Ok I'm going to discuss some gross subjects today. Read no further if you're easily offended.
I have found in my search for relief for fibromyalgia that the best approach for me until there is a cure is to try to tick off the symptoms I suffer from and lessen them. To this end I only wear one brand of shoe, they're totally inappropriate for most situations but they don't hurt as much as others so Teva sandals and Teva boots are my only shoes, yes I work out in Teva sandals and hike in Teva boots and that's it.
Exploring corsets is kind of like exploring shoes was for me. Just try something, anything until you find what works for you. I actually was hoping for the touted "lessened anxiety" effect that some corset wearers feel but I'm not really sure that has happened for me yet, it may some day down the road, but for now I can document six ways corsets have helped me. The first was yesterdays posture blog. Today I'm going to talk about symptoms that not every fibro suffer has but if you do you'll understand what a drag they are.
(I'm not a doctor, as I said before see your doctor and make sure all the things I talk about in this blog are ok for you, with your own particular health issues.)
The first is Irritable bowel. I was diagnosed with this 25 years ago, long before I ever got a fibromyalgia diagnosis but it is common amongst us. I have been plagued with chronic constipation off and on all my adult life. I've been to the emergency room twice for IBS and once was at my doctors office in severe abdominal pain when everything broke loose. Needless to say it was one of the most embarrassing moments in my life and I was kind of surprised that the staff wasn't all that compassionate about it. I mean I was there for a severe problem...
Prior to corseting I was lucky if I had a bowel movement every three days. When it would go longer than that, I'd get low back aches, migraines and if diarrhea was blocked, severe abdominal pain. Every day I take a magnesium supplement but that's never been enough to relieve the problem, just keep it from becoming emergency room dire. After the third day, in the last few years I'd learned to use an enema, at first I used fleets suppositories but they are chemicals and I worried about that. Most recently I'd gone to actual water enemas. At least they weren't chemicals but it's a messy process and honestly when you feel awful the last thing you want to do is sanitize your enema kit.
Since I started wearing my corset, I have a small bowel movement everyday. I also haven't had a hemorrhoid from straining too hard trying to evacuate my bowel. I'm not really sure what the mechanism is that is allowing my body to work better but it is.
The second benefit is relief from what I call irritable bladder but I'm not sure my symptoms match that condition exactly. (Doctor's have recently found in studies that women with fibromyalgia are much more likely to suffer from irritable bladder). I've struggled my whole life with something called urethral stenosis. It means the exit from my bladder is very narrow and causes my bladder to not empty completely. In the past I've suffered long bouts with bladder infections and been on daily anti-biotics, indefinitely at one point. The old cure for this was to do a medical dilation of the urethra, (scream your head off painful). Most recently when I saw the urologist he told me they don't do that anymore, that that can actually cause you to have to self catheterize every time you need to pee :(
I know from a previous test that checked my bladder function that I have what the doctor called a large, floppy bladder. All that back up over a lifetime made it large and difficult to empty. My nightly routine used to be, use the restroom, go back upstairs, lay down, urine shifts, get the signal to pee, go downstairs, try to pee nothing, go back upstairs lay there awhile go downstairs try again. Now, with the corset's gentle pressure it's like my bladder has support, it's able to empty completely, no more up and down up and down. I basically urinate which tends to be a stronger stream, then pull my abdomen in completely so that it sucks up under my corset and try to pee again. A few more dribbles might come out and then I'm good for the night. I remember my urologist years ago saying my problem would likely go away during pregnancy because the pressure of a baby would help me. That is what I believe is going on with the corset. I'm not sure that will help people with regular irritable bladder but it's worth talking to your doctor about.
Tomorrow I'm going to talk about the meditative quality of a corset and how it helps me block pain.