The CDC recommends pregnant women suspected with H1N1 obtain treatment within 48hrs of the onset of symptoms. Symptoms manifest as an “acute respiratory influenza-like illness (e.g., cough, sore throat, rhinorrhea) and fever.” http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/clinician_pregnant.htm

Pregnant women are at high-risk for life-threatening infections including pneumonia as well as pregnancy complications. The CDC advises that while testing for H1N1 in pregnant women with symptoms is ideal, if testing and test results are not available within the first 2 days of onset of symptoms, the mother and child may be at risk if treatment is not provided due to the potential rapid progression of the illness as seen in other cases. 

The bottom line says the CDC, “The highest priority message is to treat pregnant women with influenza-like illness as soon as possible; treatment should not be withheld pending results of testing for influenza, if testing is done.”

For the full advisory from the CDC, Pregnant Women and Novel Influenza A (H1N1)
Virus: Considerations for Clinicians visit http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/clinician_pregnant.htm

Check out a recent short video clip The Clear Passage Natural Fertility Method on our You Tube channel.

The Clear Passage Therapies (CPT) team is devoted to continual research and development. We always monitor our patients’ progress and feedback after treatment. Once we begin to notice a trend, we expand our research in that area to see how our treatment can help.

Long before CPT began treating intercourse pain, we did not even know our treatment could help in this area. Over time, the CPT team began to notice that many women who came for infertility treatment were also reporting decreased intercourse pain. Some women reported, “I’m not sure why, but I don’t experience pain anymore with intercourse.” Others were considerably bolder and told us, “My orgasms have been incredible since treatment!”

We decided to investigate further and also developed different manual physical therapy techniques that we felt could help female intercourse pain. We then conducted a study to scientifically test how our treatment could help sexual dysfunction and intercourse pain. The results, published in Medscape General Medicine, were more than we could have ever imagined. 91% of study participants experienced a reduction in intercourse pain and large percentages of women reported improvements in orgasm (56%), lubrication (70%), desire (78%), and arousal (74%).

CPT is now proud to offer a treatment plan specifically for women with intercourse pain and sexual dysfunction. As we continue on our path of education, self-improvement, and research, our treatment for these conditions only improves. Even better news is that at CPT, we never treat “parts” of our patients. We believe everything is connected; we often see that pain and dysfunction in one area is linked to dysfunction in another. So if you come for infertility treatment, but also experience intercourse pain, our therapists will treat both conditions. For more information, please see our article Infertility and Sexual Dysfunction are Linked, And Its Not All in Your Head and You Don’t Have to Cope with Painful Intercourse While Trying to Conceive.

Please visit our website to learn more about our treatment for female infertility, female sexual dysfunction, or painful intercourse. Not sure if you have sexual dysfunction? Read our article Is Your Sexual Function Normal?

By Jackie

For years, I have seen patients come to Clear Passage Therapies (CPT) with secondary infertility and find success. I’ve spoken with many of these women and written their personal experiences with infertility for the upcoming book, Miracle Moms, Better Sex, Less Pain. I have also had the opportunity to write or edit 78 other stories for the book that discuss various forms of infertility, sexual dysfunction, and chronic pain. I’ve also followed-up with many more patients who came through CPT’s doors.

Through these experiences, I’ve come to recognize subtle nuances between the different groups of women who come to CPT. In women with secondary infertility, I’ve recognized their distinct frustration and confusion. Many of them ask, “Why was it so easy to become pregnant before, but now now?” I’ve also noticed a twinge of guilt in this group of women: a sense that because they already have a child, they should be more grateful and not “complaining” about the difficulty of conceiving a second child.

I find it incredibly sad to hear women question their desires to expand their families due to conflicting feelings of guilt and frustration. I largely feel this way because I feel they have a high chance of discovering the cause of their infertility and resolving it.

