How does weight lifting affect the pudendal nerve?

[Violet M]

It's unfortunate that you had the incorrect treatment, Linda.

From what someone else posted, Deborah Metzger, the physician mentioned in that article had some disciplinary actions against her for doing unneccesary hernia surgeries and messing up some people. So, I don't think we can say that hernias are the cause for everyone but I agree it's definitely something that should be checked and I hope treatment will be successful in your case.

Violet

[Griff522]

It's unfortunate that you had the incorrect treatment, Linda.

From what someone else posted, Deborah Metzger, the physician mentioned in that article had some disciplinary actions against her for doing unneccesary hernia surgeries and messing up some people. So, I don't think we can say that hernias are the cause for everyone but I agree it's definitely something that should be checked and I hope treatment will be successful in your case.

Violet

I am aware of Deborah Metzger's disciplinary actions. But I don't think we need to throw the baby out with the bath water, so to speak. Weightlifting can be a cause for hernias, and if even one of my doctors had mentioned the symptoms of a hernia or suggested I see another doctor to get checked for one, I think I could've avoided an unnecessary, expensive surgery -- and just maybe 3 years of excruciating pain!

[paininmybutt]

I am so shocked, I should have looked at this site closer when I originally found it, but at the time I was so involved with actually learning about the body to identify just what was going on whilst none of the doctors were providing any other options. It simply went right by me with the other information. I had extensive work done by an un-named physician. He gave me an 80% success rate. February makes two years. I should have applied for diability, but my upbringing left me desperately impoverished after believing I was going through a short term illness. I have always sought to help others, and this problem has shattered my innocence for society. It has been seven years now. I had been told 2/3 individuals simply never choose life. I am aware of the differance between not wanting to live, and actively seeking. I think 7 years have placed me firmly in the fighter category. As I have been fighting this on my own I was relatively ignorant of cause and effect. Doctor's theorized, and I asked other physicians to rule out, but to date I have had a testicle removed in three surgeries to identify cause, and then one day I stumbled across a physician that treated me. He used wonderful images to demonstrate I had the problem, but currently I have more pain than before the surgery. After reading through many posts on this site today I cannot believe just how much information coorilates with my personal findings. I have a shorter leg, and I have found a coorilation. I am using my experience to address my own personal answers, and have found a number of measures that if I am able to impliment might afford me some relief. As of now I use narcotics, and hate them. I have been totally responsible, and as a result of reaching out to a childhood friend who is a drug prosecutor in the county that I reside, I have been stripped of support from the community, and family due to his ignorance. They have "handled" me in a manner that has intentionally undermined me in an attempt to force me to rehab. I have been somewhat reserved in taking any action legally, but after reading so much I have been able to identify other actions by them that have deliberate intentions to remove from me the only thing that allows my wife and three children any opportunity to see me. Sometimes forgiveness is mandatory simply for the cause of minimizing the direct effects on the already massive overload of responsibilities. Thank you all so much for your participation. My personal pain level ranges in the 7-9 level, it affects both my sexual organs, and entire digestive system.

[paininmybutt]

There are so few dr. who understand conformity it is sick. The lengths undertaken in breeding horses is light years ahead of modern sience when it come to comparing humans. It is clear where the money is, but we can look to the research, and that is what led me to believe I understand it now after re-discovering the site. I have a leg length discrepancy. I have been working through the gait of a human, and the relationship of the muscles to the bone, to the nerves in question. My personal experience is that my leg is shorter, before the timeframe in wich the event leading to the magnifying of my problems occured, I was involved in several strenuous activities. Reading through the comment's today has given me the courage to say what I think I have found these last couple of months now that surgery expectations have diminished. I always felt some nausea, and difficulty in eating. I have been going through my history noting that at one time my bowel could not be fed enough to keep up my blood sugar. Sexual stimulation was always present, but I thought it was normal. Around age 21 I was having upwards of 6-12 night emmissions. What a nightmare!? I felt like a cured addict after they removed my testicle, but in writing this that is when the really big pain started. Anyway, back to gait. I always felt oddly balanced, could not jump properly, always tripping on my feet, shoes wore unevenly. My right hip began leading my left, and I would quite commonly rest my weight on my shorter left leg. I began noticing I was learning to balance wholly on that leg. In hindsight I think I was able to feel straining, and over built muscles in my pelvis. I began feeling pain, but I do not remember where right now. Eventually I noticed a sort of limp in my gait running. Without outlining it in a peer reviewed journal here I made me a sort of block I can stand on that when I click my heels together three times I am able to say there is no place like home?! No, seriously I make fun of it, but the temporary and immediate relief of pain by the repositioning of the piriformis muscle in relationship to the pudendal nerve, and the obturator internus muscle is unquestionable. Laying down I had a chiropracter help me do some nerve glides where I could feel my pudendal nerve being stretched when I lifted my head in the manner he dictated. It became clear that the nerve was overstretched, and the surrounding muscles were contributing to it. I have yet to perfect it, but noting my pelvic tilt, the leading hip, the overextended nerve, and the immediate relief I feel comfortable in saying now that any further "relaxing" of the muscles in the pelvis would facilitate the pelvic tilt; further antagonized the problem. It is my theory, supported by what I have read today, and the knowledge I already had that; any heavy lifting, or sudden impact exercises/work that may magnify the scenario will pull on the nerve, head to butt, and would complicate the problem. The body has memory, and if the body recognizes that it must sacrifice short term structural relationship to facilitate a sudden, or heavy load it would,...and it could,... in all likeliness such as what my personal experience produced,...make a habit of it with lighter loads such as walking. Weight lifting specific to pelvic stability, and indirectly through abdominal bracing for a rep could I guess bring about the onset.

