Health Organization for Pudendal Education

I checked on Amazon the Isa Herrera book "Ending Female Pain: A Woman's Manual - The Ultimate Self-Help Guide for Women Suffering from Chronic Pelvic and Sexual Pain" and searched inside the book for pudendal nerve entrapment. To be honest, I was expecting the book to say that Pudendal Nerve Entrapment can be treated by physical therapy and therefore surgery should not be considered but instead, Isa Herrera has a very clear take on it. This is what it says:

PUDENDAL NERVE ENTRAPMENT
As the pudendal nerve travels on its journey from the lower back nerve root through the pelvis, the pudendal nerve can easily become entrapped and squeezed by fascia, muscles, and ligaments. Furthermore, a woman's puden-dal nerve can become injured during childbirth, excessive bike riding, falls, accidents, etc., and once the nerve becomes entrapped or injured it can create horrific, deep and agonizing pain that refers directly to the pelvic floor. An injured pudendal nerve can cause pain with sitting, pain in the labia, or pain in the clitoris. Some of my patients with pudendal nerve entrapment have even reported a feeling like their pubic hair is being pulled or yanked out. To resolve this condition, you need to work with a team that includes a physical therapist with pelvic floor specialty and a urogynecologist or urologist who specializes in pudendal nerve neuralgias. Typically, the medical doctor might inject the area to calm down the pain, and then you would come to see me and I would get to work to reduce the muscle spasms and release the nerve. Many times, but only as a last resort, surgery is the only option for many women suffering from pudendal nerve entrapment.

http://www.amazon.com/Ending-Female-Pai ... 436&sr=8-1

Thanks for sharing ezer. Has anyone been to Isa Herrerra? How did you know about this book? It sounds like a good book and has excellent reviews on Amazon.

Grif522,
It comes up on Amazon when you search for pelvic pain. To be honest the "reviews" are too good and that makes me uncomfortable about the book. Nevertheless, it is interesting that a PT recognizes the limitations of pelvic floor physical therapy for PNE.

Nevertheless, it is interesting that a PT recognizes the limitations of pelvic floor physical therapy for PNE.

I totally agree which makes me all the more curious about her technique and book. The scar therapy in particular has piqued my interest.

I am glad that Isa Herrera has acknowledged that sometimes PT can't cure PN. That is a huge, humble step. I remember asking my PT, after months of painful PT sessions, and I said "If my nerve is truly entrapped, is any amount of PT going to "untrap" it?" And, finally, she admitted, "No."

Griff, I am curious about the scar therapy. I have bilateral scar entrapment but it was much greater on the left than the right, thus the necessity to have surgery on the left. Both myself and my doctor are hoping I won't need the right side decompressed. Where did you read about the scar therapy? Is it in Isa's book?

Best,

AM

Product Description
Isa Herrera, MSPT, CSCS, women’s health physiotherapist, has written the quintessential self-help book for women suffering from chronic pelvic and sexual pain. In this unique book, Ms. Herrera delivers the goods, sharing her trade secrets with you and putting you on the right track to a pain-free lifestyle and enjoyable sex life. The large selection of techniques in this book are based on Herrera’s real life experience in treating women at her NYC based healing center, Renew Physical Therapy, where she treats women who suffer from conditions such as vulvodynia, vaginismus, interstitial cystitis, vestibulitis, endometriosis, and pre and post-natal pain. Ms. Herrera has written a multi-layered book, fusing yoga, pilates, internal massage, scar therapy, visualizations, and vulva self-care, ensuring that there is something for every woman who has suffered long enough with sexual, pelvic, or scar pain. With this book Ms. Herrera shows you how she helped countless women get on a path to self-healing, ultimately breaking their cycle of pain. With this book Ms. Herrera is declaring a revolution, stating “I have given you the tools you need, don’t hesitate to get started, end your pain and be the heroine of your own story.”

I agree ,it is good to see a physical therapist recognize the limits of PT and also the necessity and benefits of surgery.

I just got this email today from the Nat'l Vulvodynia Association and thought I'd share.

Monday's episode of MTV True Life will feature patient Tali Keteri as she undergoes pelvic floor physical therapy with Isa Herrera, MSPT, CSCS, director of Renew Physical Therapy in New York City. The episode titled, I Can't Have Sex, airs at 10pm ET.

Ms. Herrera is also hosting a fundraiser at the Back Fence in New York City on Monday night at 9pm. For additional information on the event, or to donate online if you're unable to attend, visit: http://www.renew-pt.com/NEWS-MTV-TRUE-LIFE.shtml. Proceeds will benefit the National Vulvodynia Association, Interstitial Cystitis Association and the IC Network.

Has anyone gone to her for entrapments.

For any ladies that have vaginal/vulvar pain that has some aspect of muscular involvement (probably most of us do) Herrerra has a steam bath technique that helps. It can also help prep for a bowel movement, ease pain after sex etc. I've used this several times and find it does help. Basically, you boil a kettle and put about 4 cups of hot water into a bowl, plastic container or whatever you have that works and kneel or squat (for those who can do this) over the steam. It is a good idea to put a towel under each knee as you should kneel over the bath for 10-15 minutes and you don't want to cause pain in your knees. You can also get a bowl that will sit inside your toilet so you can sit properly without bending. I've done it this way because kneeling was too hard on my joints and it worked equally as well. You may need to let the water cool a bit before sitting over it but remember that you're only to come in contact with the rising steam NOT the water itself.

Hope this might help someone.