A woman who had no problems conceiving her first child has, in a way, a “leg up” on other women because her doctors can look and see what has changed since that pregnancy. If a doctor performs routine tests and cannot find a cause, a woman is still not out of options. At CPT, we believe that many causes of unexplained infertility are mechanical in nature and thus due to adhesions. Adhesions may form after any type of injury or trauma to the body. They can constrict, cover, and pull on important tissues and organs, leading to infertility. The birthing process itself can cause trauma to the body and subsequent adhesion formation. Our therapists have also seen a correlation between secondary infertility and previous c-sections or episiotomies. When examining a patient, our therapists also review a patient’s history for any trauma that has occurred since childbirth – perhaps a severe fall, car accident, yeast or bladder infection, or surgery. These events signal adhesion formation.

CPT has had success treating unexplained infertility and secondary infertility by addressing adhesions that form in the body. However, we have never advertised this fact on our website until recently. After speaking with so many women who had success after being treated for secondary infertility at CPT, I worked with the CPT team to design a web page specifically about how we treat this condition. The page was loaded in late February and I happy that women who suffer from secondary infertility can learn about a new treatment choice. I encourage you to review the site and let us know what you think below. If you feel there’s something else we should address on this page, just leave a comment below. To read more about secondary infertility, see 10 Clues to Solving Secondary Infertility,

By Jackie

As a part of endometriosis awareness month, today’s post is devoted to one of the main symptoms of endometriosis: painful menstruation. Doctors theorize that endometriosis can cause painful menstruation because the endometrial cells outside of the uterus respond to the same hormones that control the menstrual cycle. Thus, estrogen causes the cells to thicken, but they cannot exit the body through the vagina. As a result, they can cause pain and inflammation. Some doctors believe that over time, this can lead to scar tissue that causes organs to stick together. In some women, this “sticking together” causes infertility, chronic pain, bowel symptoms, and other painful symptoms.

In October of 2008, researchers published a study in the Gynecological and Obstetric Investigation, in which they investigated factors associated with the risk of developing painful menstruation in women with ovarian endometriomas. Ovarian endometriomas occur when endometrial cells form small cysts on the outside of the ovary. As they respond to hormone stimulation each month, they produce more cysts and can enlarge. Endometriomas (also known as chocolate cysts) can rupture and spill into the uterus, sometimes causing adhesions (scar tissue) and pelvic pain.

In the above study, researchers evaluated and interviewed 710 women with surgically confirmed ovarian endometriomas. 376 of these women also had a major complaint of painful menstruation. The researchers found that the following items as risk for dysmennorhea (painful menstruation):

• Age: A younger age at time of surgery increased a woman’s risk of developing menstrual pain
• Previous Medication Use
• Presence of Adhesions
• Presence of Adenomyosis, which had the strongest correlation

At Clear Passage Therapies, we specialize in treating adhesions. Our therapists have often noted a strong correlation between adhesions and endometriosis pain and dysfunction. We have found that by gently breaking apart the adhesions with manual techniques (see What is the Wurn Technique?) pain subsides and function returns. To learn more about our treatment, please visit our endometriosis pain page.

By Jackie

When you go to see a general practitioner with a set of health complaints, he or she will certainly want to hear your list of symptoms. But when it comes time to specifically determine the cause or choose a treatment option, some doctors feel their patients will be better served by a specialist.

While specialists can certainly be helpful, the “referral routine” quickly becomes tiresome when you are passed from specialist to specialist with unexplained pain or dysfunction. Specialists can thoroughly examine the problem from their perspective and provide answers, but sometimes, they cannot catch connections between different bodily systems or distant structures. It is certainly not their fault; specialists are experts in one area and are trained to examine, diagnose, and treat this area day-in and day-out.

A classic example is unexplained infertility. If you are a female and experience problems conceiving, your general practitioner will recommend you speak with a gynecologist. When your gynecologist cannot find a problem, he or she will likely refer you to a reproductive endocrinologist (RE). The RE will do a thorough work-up. If the RE cannot find a cause for your infertility, she may recommend various medications or procedures such as IVF.

While this approach certainly works for many women, the RE may miss vital mechanical components between different structures due to their specialist viewpoint. For example, if adhesions cause the pituitary gland to be constricted, they may impair hormonal function and prevent fertility. Our therapists have also treated some women who were in severe car crashes and subsequently experienced unexplained infertility. Although these women didn’t correlate the car accident with their infertility, their therapists noticed severe adhesions that likely formed after the car accident and impaired their fertility (see Could Your Unexplained Infertility Be Due to an Accident or Surgery in Childhood?)

