While ovulation might seem like something that just happens in the background, like breathing or your heart beating, for many women it is actually quite painful. If you’re one of the 40% of women worldwide who have ovulation pain, aka Mittelschmerz, and want to do something about it, then you’ll want to read on. Pelvic health physical therapy is an effective and non-invasive way to address ovulation pain head-on and we will tell you all about it below.
What is ovulation pain?
For many women, when a woman releases an egg from their ovaries, cramping, pain and even radiating aches in the pelvis can result. In particular, your pelvic floor muscles (the ones that hold up your bladder, uterus, and rectum) can play a big role in that pain. When you have tension or misalignment in these muscles, which can be caused by many things like your posture, stress, endometriosis and more, pain during ovulation can be amplified.
Pelvic health physical therapy for ovulation pain
Pelvic health physical therapists and specially trained and certified to diagnose and treat issues of the pelvic region. This makes them the perfect professionals to be able to target and treat ovulation pain using techniques to address muscle tension, alignment issues, and more.
Techniques that pelvic health physical therapists may use to help you with ovulation pain include:
- Trigger point release: This therapeutic technique involves locating your trigger point and then using manual therapy to help the muscle fibers relax. This technique can also improve blood flow to the area, further lowering muscle tension, and lowers your pain sensitivity in the area over time. Trigger point release is usually done along with other physical therapy techniques like stretches and exercises.
- Myofascial release: Another commonly used technique, myofascial release helps to ensure your fascia (the web of tissues that surround all of your muscles and organs) glide smoothly across each other. Fascia can become painful when they are tight or stick to itself or other things (called an adhesion), so release techniques can soften or release those sticky areas.
- Stretches: The physical therapist can teach you helpful stretches that can help ease pain around ovulation time.
- Exercises:There are several exercises that can be done to help with your alignment, posture, core strength, and pelvic floor muscles to alleviate ovulation pain. Always seek expert help from a pelvic physical therapist before starting any exercises.
- Neuromuscular re-education: When you have chronic pain, you sometimes need to re-train your body and brain on how to relax certain muscles that you have been keeping tense due to the pain. This technique can be taught by your physical therapist and can be very helpful in keeping ovulation pain at bay.
Taking the next step
If ovulation pain is impacting your life, don’t hesitate to reach out to your local pelvic health physical therapist. These experts can offer personalized care to both find and target the cause of your pain. With the right treatment plan, ovulation pain can be a thing of the past in your monthly cycle.