Hyaluronic Acid and Omega 3 Supplements Were Suggested

Update February 23, 2012:
I heard from my rheumatologist that hyaluronic acid is not going to any good (or bad) for me. She strongly endorsed Omega 3s and suggested that I stick to flax based supplements because fish based ones aren't controlled for toxicity by the FDA). I have found that an even better way to get my Omegas is through ground flax seeds and chia seeds. I buy them at Whole Foods and throw them on or in anything. Tastes really good and are now "must haves" in my morning cereal.

I also talked to doctors and researched delayed response allergy testing and am not confident in its reliability and so I went down the typical allergy path. By avoiding my food allergies and containing my environmental allergies, I feel better overall.

Original Blog:
My insurance company has assigned me a "health coach" (are my bills too high for them?) and I happened to get a doctor who will work with me who specializes in chronic pain and dermatology. Doesn't that sound like vulvodynia? During our one hour conversation, she suggested that I really up my Omega-3s to 4000mg/day and also take hyaluronic acid orally (when I went to the store there are creams made of this and when I asked in pill form I almost got acidophilis (not sure why so watch out)to 4000mg/day. The hyaluronic acid can apparently strengthen ligaments. I bought Hydraplenish by Nature's Way at Whole Foods. She said to take the hyaluronic acid for 2 weeks to see if I got improvement. I am on day 4. She also suggested I consider delayed allergy response testing (different from regular allergy testing) and I might look into this. Her general take was that I have a lot of inflammation and that needs to be managed down. I will talk to her again on December 6th.

Bursitis - A Cause of Pain? What to Do?

Thinking that the source of the pain is bursitis is a lot less scary than thinking it is pudendal nerve entrapment. So, perhaps bursitis in my hip and in a number of other places in my pelvis is contributing to the pain. My doctor sticking her finger into a bursa HURT! Here's what I am doing to get relief and overall improvement:

1. Avoid "unwise action". I worked in my yard two weeks ago and had a major flare thereafter. Totally not worth it although I enjoyed myself at the time;
2. Use Biofreeze, a menthol based roller-stick rub on whereever you have skin burning, except the vulva!;
3. Use lidocaine and rub it on your vestibule and wherever you have skin burning;
4. Don't massage yourself thinking it will improve things. All it does is inflame the bursa;
5. Take ibuprofen during a flare;
6. Take physical breaks - nap;
7. Wear your sacral belt unless it is pressing on the bursa. And, in general, don't wear the belt too tightly. The instructions say to only have it as tight as you tie on a pair of running shoes.
8. Do your P.T.

Tips 1 through 5 are the most important for me.

Yipee. Four Months (Almost) No Pain!

I went from distraught and doing really poorly to having an extended period of little pain in my sacrum and down my right leg (yes, still can't have sex). I felt like I really was healing finally. What helped? A few possibilities:

1. It coincided with me going up on my anti-depressant; or
2. I got new sacrum stabilization exercises from my physical therapist; or
3. I saw my rheumatologist who commented that I had trochanter bursitis and gave me some suggestions for self-treating. I looked it up and you can have a number of bursa located throughout your pelvic area due to poor mechanics in your pelvis or hip attachments. She stuck her finger into the area of a bursitis and, wow, it hurt for a few days thereafter.

Next post: self-treating bursitis