By Jackie

When a woman comes to CPT with secondary infertility, one of the first questions our therapists ask is, “Did you have a C-section?”

Through years of experience, our therapists have found that c-sections frequently cause adhesion formation within the abdominal and pelvic cavity. Adhesions can impede fertility by blocking the fallopian tubes, restricting the uterus, pulling on the ligaments attached to the uterus, and many other ways.

Scientific studies have demonstrated the direct link between c-sections and adhesion formation time and time again. A new study released by Fertility and Sterility (Dec 2008) went a step further and found that the appearance of a c-section scar can predict the severity of adhesion formation within the abdomen.

The study examined 101 women who had previously undergone a c-section. The scientists first examined the c-section scar and noted pertinent characteristics, such as if the scar was flat or depressed (going into the skin). The scientists then examined intra-abdominal adhesions when the women had a second c-section (all women who enrolled in the study planned to have a second c-section).

The study found that 43% of the women had adhesions (either filmy or dense). Of these women, the only significant indicator of adhesions was a depressed scar.

If you are currently struggling with secondary infertility after a c-section, you may find it beneficial to examine your scar to see if it is indented into your abdomen. If it is, you may want to learn more about how adhesions can impact your fertility, or read our article, “How Adhesions Form and Impair Fertility.”

If your scar is not depressed, you are still not out of the clear. Adhesions can form after a c-section and not cause an indented scar.  To learn more about common signs of adhesion formation, please visit our adhesion and fertility page.

By Jackie

Adhesions occur in response to injury, such as surgery, trauma, inflammation, or infection. When the injury occurs, collagen rushes to the area to contain the site. This “sticky” collagen can continue to thicken and form an adhesion. Because of its sticky nature, an adhesion can bind previously free and mobile structures together.

Adhesions can impair fertility in women in multiple ways. Adhesions located in the following areas have particularly detrimental affects:

• On internal and external uterine walls: These adhesions can cause irritation and inflammation in the uterus, leading to implantation problems or recurrent miscarriage. These adhesions are likely to form in woman who has had an IUD, D&C, abortion, or uterine surgery.
• In or around the fallopian tubes: These adhesions can constrict the fallopian tube, causing a blockage, hydrosalpinx, or ectopic pregnancy to occur. Women who have had fibroid surgery, pelvic inflammatory disease, or any sexually transmitted disease are particularly at risk
• On the surface of the ovaries: These adhesions can cover the ovary, preventing the release of an ovum or proper hormonal function. Women who have PCOS or have had a cyst removal have an increased risk
• Near the fimbrea: When adhesions form near the finger-like projections of the fallopian tube, they can prevent the fimbrea from grasping an egg. Women who have had chronic inflammation are at an increased risk.
• On or within the issues of the cervix: These adhesions can cause the cervix to constrict, preventing the passage of sperm. They can also cause uterine spasm. Women who experience deep intercourse pain frequently have adhesions in this area.
• On the pituitary: Located within in the cranium, the pituitary can be restricted by adhesions that pull on the cranial bones and dura of the spine. When this happens, the pituitary’s function is decreased, resulting in hormonal dysfunction. Women with chronic headaches are likely to have adhesions around the cranium.

Adhesions are particularly difficult for doctors to diagnose because they are often too small to be seen by diagnostic tests. Only through surgery can a surgeon visualize adhesions, and even then, he or she cannot see adhesions within organs.

Furthermore, women may not experience one of the tell-tale signs of adhesions formation – pain. Thus, even though a woman has had a yeast or bladder infection, an IUD, a motor vehicle accident, or childhood fall, she may never realize that adhesions formed and are negatively impacting her fertility.

At CPT, our therapists palpate the entire body to find adhered and restricted mobility. Through treating the entire body, they restore proper function and enable women to finally become pregnant. To read more about our treatment for infertility, please visit our adhesions and infertility page.

By Jackie

A study published in the Journal of the American Association of Gynecological Laparoscopists examined the role of adhesions in chronic abdominal pain. 30 women who suffered from chronic pain (age 26-49) agreed to undergo laparoscopic surgery while still awake. The surgeons then palpated any adhesions they found and watched the patients to determine the degree of pain. The study found that adhesions located between two structures (such as the ovaries and the uterus) elicited the greatest amount of the pain if the adhesions still allowed minor movement between the structures. Adhesions that prevented any movement had the lowest pain scores. They also found that adhesions attached to the peritoneum elicited great amounts of pain.

