Why The First Step to Recovery Can Be Losing Something
You’ve got an annoying pelvic condition. It might be incontinence, prolapse, vaginismus, thrush, constipation.
It might seem a strange hypothetical question to ask: what can you lose first in order to recover your pelvic health?
But if you think about it, it makes perfect sense. Sometimes there are big obstacles in the way of your recovery. Sometimes they have been there so long you fail to see them anymore (in the same way as a long-term wearer of glasses no longer notices there is something perched on their face).
And often, you know the answer to this question, deep down. There might be (and usually is) more than one answer.
And of course, symptoms can sometimes be improved – even “fixed” – without Losing This Thing. The important thing is though, without Losing This Thing, the effect may well be temporary. Your bugbear has a good chance of coming back to bite you if you don’t Lose This Thing.
But let’s look at some obvious examples:
If you really, really want to recover your pelvic health…if it’s truly important to you…what is something you need to lose in order to correct
…stress incontinence?
(a smoking habit)
….prolapse?
(abdominal obesity)
…vaginismus?
(fear or negativity around sex)
…thrush?
(that sugar addiction)
…vulvodynia?
(intense stress)
Irritable bowel syndrome?
(eating on the run…the hectic lifestyle)
This does NOT mean that….
Smoking is the CAUSE of stress incontinence.
Abdominal obesity is the CAUSE of prolapse.
Negativity around sex is the CAUSE of vaginismus.
Sugar is the CAUSE of thrush.
Stress is the CAUSE of vulvodynia.
Eating on the run is the CAUSE of irritable bowel syndrome.
No, that would be much too simple. (Don’t you wish life was simple?)
All of these factors, though, are a massive influence on the named condition. So massive, in fact, that it is sometimes hard for the clinician (that’s me) to help you resolve your symptoms (permanently) without you addressing the big factor.
And that big factor is usually the answer that pops up in your head when you ask yourself…
“What do I need to lose in order to gain back my pelvic health?”
You could call this a functional medicine approach to your health. Or you could just call it good common sense.