Recently, I’ve realized that the pain management I do in my life has become such second nature that I don’t even notice it most of the time… so I thought I’d make a list for others who deal with pelvic pain, back pain, tendinitis or other related pain who might want to try some of the techniques.
Here’s the list, in no particular order…
- Rest, as much as possible, ideally on my TempurPedic mattress
- Ice, usually in the form of perineal cold packs, directly on the injury site, at least nightly before bed, but sometimes during pain flare-ups and/or in the car
- Avoiding sitting, as much as possible, and if I must sit, I select a leather seat that is just firm enough and smooth enough to minimize pain or I use a gardening cushion
- Working from a reclining position so that I don’t have to sit or stand for too long
- Limiting standing still as able (standing in the kitchen, for example, or in line, is the worst)
- Moving, as long as it’s gentle movement, like walking, organizing, lifting light weights, pilates, swimming
- Sitz baths, after every time I use the facilities, to reduce any potential perineal skin irritation in the event it might flare up the internal nerve pain
- Pelvic floor physical therapy, with an expert PT, once a week when my pain is managed, twice a week during flare-ups, and sometimes by myself at home as able, but what I’m able to do is only about 20% as effective as what my therapist can do
- Minimizing sugar and processed wheat products
- Motrin, just one tablet, at least once a day early in the day so it helps mitigate further pain, usually 2-3 per day, usually with food so it doesn’t irritate my gut (and thus irritate the pelvic region)
- Other physical therapy via foam roller, and ball-on-stick physical therapy to open up the hips, back and neck (I’ve been doing this for my neck, shoulder and back injuries)
- Stretching, gently, especially hips
This is all I can think of right now, but if I come up with more, I’ll add it into this post.
Pain In The Mom 