This study helps explain why some women may experience intestinal and abdominal pain. If adhesions are between the intestines and still allow movement, they can elicit great pain as waste moves through. The same is true of women who experience painful menstruation. As the uterus expands, it can pull on adhesions that attach to nearby structures, causing great pain.

Please visit our chronic pain page to read more about the connection between adhesions and chronic pain.

By Jackie

“In early 2004, I became pregnant for the first time,” Savannah told us. “But my husband and I were soon devastated when we learned it was an ectopic pregnancy.”

Ectopic pregnancy located in the fallopian tube

Once a woman experiences an ectopic pregnancy, her perspective of pregnancy is forever changed. The excitement of a positive pregnancy test can be quickly transformed to fear.

Doctors find that adhesions in or around the fallopian tubes can lead to ectopic pregnancies. After Savannah’s ectopic pregnancy, she underwent diagnostic laparoscopic surgery and her doctor found adhesions around her ovaries and fallopian tubes.

Her doctor removed what adhesions he could. Although Savannah trusted the hands of her doctor, she was still fearful that another ectopic pregnancy might occur.

While a surgeon can remove many adhesions, she or he may be unable to access or cut areas that would impair fertility. Furthermore, adhesions frequently re-grow as a direct result of the surgery.

Savannah told us, “I wanted to do everything I could to reduce adhesions and avoid another ectopic pregnancy.” She found our clinic and underwent our 20 hour treatment program. The day she returned home, Savannah became pregnant. Her ultrasound later showed her pregnancy was progressing as normal. Nine months later, she gave birth to a beautiful boy. Remarkably, she went on to have a second son.

Women shouldn’t have to fear another ectopic pregnancy due to adhesions. To learn more about treatment for adhesions, please visit our adhesions and infertility page.

By Jackie

Women who experience secondary infertility are often baffled by their diagnosis. “I was able to easily conceive before,” many women tell us. “Why am I now having trouble?”

When our therapists examine women with secondary infertility, they look for ten key changes:

1. C-Section – Did the patient have a c-section? Adhesions and scar tissue after a c-section can cause blocked fallopian tubes or prevent proper implantation
2. Episiotomy – Did the patient have an episiotomy? An episiotomy scar can cause adhesions that extend into the vagina and cervix, causing the cervix to become stiffened and prevent the passage of sperm
3. Hormonal Changes – Has the patient had her hormone levels checked since giving birth? Has the patient’s period changed in heaviness or number of days? Pregnancy and aging can cause hormones to change, which may be causing infertility
4. Surgeries – Did the patient undergo any surgeries since pregnancy? Surgeries can cause adhesions to form and impair fertility
5. Trauma – Has the patient experienced any car accidents, falls, abuse, or similar traumatic events? These events can cause long-lasting injuries, pelvic imbalances, adhesion formation, and other factors that can negatively impact fertility
6. Infection – Has the patient had any bladder, vaginal, or yeast infections since pregnancy? Infections can cause adhesions to form in the delicate structures of the female pelvis. These adhesions can impair female fertility in multiple ways
7. Inflammation – Has the patient been diagnosed with any new inflammatory conditions, such as endometriosis or PID? Inflammation directly causes adhesion formation, which can lead to infertility
8. Pelvic or Back Pain – Has the patient experienced any hip, back, or pelvic pain since pregnancy? Pain is a sign that something is wrong. Pain in the pelvis may be linked to infertility, such as a hip injury that is located near the fallopian tubes.
9. Sexual Dysfunction or Intercourse Pain – Has the patient experienced any sexual dysfunction or intercourse pain since pregnancy? Any problems in decreased desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, or satisfaction is a sign that adhesions have formed in the delicate structures of the reproductive tract, possibly causing infertility
10. Ovulation or Menstrual Pain – Has the patient experienced any new ovulation or menstrual pain since pregnancy? Ovulation pain is a sign that adhesions may be restricting and impairing the proper function of the ovary. New menstrual pain is a sign that adhesions may have formed around the uterus, preventing proper implantation.

For more information about treating secondary infertility, please visit our adhesions and infertility page.