Unfortunately, specialists sometimes miss these connections. At Clear Passage Therapies, we believe a holistic viewpoint is the best way for us to address the causes of unexplained conditions like female infertility, chronic pain, and sexual dysfunction. Regardless of what condition brings you to CPT for treatment, our therapists thoroughly examine the entire body for restrictions, imbalances, and adhesions. They then work to resolve anything abnormal they find. It is this approach that has led CPT to help over 250 women conceive and led hundreds of others out of chronic pain and dysfunction.
To learn more about our treatment philosophy, please visit our treatment philosophy page or read Playing An Active Role In Your Health Care Team. To read more about our treatment for unexplained conditions, you can also see Providing Hope for Women with Unexplained Infertility or our chronic pain page.

By Jackie

Long before Clear Passage Therapies existed, Belinda and Larry Wurn opened a physical therapy clinic to help people with chronic pain. The Wurns helped so many patients that their clinic grew to five clinics across the state of Florida. The Wurns eventually sold their clinics and opened Clear Passage Therapies to address infertility and chronic pain.

Chronic pain remains near and dear to the hearts of the Wurns and they continue to treat patients in debilitating pain. An entire section of their upcoming book, Miracle Moms, Better Sex, Less Pain, is devoted to pain, including chapters about chronic pain, post-surgical pain, endometriosis pain, and menstrual pain.

In the chronic pain chapter, the Wurns begin the chapter with an explanation of what lead them to treat chronic pain and their initial success in this area. They also explain the foundation of their treatment: adhesions. They then share two patient stories that illustrate the importance of adhesions and treating the body as in interconnected puzzle, instead of separate parts (see An Unexpected Cause of Chronic Headaches). The Wurns then dive into specific conditions, explaining how the Wurn Technique can help. The conditions include:

• Abdominal Pain, including Rae’s story of unexplained abdominal pain. For more information about abdominal pain, you can also see Study Examines the Role Between Adhesions and Chronic Abdominal Pain
  
• Back Pain, including feedback from patients who came for treatment for infertility and surprising found their back pain was also reduced. Also see Your Mother Was Right: Stand up Straight!
• Fibromyalgia
• Headaches, along with a story about Barbara who experienced severe headaches after a car accident. Also see An Unexpected Cause of Chronic Headaches.
• Myofascial Pain syndrome
• Pelvic Organ Pain, including a story by Marcella who experienced pelvic pain after a c-section
• TMJ pain
• Tailbone pain

To learn more about our upcoming book, visit our book page here. You can also sign-up for our newsletters that feature stories by former patients and share free e-chapters from the book. To learn more about our treatment for chronic pain, you can visit our chronic pain page.

By Jackie

March is endometriosis awareness month, and one of the main issues that women are promoting is early detection and diagnosis of endometriosis. Because endometriosis can only be diagnosed through laparoscopic surgery, many women live with significant pain and dysfunction for years without being diagnosed or treated.

Laparoscopic surgery

The good news is that the same procedure to diagnose endometriosis can also be used to treat it. During laparoscopic surgery, the physician inserts a tube in or near the belly button, then pumps carbon dioxide into the pelvic cavity. As the gas expands, it creates a space between all of the pelvic organs. The surgeon then inserts a tiny camera to observe and film any mechanical anomalies, such as endometriosis. If she finds endometriosis, she may burn it with a laser. If she finds adhesions (which are commonly found with endometriosis), she will also burn the adhesions.

A significant amount of women find pain relief after the procedure. However, some women continue to experience pain. In our clinical experience, we have found that many women who still experience pain after laparoscopic surgery have a significant amount of adhesions. (For more information about adhesions and endometriosis, please see our post An Option for Women who are Still Infertile after Laparoscopic Surgery for Endometriosis.)

