Create your 3 day a week movement program:

Turns out, in most of the studies, people don’t exercise every day. For pain relieving benefits, 3 days a week of exercising and movement will have an effect on reducing pain. Even 30 minutes of walking has shown to reduce pain.

Use a TENS device to decrease pain while moving and exercising if pain is preventing you from getting up and getting limber.

Understand your body to know what feels good for you on that day. If you’re unable to do 30 minutes, that’s okay. Do what you can.

EVERYTHING IN THE NERVOUS SYSTEM IS MOLDABLE.

In this episode of In Your Pants 👖—

• 9:42 You can tame your pain, it's not permanent

• 12:20 What depression and anxiety has in common with pain

• 15:13 Dr. Kathleen Sluka's research on the TENS unit

• 23:16 What your medicine cabinet is missing

• 25:01 Where to use TENS for the most effective pain reduction

• 27:43 When you’re really struggle in pain, keep this one thing in mind

Once you have a concern going on, it doesn’t mean it’s set it stone! You can change it.

THERE ARE MOLECULES, AND CHEMICALS, AND PATHWAYS THAT CHANGE, AND THE TREATMENT STRATEGY THAT DR. KATHLEEN SLUKA AND I ARE ROOTING FOR PUT THESE PROCESSES BACK IN SHAPE AND PUT THEM BACK IN ORDER.

There hasn’t been a lot of good research on TENS– until now.

How does TENS produce an analgesic effect?

Researchers found that TENS (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) increases the body’s inhibitory pathways, and reduces their excitability in the nervous system. After years of research and understanding how it works: let’s test it!

Dr. Kathleen tested TENS on fibromyalgia to see if it reduced pain while being used during movement or exercises in a research setting. The findings showed a positive effect on using TENS for movement based pain. In the study, this movement wasn’t limited to a specific exercise: movement could be going on a jog, doing a low intensity workout, or walking around a store, it didn’t have to be a strict exercise regiment.

TENS is a safe way to activate our opioid system (using your own body’s pain killers). If you’re going to accurately use a TENS unit, Dr. Kathleen recommends using mixed frequency to increase the effectiveness of the device and pain reduction during movement.

The best effects are when TENS are used at the sight of the pain; for pelvic pain Dr. Kathleen recommends using on the lower back or the abdomen, in an area that’s close to it. For more detailed information on how TENS works and how to use it, click here.

Remember to take it easy and keep the big picture in mind– you have the potential to put recovery back on the table and start feeling relief from pelvic pain.

This information is not intended to substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of a healthcare professional with any questions you may have regarding treatment, medications/supplements, or any medical diagnoses. This information is intended for educational purposes only and is in no way to substitute the advice of a licensed healthcare professional.