Can Pelvic Floor Pain Cause Shortness of Breath? - Get Rid of Pelvic Pain By Fixing Your Breathing
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ส.ค. 2024
- Can Pelvic Floor Pain Cause Shortness of Breath? - Get Rid of Pelvic Pain By Fixing Your Breathing
One common thing I hear from patients and clients that suffer from pelvic pain is that they often have difficulty breathing and feel short of breath.
While shortness of breath and pelvic floor pain are related, it is not quite accurate to say that it is the pelvic pain that is causing the shortness of breath.
In fact, both are likely related to the function of the abdominals, pelvic floor, and diaphragm and how they work together (or fail to work together) to manage the internal pressures inside of the body.
During normal breathing, the diaphragm pulls downward on inhalation as the rib cage expands, which pushes the abdominal contents (guts) in a downward direction.
These guts are mostly fluid and thus basically incompressible.
Needing somewhere to go, the pelvic floor moves into a descended (lengthened/eccentric) position in order to accommodate the downward movement of the guts.
On exhalation, the diaphragm relaxes into a domed position and the ribs come back together as the guts move back up and the pelvic floor moves into an ascended (shortened/concentric) position.
However, in pelvic pain, these mechanics are often disrupted.
In pelvic pain, the diaphragm is stuck in a descended (inhaled) state, which continually pushes the guts down onto the pelvic floor.
On exhalation, instead of the ribs coming together and the diaphragm returning to its relaxed, domed position, the diaphragm stays down and creates a downward force on an already overworked pelvic floor.
One of the main reasons this happens is due to relative overuse of the superficial abdominals, especially the rectus abdominus, which compresses the front of the rib cage and the sternum and prevents the rib cage from changing shape to allow the diaphragm to dome appropriately.
This in combination with a pelvis that is pushed forward in space creates a situation where the back of the pelvis tends to be restricted, thus further lengthening and putting pressure onto an already over-used anterior pelvic floor.
In order to restore proper pressures and dynamic function of the pelvic floor we must decrease the compensatory exhalation strategy and improve control of the center of mass to open the back of the pelvis relative to the front.
If we can achieve these goals, we will tend to see a reduction in the pelvic floor pain and shortness of breath that we often see.
If you need help addressing chronic pelvic pain or improving movement, visit: chaplinperformance.com
00:00 - Intro
00:53 - Can Pelvic Floor Pain Cause Shortness of Breath?
01:20 - How is Pelvic Floor Pain Related to Breathing?
02:40 - Movement of Internal Fluid Elements with Normal Breathing
03:28 - Breathing Mechanics and Internal Pressures in Pelvic Floor Pain
04:22 - Breathing Mechanics and Positional Goals to Improve Pelvic Pain
05:22 - Breathing Dysfunction: Compensatory Exhalation Strategy
06:48 - Muscle Imbalance within the Pelvis and Forward Pelvic Positioning
07:52 - Why Does This Pelvic Muscle Imbalance Occur?
09:03 - Pelvic Pain Solution: Restore Breathing Mechanics and Pelvic Position
10:26 - Recap
A video showing some exercises and movements that are generally helpful for pelvic pain would be so very much appreciated.
Pain for over a year haven’t been able to breathe deep or yawn I’m ready to pass away lmao
I can’t believe that what you described in this video is exactly what i have been going through for years. I will surely get in touch with you for a one on one conversation and how to move forward with restoration. Thanks a lot!
You are very welcome!!! Feel free to head over to chaplinperformance.com and book a strategy call. I have a limited number of coaching slots available for the next few months. I’d book in soon
Thank you Greg for great explanation of the dynamics of discomfort. Breathing most definitely plays a big piece. 🙏🏽
You are so welcome. Thanks for being part of this crazy journey we are on to learn to heal and move better!! No easy task
Very in depth knowledge of the body people that suffer from respiratory issues such as asthma can really benefit from this information. KEEP IT UP
Thank you very much man I appreciate that!!! 🙏🏼🙏🏼
Brilliant, I've suffered a bit from spasm of the gluteus inimus, and having watched your other videos made progress, and honed in on the thing during this video. At around 8:50 you explained about how gumming up of the back of the pelvis causes discomfort from a downward pressure of the torso, that's me exactly. So, with a slight adjustment of the femur at the acetabulum, ie just widening my seated posture a little, it seems to have relieved the sharp pain I was getting on my right side clavicle, and it was the left side of the hip that was bothering me, ha. It all just feels much more comfortable around my upper torso now. Can't thank you enough, brilliant lesson!
Thanks so much for watching. Happy to be able to help you!!
Thanks for the info man
You are welcome!
