Help! There's an egg in my vagina!

Image from Goop.com

Dear world;

The summary of this post is as follows: an egg in your vagina is not going to solve your pelvic pain.

There.  Finished.  All done.

If you want more flesh and substance on that statement, please continue to read.

Dr Jen Gunter

It is inevitable, as a pelvic floor physical therapist, that at some point a client/patient will ask about jade eggs.  Well, my week for this question was this week.  One of my patients, who I've been seeing for many months, asked me via e-mail if it would be helpful for her pelvic pain if her loving partner supported her by giving her a jade egg.  After referring her to the very reputable (in my opinion) blog of Dr Jen Gunter, my patient, a highly educated and empowered mental health provider, pushed back and stated with objection that Dr Jen's approach was alienating many women who needed her help, and that the mind/body connection could not be discounted.

I agree 100%.  Not that Dr Jen is alienating patient's, but that the mind/body connection is crucial to pelvic healing.  But what does pelvic healing have to do with a jade egg? What does inserting this object into your vagina have anything to do with health and function?  As I exchanged with my mental health provider patient, giving HER a jade egg, in her 40's, 20 plus years into healing after extensive sexual abuse, may be helpful for her with her thoughtful, mindful approach of decreasing overactive pelvic floor muscles.  Give that same jade egg to a recently escaped sexual abuse victim who is 18 years old - and the jade egg is meaningless.

One version of a therawand: this can help with pelvic pain!!

It is my opinion that pain free sex, pain free pelvic floor muscles, and a healthy connection from your mind to your muscles comes from exactly that; a healthy mind/body connection.  Functional pelvic floor has nothing to do with an egg in your vagina.  A better approach to trauma and pain into your vagina would be tapered vaginal dilators, dilators of any sort, a therawand or even a dildo.  But even more important than these physical tools is the emotional wellness and strength to address the pelvic pain roots which spurned this pelvic pain.  A wonderful, compassionate and educated cognitive therapist is absolutely essential to pain free sex, in my opinion.  Adding to this cognitive therapist would be a trained, pelvic floor physical therapist who is willing to walk you through a contract/relax cycle of pelvic floor muscles and help you step into a down training, lengthening pelvic program.  These 2 providers are going to be so much more helpful to empower you to continually move closer to a functional pelvic floor and pain free sex than some energy emanating from a jade egg in your vagina.

That's all I have to say about that.  Happy Monday!

Angie