By Jackie

Chlamydia, often know as the “silent” STD, can cause extensive scarring and adhesions within the female reproductive tract. Because Chlamydia produces relatively few noticeable symptoms, women are often unaware they have it until they struggle with infertility and undergo extensive diagnostic testing. Although doctors can cure Chlamydia with pharmaceuticals, the adhesions and scar tissue caused by the disease will remain in the body.

The only option conventional medicine can offer women with adhesions is laparoscopic surgery. However, surgery to open blocked fallopian tubes is not always successful. Furthermore, laparoscopic surgery itself can cause more adhesions and scar tissue to form.

Nicole, one of our former patients, struggled with just this problem. When Nicole and her husband couldn’t become pregnant after three years, they sought the help of a reproductive endocrinologist (RE). Her RE performed a series of tests. Nicole told us, “That when I found out I had an undetected STD, Chlamydia. It had caused scar tissue to form around and block my fallopian tubes.”

Her specialist recommended surgery to open the tubes or IVF. Nicole sought a second opinion with another RE who suspected she had fibroids in her uterus in addition to blocked tubes. He suggested she undergo a myomectomy to remove the fibroids and he would also try to open her blocked fallopian tubes at the same time. He successfully removed the fibroids, but he couldn’t open her tubes.

Nicole then tried three IVFs, all of which were unsuccessful or ended in miscarriage. Afterward, she heard about our clinic on an infertility chat site and decided to attend. After treatment, her HSG test showed her fallopian tubes were clear!

However, Nicole’s doctor encouraged her to undergo IVF. Nicole, concerned about her biological clock, she chose to undergo the procedure and told us, “At nine weeks, I discovered I had twins, but one passed away early in the pregnancy.” Nicole later gave birth to her baby girl, Joy.

Everyone was later surprised when Nicole became unexpectedly pregnant after the birth of Joy. Nicole exclaimed, “We didn’t try anything and we got pregnant!” Nicole’s tubes had indeed opened and she later gave birth to a little boy.

If you would like to read more about treatment for blocked fallopian tubes, please visit our blocked tubes page. Nicole’s story, along with the stories of 75 former patients, will be showcased in our upcoming book, Miracle Moms, Better Sex, Less Pain.

By Jackie

Unexplained female infertility can be an extremely frustrating diagnosis. As one patient told us, “At least when you know a cause, you can find an answer, or have something to battle against.”

When women come to our clinic with unexplained infertility, we dive into their medical and personal history. Women are often surprised when we ask about accidents in their childhood, such as falls. These events are pertinent because they can have a lasting impact on the body. When your body is injured, collagen rushes to the area to contain and repair the site. Collagen continues to build to help the area heal and eventually forms adhesions. Over time, the body will appear healed on the outside, but the adhesions will remain on the inside, often restricting and adhering previously mobile structures. A confounding problem for doctors is that adhesions do not show-up on diagnostic tests, unless extremely large.

At CPT, we sink our hands into the patient’s skin and palpate all organs and structures to feel if they are adhered or immobile. We then gently deform, detach, and break-apart the adhesions to restore mobility and function.

One of our former patients, Roxanne, underwent an appendectomy at age 10. Her doctor warned that the procedure could cause some internal scarring that could interfere with pregnancy. At age 30, Roxanne experienced difficulty conceiving. When she came to us for treatment, we focused on reducing adhesions in her reproductive tract and near the site of her surgery. Three months after treatment, she became pregnant naturally. She delivered a healthy baby girl and later had a second child.

Find out more about how adhesions impact fertility at our website.

By Jackie

A medical study published last month in Fertility and Sterility found that women who experienced emotional, physical, or sexual abuse at any time during their life had doubled odds of experiencing sexual dysfunction. That means female survivors of abuse are TWICE as likely to struggle with desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and intercourse pain. This study is extremely relevant to women because it shows that even if the abuse occurred during childhood, it can have lasting impacts on sexual function in adulthood. The psychological and emotional impacts of abuse are devastating enough – women do not deserve to live with continued pain or sexual dissatisfaction.

