Heal Pelvic Pain by Amy Stein - Review

Amy Stein, M.P.T., is a physical therapist and founder of Beyond Basics Physical Therapy. She is a member of the American Physical Therapy Association and the International Pelvic Pain Society.

Amy Stein is one of the doctors who fought for women who experienced pelvic pain but they have not been heard enough by gynecologists. Amy Stein says that much of the pain is not neuropathic, but myofascial(in the muscles and tissues). This type of pain is the result of muscle shortening and tightening.

“Heal pelvic pain” speaks to the readers about the pelvic pain they are experiencing and the root causes of that pain and it offers them simple, natural and practical therapies for curing it.

This book helped a lot of women, because sometimes women are ashamed to talk about vulvar pain during sex or after  sexual intercourse. Also , most people want a quick fix for a certain problem, such as getting a prescription and not a solution that could take more time and that can have long-term results, like physical therapy.

So if you suffer from an agonizing and emotionally stressful pelvic floor disorder, including pelvic pain, irritable bowel syndrome, endometriosis, prostatitis, incontinence, or discomfort during sex, urination, or bowel movements, it's time to read this book and  start healing right now--without drugs or surgery. Natural cures, in the form of exercise, nutrition, massage, and self-care therapy heal your condition  and stop your pain forever.

In the first chapter, Amy Stein talks about pelvic anatomy , both masculine and feminine. There are very good illustrations in the book that shows us the main parts of men/women genitalia and the main group of muscles or nerves. Also, she talks about some causes that could trigger the pain like urinary tract infections, yeast infections, bacterial infections, surgeries, just simple weakness in the trunk, childbirth, wearing clothing that is too tight and so on. She talks about the upcoming chapters in the book and about her program of natural healing that everyone can do in the privacy of their house. In this amazing book you will find strenghtening, stretching, relaxation exercises, nutritional recommendations, internal  or external massage, heat or cold and other modifications to lifestyle behaviour.

In chapter 2, Amy offers us a SYMPTOMS MONITOR  as a guide to advance from phase to phase in her program. This is a questionnaire that asks you where it hurs, how much it hurts and what effect the pain is having on your life.

Chapter 3 is called “End the pain”. There are described two different sets of exercises depending on your condition . Amy Stein gives us a whole list of musculoskeletal disorders that may be treated doing the stretching exercises. This may include spasms in pelvic floor muscles, pudendal neuralgia, pain in the lower back, interstitial cystitis, painful bladder syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, urinary or bowel urgency, abdominal pressure or pain, urethral spasm and burning, decreased libido, difficulty achieving orgasm, vaginal pain, vulvar vestibulitis, vaginismus, dyspareunia, prenatal or postpartum pelvic pain, endometriosis, dysmenorrhea, difficulty in conception and in men, erectile dysfunction or postcoital pain and nonbacterial prostatitis. I have to mention this  is a long list, and this book may really helpful if the problem is muscles spasm and tightness, but it’s possible that your condition has multiple causes, so these exercises will help you solve only the musculoskeletal pain. If the problem is a hormone imbalance, which is common among women you have to apply other methods of treatment too, like diet. However, hormones can be balanced through exercises, diet, lifestyle changes and all of that are mentioned in this book.

In the first part there are described around 10-11 relaxation and stretching exercises that help ease the pain (Tight press, Pelvic  floor stretch, Hip rotator stretch, Hip flexor stretch, Abdominals stretch, Back stretch, Hamstrings stretch, Inner thighs stretch, Butt stretch, Regular daily cardio… ). These exercises need to be done two to four times a day, for more than two months so that you can see an improvement. As I said it is not a quick fix, but this has helped me a lot with my vulvodynia. Even though my problem was due to pelvic floor muscle tightness and hormonal too, this book helped me decrease my pain with 60 – 70 %.  Also, your hormonal problems or any other kind of disorder or infection anywhere in the pelvic floor can have an impact on any of the pelvic floor’s other functions.

(Source vaginismus. com)

You can find some  stretching exercises here and here .