[srinmav]

Although my PNE is due to a large cyst, I think weight lifting and other exercises such as pushups, pullups and stretching exercises had a big part in making my cyst symptomatic. For years I was asymptomatic even though the cyst was always there since childhood. I was doing lots of exercises in an attempt to defy my auto immune disease. Frequently I would get odd symptoms in the pelvic region (such as numbness, burning, itches etc) and I wrongly attributed them to the arthritis I have. I would take a break and then continue with exercise. The process continued for many years when oneday while sitting I felt a severe electrical jolt in the pelvic region following by burning and a few days later I found it was getting painful to sit normally. The doctors were obviously clueless trying to attribute all the pain to my head. Then I started searching the internet and four or five months later I found this forum (in jan 2005) that explained what was ailing me. If I had known enough to stop doing those gym exercises my life may have been different or at least the onset of symptoms would have been postponed for many more years. I wish.

[Karyn]

Hi srinmav,
What have you done about your tarlov cyst? 8 cm's?!?!?

Kind regards,
Karyn

[srinmav]

Nothing really. A surgery is indicated but my research says these surgeries have poor success rates. And I have an anterior cyst that they say is harder to reach and remove. ( this surgery apparently requires them to drill through the sacral bone due to the location)

I did meet some specialists unfortunately I did not get the impression that they understand the problem correctly. Infact, none of these docs understand why I am unable to sit without instant pain ( they understand only sciatica, back pain etc which are quite different from PN pain).
"No, you should not have that kind of pain due to the cyst", is what I hear all the time. I think it would be too risky to let such doctors handle the problem, especially when the surgery itself has less than enviable success rates for large cysts.

I don't know what will happen in the long term, but at the moment I am able to manage myself almost pain free provided I operate within my limitations. There are also other symptoms like numbness in parts of the legs and overall weakness/atrophy of the legs and the pelvic region that I need to be very careful about while going about my life. As long as the situation remains under control I don't want to do anything.

[Karyn]

Hi Srinmav,
I strongly urge you to read the following links:

http://www.pudendalhope.info/forum/view ... arlov+cyst

http://www.tarlovcystfoundation.org/tar ... tion0.aspx

http://frankfeigenbaum.com/

I don't know where you live, or who you've seen about the TC's, but if you haven't seen one of the surgeons listed on the Tarlov Cyst Disease Foundation, you're not going to get very far, or get accurate information about your condition.

"No, you should not have that kind of pain due to the cyst", is what I hear all the time.

I'm not surprised. I've been hearing the same thing too. Obviously, the people you've consulted with have no area of expertise with the TC's. They're really not even cysts. It's your nerve filled with cerebral spinal fluid, ballooning out of the nerve sleeve. This is a very serious medical condition. It's the same as Cauda Equina Syndrome, which is considered a medical emergency. It produces the same symptoms and the same nerves are affected. The only difference is; the compression is not caused by a buldging/herniated disk. Do you have any bladder and/or bowel dysfunction?

A surgery is indicated but my research says these surgeries have poor success rates.

You may want to do a little more research. I have a small library of peer reviewed literature, scientific articles, etc ... which state the contrary.

Kind regards,
Karyn

[HerMajesty]

Hi srinmav,
One of the posts Karyn linked you to was regarding my tarlov cyst surgery, just want to let you know I am very thankful to have gotten it done. I don't know my final outcome yet because I am a year post-op and the biggest improvements are supposed to happen in year 2, and sometimes year 3. but I will say I was on 4 meds and now I am on two, was totally incapacitated and now I am working part time and able to do enough limited excercise without injuring myself that i have been taking off the weight gained from pre-op totally sedentary lifestyle and meds...But best of all, I am not constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop and some new interesting symptom to show up. The thing that waas so distressing about tarlov cyst disease is that after a period of stability, I started going downhill fast neurologically and I never knew what new problem woukd show up next. Some of the new symptoms that showed up toward the very end of my struggle before surgery, are still with me in a reduced form but never would have been there at all if i had gotten surgery in a more timely manner. Yes they did drill through my sacrum, and repaired it with a resorbable plate and screws. The pain from that and from the surgery was so minor that after I was out of the hospital I managed it with Aleve (Naproxen) and never even took the narcs.
It's different for everyone - some people struggle much more after surgery- BUT the alternative seems to be more and more symptoms creeping up on you over time as the compression of the nerves becomes more prolonged. Even if I don't get any better at all past today, at least I am confident i will not get worse and that is all that happened prior to surgery - a slide downhill which started slowly and picked up speed.

[momof3bigguys]

i was extremley active before this happened..i was going to a zumba,spinning and a power pump class 5-6 days a week for nearly a yr!! the zumba i modified because i had a rectocele repair done in 2005 and knew i had limits,but the spinning and power pump class i was 100% in. i worked harder and harder something told me i shouldnt have been doing all of that..should have listened! in aug i had a very strange issue with my foot,then in nov my pelvic and vaginal area were a MESS!! i think i did something in the gym that caused this.. i have a burning sensation, and a feeling something is just stuck in there! i also have groin pains that go all the way down to my foot!! the vaginal area hurts so bad and if i sit for any length of time it makes it worse..my right buttocks hurts so bad and goes numb. the back of the thigh is totally numb if i sit to long!! i was told i have spinal stenoisis and degenrtive disc also have a few slipped disc's...again what the heck was i thinking doing all of those crazy workouts..i have an appt with a PT this month hoping she will be able to help me and figure this out!