Some doctors also note that pain recurs because endometriosis has re-grown. In a study published by the Journal of Minimally Invasive Gynecology (2005), researches retrospectively evaluated 115 women who underwent laparoscopic surgery for deep endometriosis. Deep endometriosis can be defined as “rectovaginal lesions as well as infiltrative forms that involve vital structures such as bowel, ureters, and bladder” (Journal of minimally Invasive Gynecology). The researchers evaluated these women to find predictors of deep endometriosis recurrence after surgery.

Of the 115 women, 28 experienced pain recurrence and 15 patients presented with recurrent clinical findings of deep endometriosis. From this group, the researchers were able to determine that the following predicted recurrence:

• Age: Younger patients had a greater risk of recurrence
• Obliteration of the pouch of Douglas: The pouch of Douglas is the space between the rectum and back wall of the uterus. When this cavity is closed during surgery, patients experience a higher risk of recurrence.
• Surgical Completeness: The study found that surgical incompleteness was the only predictor of a necessary second operation for deep endometriosis

If you are considering undergoing laparoscopic surgery for endometriosis, you may ask your doctor about the procedure and how she will minimize the risk of recurrence. If you have already undergone laparoscopic surgery, you may obtain a copy of the surgical report or speak with your doctor to determine if you had any significant risks for recurrence.

To learn more about pain or dysfunction after laparoscopic surgery, see endometriosis pain.

By Jackie

An episiotomy is a surgical incision of the perineum (the area between the vagina and the anus) that is made while a woman is giving birth in order to enlarge the vaginal opening for delivery. Following the birth, the doctor then sutures the area closed. After a few weeks, most women no longer experience pain around their stitches, though doctors generally recommend that a woman wait six weeks to have sex again.

When women continue to experience pain near the episiotomy site after six weeks has passed, it is a sign that adhesions may have formed. When any part of the body is injured, collagen rushes to the area to contain incoming bacteria, prevent the loss of blood, and enable the area to be healed. However, this sticky collagen builds to form adhesions that can also adhere to neighboring structures or constrict the tissues it covers.

Women who have episiotomies experience trauma to the peritoneum, pelvic floor muscle, and vagina. If the pelvic floor muscle has adhesions, a woman may experience pelvic pain, painful intercourse, urinary incontinence, and infertility (see Secondary Infertility). The peritoneum and vagina are very pain-sensitive structures and minimal adhesion formation can cause great pain, especially during intercourse or urination.

The “hands-on” work practiced at Clear Passage Therapies® clinics (see What is the Wurn Technique?) is designed to reduce or eliminate adhesions, crosslink by crosslink. After treatment, many women find that the constant pulling or tightness sensation is gone, intercourse pain is eliminated, and sexual function is increased (for more info, read The G-Spot and Sexual Dysfunction).

By Jackie

The majority of women have heard that the average length of a menstrual cycle is 28 days. But what if your menstrual cycle is longer or shorter than the average? Most women don’t care if their cycle is a few days off. However, if a woman is trying to conceive, knowing what is “normal” and what isn’t can make a big difference in conception efforts.

A study recently published in Fertility and Sterility examined the menstrual cycles of 167 women. In total, the researchers followed 459 nongestational (not pregnant) and 111 gestational menstrual cycles (pregnant). They found these interesting facts:

• Menstrual cycles were 27.7 days, plus or minus 2.4 days, in length. This means that for some women, their period came as early as 25.3 days and as late as 30.1 days.
• LH peaked at 14.7 days, plus or minus 2.4 days. This means that the presumed ovulatory window began as early as day 12.3 and as late as day 17.1.
• For women who became pregnant, implantation occurred (measured by first day of sensitive detection of hCG) on day 24.6, plus or minus 3.1 days.

The researchers reported that their findings were normal for menstrual cycle length, but that that there data on implantation was different from previously published data. If you are currently trying to become pregnant and your menstrual cycle falls outside of these parameters, you should speak with a gynecologist. Furthermore, if you have been trying for over a year with no success, you should also speak with a gynecologist who can complete a thorough blood work-up.

Curious to learn more about the menstrual cycle and fertility? Read Menstrual Cycle Length and Fertility, which discusses a study that found menstrual cycle length may correlate with fertility.