In chapter 4 there are described and illustrated some strengthening exercises useful for treating bladder or bowel incontinence as a result of muscle weakness or pelvic organ prolapse. These exercises are not useful for relieving the symptoms described in chapter 3, they will make them worse.

Chapter 5 is about giving yourself a massage. This will probably help you the most, but in the first few days it will be more painful and you may feel like you want do give up. But don’t! Because it is normal that massage can cause soreness or bruising. But this is a part of your healing. Amy Stein explains to us how to do external massage on our thighs, gluteal muscles abdomen, external and internal pelvic floor massage, ILU massage(targets the colon).

You can read how to do internal pelvic floor muscles massage here 

So don’t give up! It may hurt a little at first but don’t give up! Remember, the pain during massage is a part of your healing. This massage help you desensitize the nerves and help you with the nerve pain if the pain is neuropathic  and help you stretch the muscles too and release the pressure and ease the pain.

Also, Amy Stein mentions that the use of vaginal dilators can make the massage more comfortable and more pleasurable.

Chapter 6 is called “Eat right for a healthy pelvic floor”, so it is about diet. You have to avoid sweets, foods high in saturated fats, food high in oxalates and drink plenty of water. Amy Stein gives us many tips, so if you want to read more you may want to buy the book.

Chapter 7, entitled “Relax and take care of yourself ” is about lifestyle changes. You have to sleep well so that you can be less stressed, listen to more music,  do deep breathing exercises. Amy Stein gives us tips for the toilet too, stress reduction techniques (hot baths, meditation, yoga), techniques for soothing the pelvic floor (contrast baths – hot and cold), posture and alignement(there are described and illustrated the correct positions when we sit on a chair or when we bend over to pick something off the floor).

In Chapter 8, which is called “Better sex for more years” there are given some tips on sexual life like the right position you need to have to ease the pain(the women being on top is less painful because she can control the angle of penetration), use of lubricants, wipe tha sore area with  cold water after sex, exercises that can help achieve orgasm more often.

Chapter 9 is called “Pregnancy, labor and postdelivery”. I will not insist on this chapter, so if you are interested you can read the book. Amy talks about the increase of hormones during pregnancy, the exercises you can do during pregnancy that can help you, massage tehniques, precautions.

Chapter 10 and 11 are about pelvic floor disorders in children and men.

Chapter 12 is called “The natural way to heal the pain”  and it is the last chapter of the book. Amy Stein encourages us to keep looking for good specialist in pelvic floor disorders, that can help us with or without using the traditional medicines. Amy presents natural healing methods in her book and says that stress  reduction is an essential  component of the healing process. Another thing that can really make a difference is a positive attitude.

In Appendix A Amy defines some disorders of the pelvic floor with their signs, symptoms, causes and consequences like sacroiliac dysfunctions, sacral pain, pubic pain, piriformis syndrome, iliopsoas syndrome, pelvic congestion, pudendal neuralgia, peripheral nerve pain referrals, coccydynia, levator ani syndrome, proctalgia fugas, anismus, hemorrhoids, pelvic inflammatory disease, endometriosis, vulvodynia, vaginismus, vulvar vestibulitis, dyspareunia, menstrual pain, herpetic neuralgia, skin conditions like Lichen planus and Lichen sclerosus prostatitis, interstitial cystitis, urethral syndrome, urgency syndrome, constipation, diarrhea,  inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, cystocele, uterine prolapse, sexual dysfuntions.

Also there are presented some factors that can delay the healing process like diet, stress, depression, anxiety, hormonal imbalances, sleep disturbance.

In Appendix B there is a list of books and websites that can help you research more about this condition.

In Appendix C there are testimonials from people who suffered from pelvic pain and healed using the tips from this amazing book. Reading these testimonials make you more optimistic and give us more hope.

Resources: Amy Stein - Heal Pelvic Pain: The ProvenStretching, Strengthening, and Nutrition Program for Relieving Pain,Incontinence,& I.B.S, and Other Symptoms Without Surgery

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