
You'll feel a stretch in your
abdominal area. When you do this you can
do it for a couple of minutes just to
allow time for the fascia and the
muscles in your abdomen to start to
release and let go. If you want a deeper
stretch you can lie on a rolled-up towel.
In this exercise I'm going to use a
couple of myofascial release balls to
work on the muscles and fascia
in my buttocks. These balls are good
to use because they are inflatable which
means that they have enough pressure to
allow the fascia to start to release,
but they also have some give so they're
not too much pressure. I’m going to turn
sideways so you can see what I'm
doing. You can either work with one
ball or two balls depending on how
comfortable this feels and how your
balance is. You can do this sitting on
the floor, or sitting on a chair, or even
on your bed. If you find it's
difficult to balance just sitting on the
floor like this, then you can lean with
your back against the sofa or the wall
for support. The main thing is to make sure
that your body feels relaxed and
balanced so that you can allow your
buttocks just to let go and soften
around the balls. As long as you're
here for at least a couple of minutes
this will allow the fascia and the
muscles to start to release and let go.
In this exercise I'm going to work on
the side of my hip using a myofascial
Ball. To do this I'm going to just
turn sideways on to show you where to
Work. If you feel along the top of
your pelvic bone here and then you want
to be about an inch or so below that
where the muscles of your buttocks, the
gluteal muscles, actually wrap around the
side of your hip. To work here I'm
going to use a ball. I'm going to lie on
the ball and just allow my body to relax
around the ball. If it's comfortable
you can just allow yourself to lie more
relaxed so that your body is really
draped over the ball and you're allowing
your tissues over the next couple of
minutes just to release and let go.
Sometimes people find that this is too
Uncomfortable, in which case you could do
this on your bed instead, or if that's
also too uncomfortable you could lean
against the wall with the ball, so that
You can vary the
Pressure. Whichever way you want to do
this is fine, the main thing is whenever
you're on a spot, to be there for at
least a couple of minutes to allow time
for your fascia to release and let go.
The exercises we've covered in this
video are all designed to help with
chronic pelvic pain symptoms and so if
you do these regularly they should start
to help ease some of the pain and other
symptoms that you experience. You can
find more videos in our Living Pain
Free online video programme which is
available through our website as is our
myofascial release kit.