Health Organization for Pudendal Education

People with PN have problems walking? I feel a strange pain when I am walking, it feels like there is a problem with my genital muscles while walking. Any thoughts?

Hi Laura

i have tight muscles around the vulva and daily pain - i go for walks when possible - it helps to get out at times and clear your head of all this. How far i walk depends on how bad things are whilst walking.

The tight muscles are caused by the irritated nerves and the tight muscles hurt the nerves - it is all a bit chicken and egg.

I don't feel that i am doing any more harm by going for a walk.

Are you in the UK or USA Laura ?

Rosemary x

Ive been doing long, over the hour, dailynlong walks for a couple of weeks now, first day I was sore all over, but now I defintely feel much, much better, in regards to the pelvic issues..Im keepint it up, plus the long walks serve to ease the mind as mentioned.

laura101 wrote:People with PN have problems walking? I feel a strange pain when I am walking, it feels like there is a problem with my genital muscles while walking. Any thoughts?

I had difficulty walking before my PNE surgery partly because the area where the leg joins the perineum was painful. I walked with a limp sort of dragging one leg behind (the leg on my worst side of pain). That problem is gone now and I can easily walk 3-5 miles, including uphill) without any problems.

Violet

I do walk but it doesn't feel quite right. When I start walking I tend to get an electrical feeling intense itch on the left side of the vulva (where the pain is) or I'm dragging my feet along. I have weak ankles and tendonitis in the ankles so that doesn't help. That being said, I walk anyway. I used to be afraid to do it... lately I need it more for my mental state and find that it doesn't change my overall picture as much as I was afraid it might. I've even added 40-50 second sprints of jogging. I can't explain why, I just needed to do it, something physical for my mental state, come heck or high water. At first, my goodness, my knees and calves and shins hurt and especially my hips! Now, that is better for the most part. Of course, the lower back pain from walking can't be avoided. I have some herniations I got recently trying to move furniture by myself... (I know, I know, not smart) but the vaginal burning has not been affected by the walking THANKFULLY so I'm keeping it up. Minus the crazy itch thing that seems to come and go as I go along. When I start it starts but as I get further along in the walk it goes away. I usually walk 20-40 mins.

One time a friend said I was leaning over or hunched a bit when I was walking... not sure what he saw but nothing would surprise me at this point! Maybe he just saw my pain (in ankles and vulva) I tend to tense up a lot. I would suggest anyone beginning to try walking or any new movement proceed slowly of course. Just in case. I've been walking now for about 6 weeks and I still fear what it may be doing to me but so far, so good.

L

If you are experiencing pain walking, you might want to consider having your hips checked out for any pathology. My PN journey began -- and ended -- with the hips! At first it hurt to jog, then it hurt to walk, and then I developed PN. It took ten years for me to discover that I had bad hips all along.

Best of luck.