Acupuncture

[A's Mommy]

Who has had success (if anyone) with acupuncture for pudendal pain? My mom, loving as she is, contacted an acupuncturist, licensed by the state of OH, and said that pudendal pain can certainly be treated by acupuncture.

TIA

AM

[pomegranate]

Hi AM,

I pursued acu last winter during the worst of my pain. It broke the pain for anywhere from 2-18 hours. At that time, that was huge for me. It's not a permanent fix, but perhaps it's worth a try. It never hurts to have one more weapon in our arsenal against pain.

Lauren

[A's Mommy]

Lauren,,

While I agree with you it's great to have something else to block the pain... I want like more than 2-18 hours, LOL

And I don't want to pay for it cause I know it's not covered by my insurance...

ughhhh they need more drugs for neuropathic pain... come on scientists where are you???!

[pomegranate]

AM,

I know. That's not very long--I was desperate for relief though, so six weeks of acu made me feel both productive, and I could get through each Monday knowing I'd get a brief reprieve that afternoon.

It is expensive. I now put that money into regular massages, which has more lasting effects for me. My massage therapist is a gift from above, truly! But I have a huge muscular component to my pain.

Lauren

[calluna]

I now use acupuncture press needles. I can place these myself, I do find that they help. (I have had all the acupuncture that the NHS is able to give me and it is too expensive to carry on privately.) I haven't had any dramatic relief but as I think I've mentioned just a few times before on here for me, anything that gives any relief at all is worth pursuing. It does help a little bit, as do quite a few other things. As Lauren says, it is one more weapon - although my image is of tools in a toolbox usually!

By the way, for those of you who are not familiar with press needles - these are really tiny. They are sterile. Each is mounted in a little plastic block which is secured with a small flesh coloured plaster. The diameter of the ones that I use is just 0.22mm and they are 0.8mm long. I can barely feel them when they are applied. Actually I am thinking of moving to the next size up - these are 1.6mm long.

[Karyn]

Hi AM,
I've been through extensive acupuncture 2ce. The first time, I went 2x/week, for 4 weeks. I did get significant relief of the myofacial pain, but due to cost,
I had to stop going and the pain came back (with a vengence!) within a couple of months. I should have stuck with it longer. I returned again last January and did 2x/week for 14 weeks. Totally cured the myofacial pain and 1 year later, it's still gone. Sorry to report, it did absolutely nothing for the nerve pain. But, not having that myofacial factor was awesome and I was able to tell exactly where the nerve pain was coming from.
Hope this helps!
Love ya,
Karyn

[Faith]

Totally cured the myofacial pain and 1 year later, it's still gone. Sorry to report, it did absolutely nothing for the nerve pain

Thanks for sharing that Karyn. I have a tons of myofascial pain, sometimes it's just as debilitating as the Pudendal pain. What kind of myofasical pain did you have?

EVERYBODY tells me to try acupuncture. I can get a 25 minute session for $60 or a 50 min session for $100 where I live. Those who have done it how long of sessions did you do? I don't expect it to take away my myofascial pain, but maybe if it could help me get it under control and then keep it under control it would be worth it.

I love massages too and I can get an hour one for $60 so it seems a lot more cost effective than accupunture, but the effects of massage only last a day or two for me.

Calunna, where did you get your accupunture press needles?

[pomegranate]

My acupuncture sessions lasted about 45-50 minutes, and I paid $60.

I currently get 2-3 deep tissue massages a month. I pay $180 for a pack of three. Faith, you might check and see if the massage therapist will let you "buy in bulk".

Lauren

[A's Mommy]

Lauren--

During the massages, do you ask them to give special attention to the area on your stomach or thighs (common trigger point areas) or suprapubic area?

Do they do skin rolling? I am desperate for a REAL release of my intense myofasical pain. I can't do it internally, obviously, b/c of the recent surgery and still-entrapped R nerve.

Thanks,

AM

[pomegranate]

AM-

Yes, we try to put our heads together and find my tight areas or trigger points. She wasn't at all aware of PN or pelvic pain, but I've done my best to explain things. She does abdominal massage, works my glutes and abductors/adductors, and thighs. I have not asked her to do any skin rolling.

Overall, massage has been a great pain management tool for me. I did have to learn the hard way that work on my sacrum flares me. I think it's very dependent on each person's case as to whether massage will help them. There's a woman I'm friends with through the Facebook group that had just a horrid flare after massage.

Something I think is interesting--nearly everytime she works on me, she makes the comment that my hip/butt/thigh region feels like that of a runner's. Needless to say, I'm no runner.

Lauren