In some instances, women are subjected to direct force, such as being stuck or forced into sexual acts. As a result of the trauma, adhesions may form to help the body repair and heal. However, these adhesions can also restrict the vagina, cover sensitive structures designed to make sex pleasurable, or adhere the vagina to other structures, such as the bladder. Adhesions can also form at the cervix, making it immobile and painful during intercourse. Adhesions that restrict the vagina can also prevent proper lubrication. Furthermore, women who experience intercourse pain often become guarded against sex and experience trouble with desire and arousal.

In other instances, trauma from abuse may occur over time. For example, if a child experiences ongoing emotional abuse, she will always be “on guard” against a recurrent perpetrator, thus tensing her muscles and causing them to go into spasm. Over time, this spasm can also result in adhesions. Adhesions that form around the pituitary-hypothalamus feedback loop can also prevent proper hormonal function, thus decreasing desire and arousal.

Our treatment for sexual dysfunction and intercourse pain can be extremely helpful and cathartic for women who have experienced physical or sexual abuse. We treat the scars and adhesions that form within our patients as a result of the abuse. When we break-apart, detach, and deform these adhesions, women find that pain dramatically decreases and their sexual function increases.

One of our previous patients, Kelly, came to CPT after experiencing sexual abuse almost 20 years prior. She told us, “I had a feeling that the therapy would help me resolve the pain and inflexibility in the vaginal area which had resulted in sexual dysfunction.” After completing our 20 hour treatment program she reported, “The therapy worked beautifully, and I have had no pain since the treatment.”

Please visit our website if you would like to read more about our treatment for sexual dysfunction, intercourse pain, or abuse.

Post-surgical adhesions can cause chronic pain and dysfunction if left untreated. In an upcoming book ‘Miracle Moms, Better Sex, Less Pain,’ researchers examine a non-surgical therapy developed to treat adhesions.

Gainesville, FL (PRWEB ) October 29, 2008 –Surgeries save lives, but they often create glue-like adhesions as the body heals from surgery. Post-surgical adhesions can cause pain and even life-threatening problems, such as bowels that become blocked and lose their function.

In an upcoming book, ‘Miracle Moms, Better Sex, Less Pain,’ researchers examine a non-surgical therapy (Wurn TechniqueÒ) that has decreased or eliminated adhesions in many patients, including abdominal adhesions and post- surgical adhesions.

Many pelvic and abdominal surgeries require repeat surgery – to remove the adhesions that formed from the earlier surgery. Abdominal adhesions occur in over 90% of patients after major abdominal surgery and pelvic adhesions occur in 55-100% of women who undergo pelvic surgery, according to a study in the journal ‘Digestive Surgery’ (2001). In a large study published in ‘Lancet’ (1999), over a third of patients who underwent major abdominal or pelvic surgery were re-hospitalized at least twice to treat adhesion related conditions.

The Wurn Technique® was created to treat the adhesions physical therapist Belinda Wurn developed after pelvic surgery. “I had double-over pain,” she said. “I could not work or stand up straight. It hurt to sit and even to breathe; the pain was always there.”

Wurn did not want to undergo a repeat surgery, knowing that more adhesions would likely form. Her husband, Larry Wurn, joined her in a search for a ‘hands-on’ answer. “We basically searched the world for an answer,” he said. “Each new piece we learned brought us that much closer to a cure.”

The Wurns have now published several studies on the manual physical therapy in peer-reviewed medical journals.

“Our biggest surprise was the variety of conditions that responded well to the therapy,” Belinda said. “Post-surgical pain patients responded well – then, we started seeing improvements in infertile women. When the therapy opened blocked fallopian tubes, we named our clinic Clear Passage Therapies.”

Studies in ‘Medscape General Medicine’ (2004) and ‘Fertility and Sterility’ (2006) showed that the therapy improved fertility and decreased or eliminated endometriosis and intercourse pain in most participants. In a study from ‘Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine’ (2008) the therapy opened blocked fallopian tubes in women who had been diagnosed infertile. Most had natural pregnancies after their tube(s) opened, and several had second natural pregnancies – indicating that the results of therapy lasted for years for some women.

‘Miracle Moms, Better Sex, Less Pain’ will be published this winter; Larry and Belinda Wurn with research gynecologist, Richard King, MD, are co-authoring the book. The table of contents is available at the Clear Passage Therapies blog to spur discussions with their readers on important topics. A free e-book excerpt from the book will be available soon at Clear Passage Therapies.