Dude 🔥🔥🔥🔥this is life enhancing
Love it!! Glad it was helpful! I’m
I always enjoy your videos of something I don't have (sometimes I think "I've had it all")!
When you mention the movement of the "guts," I think that can be metaphorical as well as literal. When one thinks of ancient peoples, especially with warrior cultures, e.g., Spartan hoplites, samurai, etc., these people had "guts" compared with people now, no doubt because they had strong respiration in strong bodies (thus strong minds). New evidence in anthropology suggests that the theory of Homo sapiens "evolving" from apes "out of Africa" is entirely wrong; rather, the human being has devolved from a race of stronger, much higher thinking beings, and I believe it! I have, in the past, actually caught myself in window reflections walking like an ape, but not anymore!
Hi Mary Jo!! Thanks for watching as always. I do agree with you that modern society seems to have caused us to take a step back (not the good kind) when it comes to domains such as movement and living in an embodied way. I was not familiar with that newer framework... I'll have to do some investigation!! Thanks again!
Needed this video atm. So you would just recommend side lying breathing and all fours exercises to fix this compensatory strategy or anything else?
Thankyou Greg, I'm 62 years old and have always been in shape, ten years back I broke both my hips my back with surgery's repairing everything, To a point, my left hip has been replaced a few times and I just had a major back surgery again, the doctors took out the hardware and replaced 13 disks. when I woke up after this 14 hour surgery on march 15th, My chest had third degree burns from chemical burns caused by sitting in that position for the hours and the soaps they used? I spent 7 days in ICU, I'm getting ready next week for PT to get back on my feet, BUT when I walk I all of a sudden am out of breath and my legs don't want to move; my back then hurts all caused by being short of breath. It's been going on for over a year, before my last back surgery, Of course there are other problems I've had going through all this and trying to get my posture right, I really want to walk but when I do it starts again?? Thanks
Hi Tony,
It sounds like you have really been through a lot.
Hopefully you can find someone to help you process the emotions that are associated with these experiences and progressively increase your activity.
The difficulty breathing when walking and legs not wanting to move is not likely to do with anything being wrong with your breathing mechanism or legs. If you haven’t I would bring these symptoms up with your MD just to be sure.
This kind of presentation is more suggestive of a learned danger response from your nervous system and/or a combination of that and deconditioning.
Slowly working through the underlying emotions, gaining confidence to move, and slowly getting back to the activities you enjoy in life are going to be the major keys.
Best of luck!!
Really nice explanation Greg. Clinically, have you seen any concomitant hip flexion/IR restrictions BECAUSE of the eccentrically oriented anterior portion of the pelvic floor?
I deal with FAI myself and have some pretty significant ROM restrictions bilaterally. I also experience pelvic discomfort intermittently and 100% have a backside restriction in the pelvis. Are there any resources you can direct me to so I can better understand the principles behind this and how I might treat this?
Also!!! Any cues to reduce superficial abdominal activity?? Thanks for all you do Greg, would be a pleasure to learn from you even more!
Definitely usually restricted in flexion and internal rotation. Many times also limited in ER. As you stated, likely associated with an eccentric anterior pelvic floor.
In terms of resources, I like Diane Lee's books for the mechanical aspects, Bill Hartman's youtube for seeing it through his model, and the PRI primary courses are great if you are a healthcare professional to learn it through their lens.
Superficial abdominal activity is going to be reduced mainly by modifying activities, learning to shift back in space (especially in quadruped positions), and by limiting aggressive exhalations when they are not necessary (so essentially out of a weightlifting context)
@@ChaplinPerformance Really appreciate the response. Need to take the PRI primary courses once I take my licensure exam.
I like Bill but definitely struggle to follow his jargon.
OMG I have had this problem for over 10yrs now and all this makes sense
I did experience shortness of breath for this same reason of rib cage compressed/descended which affects diaphragm position 👍
Yes, not the only reason, but so common!
I've dealt with PF pain for many years, and was able to reduce pain 80% with stretching. However, I stretched my right deep hip rotators to a point of getting sciatic nerve pain, lol, so have been working for a long time on strengthening external rotation (at some point worked with a PT specialist with techniques similar to yours - PRI, focus on athletic performance,etc.). The problem is while my hip is getting better slowly, ER exercises ruin my pelvic floor pain progress. It seems that if I do IR-aimed exercise my pelvic floor feels better (as you say in the video). Do you have any ideas for what to do about it (strengthen ER without ruining the pelvic floor)?
Hi, I feel all the downward pressure on the right side. Any thing I can do for that?
I think Im using the compensatory exhalation.
Do you have an at home test I could try to see if this is actually happening?
