CAN SEXUAL ACTIVITY CAUSE PN??-help!!

[clo236]

Hi Violet,

I had SIJD and leg discrepancies checked with a regular PT and I found a womens health PT which I emailed, so will probably be attending an appointment soon to get this whole pelvic floor thing checked out further.

I agree I hate sitting here doing nothing.

Thank God I don't have to sleep in that bed anymore, that was literally my last night at uni so will not be in that bed anymore, which makes the whole thing so frustrating since I've always been so careful.


I have had a slight increase to my normal daily 5/10 possibly lower pain scale which is making me panic. I don't know whether it's to do with me landing on that wooden ledge or the sitting. I was doing alot of travelling yesterday with flying home etc. I normally use a neck cushion to sit on but it's hard to know if the right areas exactly are being avoided. I'm so anxious, like how do you know if you've damaged the nerve further?

Best wishes and thank you for your help,

Chloe xx

[Violet M]

Hi Chloe,

Well that's a relief that you won't be in that bed anymore. I think it's very possible just the traveling could have caused a flare-up and hopefully it's temporary. I think you can have increased nerve irritation without it being permanent damage. Peripheral nerves can heal and regenerate especially if it's the myelin sheath that's damaged as opposed to the axons so stay positive and hopefully the physical therapist will be able to help you.

Violet

[clo236]

Hi guys,

I always come to this site if i'm scared and anxious as I feel like the GP's don't really understand this particular nerve very well so I am so greatful for your support and help.

Just an update; I first damaged this nerve I was in complete agony 10/10. Now a year on I'm about a 4 and below most days with a flare up at around 6 due mostly if I was sitting. I still have pins and needles though :/

I bought the Togu Airgo cushions but it's not really taking all the pain away when I am sitting plus sometimes I would get a flare the next day. Don't really think it's working then or maybe I'll never find a cushion that takes all the pain away. I was considering buying the Twin Cheeks cushion although it's expensive plus delivery from America to N.Ireland will be costly too.

I'm panicked about one thing though; normally I would lie down, stand or use a cushion when on public transport or in the back of a car but over the past year if I ever had to make a quick journey in a taxi or a friends car and didn't have a cushion with me to take away any pain from sitting I would have pushed myself back against the car seat and almost hovered with my bum slightly off the seat with my legs doing most of the work. I'm so stupid and panicked now though cause i'm thinking that this is similar to a squatting position which is bad but I just wanted to take the pressure off from sitting to take the pain away . I would have done this for 20 mins at a time and never had any problems but I made a short journey yesterday and was sort of hovering and now I have a pain flare the next day. Have I caused further damage to the nerve??... i'm so stupid.

Thanks,

Chloexx

[Violet M]

Chloe, it seems like that position would engage the pelvic floor muscles quite a bit. If you already have pelvic floor tension maybe sitting the way you described may have increased the tension in the muscles and aggravated the nerve -- hopefully nothing permanent and it will settle down if you are careful. Even if you have a nerve entrapment, I think it would take an awful lot of squatting to damage the nerve beyond the ability to heal.

Violet

[mary123]

Hi Chloe
I so sorry to hear your story but please don’t give up hope.
I am a 48 year old male that experienced PNE symptoms for 8 months in 2006. My mother passed away shortly before the symptoms started and I’m convinced that the grief related stress compounded the problem. To cut a long story short, after going to the clinic in Nantes, France it was decided that the symptoms were caused by the muscles in that area spasaming and aggravating the nerve rather than trapping it. This could well be the same for you. Try to keep that area relaxed as much and as possible. I know that is difficult but you could talk to you doctor about medicinal help for this. I used strong anti anti inflammatories by day and diazepam at night. It worked for me and hope fully it will for you too. Ultimately don’t give up hope as although these symptoms can take a long time to subside they will eventually. You are much younger than me and should heal well even if it does take time.
Take care and good luck X

Hi jwalk,
I think that I can have a problem like yours. I am also taking 10 mg of diazepam at night but I am not taking anti inflammatories during the day but lyrica. Please, can you explain me what tests the doctors of Nantes did to you in order to diagnose? I am not sure if my doctor have done all that it is possible in order to have a diagnose. Thank you.

[clo236]

Hi all,

Just a post incase someone comes across and sees this. I was wondering if anyone would know about chair cushions, I know that different cushions work for different people but I was just wanted to know which cushion was possibly better; the ICN chair cushion or the Twin Cheeks folding cushion? I'd probably want to go, for the firmest one/ one that prevented any of the genital area from touching the chair.

The ICN one is about £40 including delivery and the Twin cheeks one is at least £90. I want to try and pick the right one cause i'm a cash strapped student and can just about afford one :/ Only thing about the ICN cushion is that they're not in stock a lot of the time.

Also is it common to get bad pain flares out of random, the past few months I have been able to keep my pain levels quite low if I avoid triggers but recently my pain just shot up quite considerably without me doing one of my triggers and I can't think of what caused this. Plus how long do flares last typically this one is much longer than the ones I'd usually have . I mean how can you tell the difference between a flare and possibly more damage.

Its doing my head in like a piercing toothachey pain mixed with a burn. I would take co codamol on top of 600mg of lyrica if I had a flare but it's not working


Thanks,

Chloe xx

[Violet M]

Chloe, I can't say which cushion is the best because I haven't tried them but I know people have posted good things about both of them.

My flares usually calmed down within a week or two but I'm sure it could be different for each person. I'm sorry you are having a flare-up right now. It's really frustrating when you don't know what caused it because then you don't know how to avoid it next time.

For temporary relief you could try ice gel packs or lidocaine ointment such as emla cream or over-the-counter extra-strength vagisil. Neither is a perfect solution but every bit of pain relief you can get helps.

Violet

[shesingsjazz]

So I've been wondering for over a year whether sexual activity could cause an inflammation of the vulvar nerves and apparently it can. About 14 months ago I had what you could call a "saddle injury" from a sexual encounter. It was pretty vigorous thrusting, but it didn't hurt at the time. For the first few days after though, my external vulvar tissues were sore and bruised feeling, but there was no burning pain. It was the following week that I noticed more of a burning sensation and I thought maybe I had an STD or some other infection possibly. Over the next year I was tested for everything and saw so many specialists, but none even took into consideration what I said about the symptoms coming on after a sexual encounter. Fast forward 14 months and I had my first pudendal nerve block a week ago, which is giving me some relief finally! I've been to every specialist you can imagine and even the pelvic pain specialist kept thinking maybe it was low estrogen (for the last 7 months she's been trying different types of estrogen). After all of this time, I think we may have it figured out. From all of the research I've done (and let me tell you I've done tons of research this year), you can have an insult to the vulvar nerves from sexual activity or if you're a woman from yeast infections, etc., and if the central nervous system is not functioning really well, then it's possible for "wind-up" to occur that keeps these tissues in pain. They are enervated by the pudendal nerve and through the nerve block, you can tell that it's this nerve area that's irritated or inflamed. So injury during sex is always a possibility...

[Rosemary]

shesingsjazz

I am in a similar position to you - i just wondered how old you are - if you don't mind me asking ? What type of estrogen are you using ?
I had an unguided pudendal nerve block which numbed the area for a while but did nothing for the pain.
Have you got a hot spot of pain around the ischial spine at all ?
Sorry so many questions maybe i can answer some of yours.

Rosemary X