ight, are we sitting comfortably? (well, probably not all of you)
First of all - disclaimer...whilst it's delightful to feel the love on here, please bear in mind that there are limits to what can be done online, and that i'm not the world's best PT working in pelvic floors. But, I'll know how to find some smashing ones near you!
Leave questions, i'll answer as we go along. Feel free to PM if it's all too awful to leave on the thread. I've got a poorly kid drama going on here, so if I don't reply for a couple of days don't worry, I'm not ignoring you.
Bum -
Can pelvic physios tell if nerves have been damaged through birth?
So, nerves are the things that make your skin feel and your muscles work and some other stuff that matters but muddies this chat. The nerve that is often under-regarded is the pudendal nerve - that's the one that runs a wiggly route from your spine, through your pelvis and makes your tickly bits tickly.
If it's truly compressed you'll not be sitting comfortably. A pinched nerve is the most excruciating thing ever. A pinched nerve up your fanjo, ugh. ~Stuff of nightmares.
But, apart from being pinched, the nerve can be injured or irritated or nipped by muscle spasm - and that wouldn't just cause pain. it can also cause numbness. And, loads of you are talking about reduced sexual sensation - well, if it's a bit numb, that might be a sign that your nerve's not happy. It can be subtle, it can be intermittent, or it can be bloody awful.
Add to that, altered sensation - so tingling, or numbness or burning and a weakness of the muscles supplied by the specific nerve and a history that would fit with the theory, that'd be enough for an educated guess.
Never believe anything said by someone you regard as shit and clueless. Oooh, I like that, might make a good tattoo?
I have real respect for gynaes. They change people's lives, but, they are experts in surgery and medicine, and aren't quite up to speed with how much can be achieved conservatively (sweeping generalisation) - that's the fault of physios, we're not very good at telling folk how awesome we are I mean, the results achieved from compliant patients
How can damaged nerves be fixed? well, your gyn's right. Nerves can't be fixed in the way bones can. The more sophisticated the tissue the harder it is to repair. but, unless the nerve has been severed or compressed for so long that it has died, recovery is possible. Nerves heal very slowly, a millimetre a week, but, a true nerve injury is unusual in the pelvis. more often thatn not it's just being nipped by a tight muscle - release the muscle, the pressure goes, the problem does too.
have a shiny for doing your exercises. seriously, that's brilliant (and, stealth boast about dryness duly noted). FP exercises will help sexual function, but, it's not a cure all. If you have a knotted area - so, damaged muscles with spasm, then, those bits can niggle a nerve, and that won't be helped by doing exercises.
Think of it like if you had a whiplash. You'd expect to have a bit of neckpain for a while - maybe even a really annoying knot or ache that won't shift, no matter what you do to it, or how you stretch?
So, we know that you still have sensation up your jacksie (thanks for sharing), so, it's not likely to be a catastrophic nerve injury. diagnosed from what yo've posted on the internet, and, erm, after a glass of wine so, ther's nothing in what you've written that would make me think "poor dear, it's all over for her"
and, if I were to get all political about it, gynaes don't know this stuff because they are surgeons. They want to cut and paste and fix. That's their training and what they are good at, and, to be fair, they are faced with a barrage of women saying "I did my exercises and they didn't help, and now I'm desperate and I want you to fix me". They never meet the women who post on threads like this, get information, get help and help themselves. So, it's a self selecting sample, really.
And, finally - no researchers? Well, yes, there are some. But, any pubmed search will show you that there's a disparity between the research looking at erectile dysfunction and "my orgasms are a bit "meh"" That's a feminist issue. And, then some.
It boils down to market forces, IMHO. So, you want information about how your bits work and why they stopped? How is that going to be researched unless you complain? Reseach is funded on need, need is measured by complaint. It's really interesting, women's need to be modest, even in our emancipated UK, we just put up and shut up with having no orgasms, painful sex, no sexual desire, pain in our bits, pishing and shitting ourselves, not being able to pish or shit...
It's a complex thing. It's embarrassing. To seek help you have to admit a need, and that is shameful.
A third of the women aged 35-55 wet themselves.
A third of mumsnetters leaked at penisbeaker.
At least - cos, these stats are based on the folk who ask for help, and that's the minority. Official stats say about 40%, but, itI suspect it's lower. Well, would YOU answer "do you piss yourself, and can you orgasm?" with "no, yes"
So, if it's common, why is it shameful? If a third of mumsnetters had a moustache issue we'd be inundated with help about threading/bleaching/embracing. Pishing yourself? numb nubble? Not so much.
I'll stick my neck out on this, easily identified, because I've got a big gob, forum and say - ALL the research is flawed. We need a big study. A huge study. The anecdotal incidence and the statistical incidence do not, in my opinion, meet up. There is a big market for women who want help. There is proof that pf exs work. MN is a self selecting group, but, it's a whole lot more randomised than any of the previous research I've ever read. And, I've read a lot.
There's no money in it. I have no money to pay them - but, there was no money in "we believe you". And, there is NEED. A secret, life ruining, relationship destroying, depression causing, exercise avoiding, need.
And, once the need is measured - properly - well, that's a money maker. 30% of 50% of the polulation? that's better odds than Viagra started with...
So, you've got a background in this? Embracing my inner Joan, "we shuwd tawk"