Hello, thanks a lot for the video. I read some comments here and I'm wondering were could I found some tutorial about the so-called "all fours inverted breathing"? Thanks again
I go over the technique in a number of my videos!!
Hi! I started to do regular all fours inverted breathing + all fours rocking as You have adviced to fix things. Is 2 times per day and 3-5 sets of 3-5 breaths per excercise good? Is there any other great movements to add there considering that i have been suffering from chronic pelvic floor tightness? Thank you Greg!
Hard to say without assessing you, but it seems like you are on the right track. There are a lot of other great exercises and modifications to gym activities that would likely be appropriate, but again it is hard to know without assessing you.
@@ChaplinPerformance Thanks Greg!! What do you think about that excercise volume?
@@ChaplinPerformance Would you recommend someone in this case to position thorax for enchanced anterior or posterior expansion when doing the all fours inverted breathing? Thank you so much!
Hey Greg, I have overtrained rectus abs that have caused a bunch of issues involving my pelvic floor. Would these techniques be of help to me?
Likely yes. I’d also check out my two most recent videos
Is there any (even one) free/affordable exercises anywhere online to address this? I totally have this on exhale- Im am a young runner without kids that developed pelvic prolapse, now i cant even walk for more than 20 mins and still struggling to restore breathing. Its been so so rough.
Hey reach out to me at greg@chaplinperformance.com and I can link you to a **very low** cost breathwork training
If one side of the pelvis is on internal rotation and the other on external rotation, does both sides of the pelvic floor contract to exhale?
Yes but the position changes to what degree each movement occurs
Hello sir, can you make a video of exercises to correct this?
Are you a musician?
No sir, I wish though lol
So, to be clear, what can I do at home on a daily basis to to fix this?
Hi there! I talk a little bit about this in the solutions section, but maybe I will have to make a video with exercises. I like activities like all fours inverted breathing with emphasis on gentle, and I mean super gentle, long exhalations. We need to get the ribs moving together on exhale without depressing the sternum. I also like all fours rocking to open the back of the pelvis. Squats to 90 degrees at the hip while avoiding lumbar spine compensations is also good. Stay tuned for a future video where I’ll throw out some suggestions. And if this is something you need individual help with, feel free to book in on a call to see if you are a good fit for coaching!
@@ChaplinPerformance is that video made?
Do you think due to my right lateral pelvic tilt my numbness in penis is because of pelvic floor muscles or vagus nerve?
I’m not aware of the vagus nerve influencing numbness in the penis… as for a pelvic orientation being related to potential nerve or vascular compression associated with numbness, that seems more plausible
Did you mean prone/inverted/sidelying breathing have to be done before progressing to Lewitt-90/90 breathing? 10:00
I actually didn’t know that it was called a Lewit but after some review, that is what I would tend to do in terms of how they suggest adjusting to fine tune the lower back position (natural curve). I didn’t necessarily indicate a singular progression. Depending on a number of factors, one position may be more tolerable or beneficial for a specific individual.
For example, if I have someone who has a tendency towards anterior tilt of the rib cage and concentric bias in the rectus (eccentric bias in the parapsinals), I’d be more likely to go prone, all fours or inverted first. If I have someone more in a rib cage that is classic posterior tilt with the pelvis in anterior tilt (parapsinals concentric bias, rectus eccentric but habitually loaded because of the forward center of mass), I might elect a hook-lying or 90-90 position.
In general, I try not to utilize any heuristic or conceptual idea as an absolute, but simply as a way to narrow the probabilities. Always text/assess symptoms beforehand and afterwards to assess the results. If someone does crappy in all fours (even though I expect they won’t) and does great in standing, then I follow that information primarily.
@@ChaplinPerformance thanks man, I really appreciate the effort you are putting in 🙌
9:47 "front to back management of shifting the pelvis in space..." What does that mean man? Can you give an example of activity?
Any hinge variation, heel elevated squats/split squat, standing weight shifting with reaching, all fours rocking.... Essentially anything that allows the weight to travel more into your heels in standing or anything that allows the pelvis to move back while "opening" the back side of the pelvis... Specifics will be different depending on the individual, but that it the over-arching concept
Dude….where are you located. Ive been battling pelvic pain for a year and changed. Have tried 3 different pts.
I’m in the Boston area but I work 100 percent virtually with my coaching program
Please I need help I have a strained pelvic floor. I couldn't how to treat it. I have constipation and irritable colon. Because of them, my pelvic muscles have weakened. I didn't do any exercises. Or whatever breathing I do.
U still in it? I’m ready to die.
Can weak pelvic floor also affect breathing? No pain
Typically not… more likely to be breathing patterns/stress and lack of training impacting the pelvic floor
Inverted positions FTW!
You know it… turn that tube upside down!
Can you give examples?