I stopped pelvic floor therapy because Dr. Sarno is pretty clear about it focussing on the body and he even talks specifically about trigger points. I know what you mean about the sudden increase of pain though and doing anything for relief. That has happened to me a few times now and you can just feel the muscle tightness so acutely. My thinking on physical therapy is that you mind can undo any good it does. I know several pelvic 'mindbody' people talk about PT e.g. Abigail Steidley and Lorraine Faehndrich, yet if you read their stories they didn't actually heal until after they stopped having the therapy... Do you mind if I ask if you have experienced any menstrual irregularities with your pelvic pain or does your period have any effect on your pain?
my period doesnt affect the pudendal pain, but it DOES affect the urinary pain and that seems to be a very common finding in females because there are estrogen receptors in the bladder. Some people believe that interstitial cystitis is TMS (i believe mine is, or at least some degree of central sensitization because it developed after a string of many untreated bladder infections) and you might say that since i get a mini flareup two days before my period is a "conditioned response" but in my case, i dont think it is, because i dont track my period at all. My menstural cycle is a bit irregular, so when i notice that i'm getting more urethral burn than normal, i'll glance at the calendar, count the days and say to myself "yeah, it's about that time when my period should be due" and then it comes. My theory is, if my brain is making my bladder more sensitive, then the horomones are provoking it even further. I have strong "provoked" pain, meaning that when you press the sensitive area, my pain goes thru the roof. like pressing a wound.
i should point out an interesting development since i last wrote this about my triggerpoints and flare. i had a near mental breakdown around the time i wrote that. It was so bad that i walked downstairs in my office building, to a mental health business that has a bunch of therapists, and i straight up asked them if they had anyone who deals with chronic pain. I was hoping they had somebody similar to a Shchubiner or Alan Gordon. The girl behind the desk said "actually, in a couple weeks we have somebody starting up something to do with meditation. i can give you a card". I figured, good enough. it's a start. I took the card and left. The next day i woke up and felt different. I had a lot of anxiety (over something unrelated) but when i have strong stomach anxiety, the kind that can be felt as a tightness in the gut, it tends to leave my pelvis. it's almost like the tension just switches places. I'm telling you, i had ten weeks of severe pain, but that day i had nearly none. The day after that, my stomach wasnt as anxious, but i still had nearly no pain. For the next week, my pain was drastically lower. Of course i took advantage of this and rode my bike like crazy and that flared me up pretty bad for a couple nights (despite it being TMS, it still bugs the nerve to take a beating like that all at once when it's sensitive). I think that glimmer of hope from taking that card changed something in my brain.
Sadly it was short lived. The pain is coming back. I had one upsetting misunderstanding (romantic spat) and even though it was resolved in a matter of an hour, i think that set off the pain. that was a week ago, but the pain is practically back to the level it was when i was in awful flare mode. I no longer am obsessed about trigger points, an i'm trying not to freak out because i know these flares can be temporary, so why is the pain so bad?! i was doing really good for a week! I think what upsets me is that all it takes is one tiny thing to put me into a flare that last weeks, even if i "get over it" mentally. Then it might take one little thing to bring me back out of that flare, just by accident. All i know is, i cant seem to control it.
