Pelvic Pain Relief

I just wanted you to know what a difference AeroPilates has made to my life and how grateful I am.

I am 40 years old and for the last 8 years I have been suffering with chronic pelvic pain (pudendal neuralgia) and allodynia to the whole of my left side of my body due to nerve damage caused by emergency surgery. The allodynia being worst from the waist down on the left and in my left leg. I am in pain all the time and it is exhausting both physically and mentally. Following the surgery my life changed over night. I can no longer sit in a normal position as it is just too painful to endure and the longer I sit the worse the pain becomes. I have to sit with both my legs raised which is still painful but less so than having my feet on the ground. The pain affects my mobility and can become so severe that I am no longer able to walk and this can occur at any time. This has cost me my independence and my ability to work. It's fair to say that the pain has taken a lot away from me but I was determined that it would not take away my ability to be a mother. Despite the pain I have 2 young children who give me a reason to keep going. I am also living with this condition relatively drug free. I do not take daily medication as for me nothing really worked to ease the pain and I am lucky enough to have a Dr who was and is reluctant to put me on opioids due to my age. I also want to retain all my cognitive function so that I can interact fully and safely with my children. I know the drugs work for some but for me I have found that managing the pain through my diet, exercise and mindfulness meditation has been a much more successful strategy.

Before the pain, I was very into fitness but I found that because of the way the pain affected me that I couldn’t exercise in a conventional way. Physiotherapists suggested various stretches to maintain movement and flexibility but for me that wasn't enough. I wanted to feel fit as well. My pain psychologist eventually suggested I take up Pilates one to one with an instructor who understood pain in my own home and this I did for 3 years with some success but then my instructor couldn’t continue to teach in my home and I struggled to find someone else.

Then just over 13 months ago I happened to come across one of your demonstrations on QVC for the 435 reformer with the rebounder on an easy pay offer and at a knocked down price. It was the ability to do cardio lying down that had me intrigued and with the 30 day money back guarantee I had nothing to lose. So I took the plunge and bought the machine. I didn't think I would be able to do all of the exercises without causing a flare up but I had a starting point. I went slowly at first trying everything out to see what I could and couldn’t do. To my surprise that were only one or two exercises that I felt couldn’t do but over time I built up the ability to do those as well. I just listened to my body and pushed it ever so slightly each day until I didn’t flare up so much. The most amazing thing was to be able to do cardio! I hadn’t been able to do this in 7 years and because I could now do this lying down I could finally work on my heart health and I could do the kicks etc because I didn’t have the weight of the rest of my body going through my pudendal nerve aggravating the pain. I’ve even managed to work up to doing Russian Splits upright and in the last couple of weeks I have realised I can do about 2-3 repetitions of Tendon Stretch! I am exercising in a way I never believed possible all thanks to you and for this I am eternally grateful.

To say that the AeroPilates reformer has changed my life is an understatement. It has given me the ability to be able to exercise everyday. It's allowed me to get into the shape I longed to be in along with the changes I made to my diet but more than this it’s given me a sense of my old self back. What being able to exercise has done for my mind is the greatest gift.

My daily life is still challenging and the hardest part is to keep going. I never know what I will be able to do from day to day. Knowing that I am getting fitter but the pain is still there is tough but there is no way I want to go back to having additional pain due to muscle weakness.

So here is a great big thank you Marjolein. May you be blessed with health, peace and happiness always.