IC and Ways to Reduce Inflammatory Behaviors

From an energy science view the symptoms of interstitial cystitis(IC) are related to the hot quality among others   The burning on urination that feels like razor blades, the suprapubic or vaginal pain, the perineal pain of prostatitis are all related to this energetic quality that is in excess

At this blog I have discussed extensively how the nutritional format is fundamental in clearing symptoms   From my research 91% of patients doing aloe and a nutritional format that reduces this hot quality get 50% relief of symptoms in 6 weeks

But what else can you do from an energy science view to reduce symptoms?  This is one of many unique contributions of Ayurveda in helping us not only understand disease but also how to ameliorate symptoms

The Lifestyle of Over the Top and Inflammation

Let’s feel ourselves next to the stove and feeling the hot quality from the stove top   The hot quality is intense and you can’t stand it for very long without having to pull away  What would it look like if you live an intense lifestyle, that is, the energy pattern of Pitta is in excess and has localized somewhere in your body, let’s say the bladder?   You would be focused, driven and have a tendency for overworking, overeating, overexercising, and overachieving   And have a painful bladder that flares every so often or the bladder is always painful

There is no rest for the weary when Pitta is in excess   And this also becomes stressful for the body maintaining the symptoms of IC

Now for some this driven lifestyle doesn’t fit    Your Pitta excess as seen in the hot quality may have come in other legitimate ways such as types of foods eaten but one thing I can say is that if you have IC with burning on urination then the you have found some way to accumulate this quality

It is now known that DNA is very malleable and changes with our choice making   Inflammation is a phenomenon of DNA and so you can change inflammation and hence your IC by changing your behavior patterns that produce inflammation

Some Observations About Over

A friend once said to me, “The work will always be there tomorrow”   So avoiding burning the midnight oils for deadlines is an important step in helping control overwork   But this business of overworking is at times difficult in the corporate world   Setting times for bed is helpful:  Vata needs the most rest so in bed by 10p and up 630-7a; Pitta 1030p and up 6a; Kapha in bed by 11p and up 5 to 530a   If you don’t know your energy pattern you can do a questionnaire here

There is a  tendency for Pitta to overeat due to hot quality and what it does to the appetite   If you don’t eat your biggest meal of the day at noon you risk having an appetite that can get out of control due to the hot quality

Exercising in the hot midday sun is very provoking to Pitta   Not only are you not taking advantage of the metabolic fire ready to digest your foods but you’re overheating the body in the hottest part of the day

Finally you’re familiar with the hot mental patterns of behavior such as anger, hostility, judgement, criticism, and impatience   Interestingly if you do the nutritional work and pay attention to the behavioral guidelines these mental patterns will subside   That is, if you find yourself being critical and judgmental it will lessen with time

7 Guidelines To Curb the OVER and Resultant Inflammation

1  Get proper rest as noted above according to the time schedules  It’s common for the Pitta energy pattern to demand too much of the Vata pattern which is delicate like a flower and needs rest

2 Eat the biggest meal between 11a and 2p and make this a important part of the day for yourself  Use the Green Composite Protein Recipe and use every day

3  Exercise in the early cool morning hours

4 Wear sunglasses on sunny days as this reduces the hot quality to the Pitta sensitive eyes

5  If you find yourself overheating in your environment, stop and figure out how to cool off

6  A  harried lifestyle of Vata with the above makes the hot quality worse since the movement fans the intensity and heat of Pitta so slowing down by doing contemplative practices such as yoga for exercise or meditation can be helpful

7   Use the evening to wind down but try reducing the alcohol because this provokes the hot quality

In summary it’s not just one thing that you do that will bring your IC symptoms under control but it’s building on top of things  It’s a cumulative effect that pays dividends in reducing symptoms over time   The key is to be aware of the things that can provoke the hot quality to lifestyle behavior choices

Expectations About Healing IC

Obviously this is a common question posed by those doing energy science work for clearance of their IC complex of bladder pain and possibly IBS, GERD and fibromyalgia

As a child you may have asked, “Are we there yet?” and “Now are we there yet?”  So when will this IC be over?   The short answer is, “It’s over when it’s over.”  But to be more specific, in general it takes 2 months of release for every year of imbalance   So if you have had symptoms of IC for 10 years it will take 20 months of work to clear the energy qualities that have accumulated

This would make sense wouldn’t it?  The longer the imbalance the more work is required to get resolution   This doesn’t mean that there will not be improvement of symptoms   The flare intensity get less as the months go by and then the frequency lessens   But real healing takes time!

Are You Particle(Molecule) or Wave?

The body is simultaneously a matter field and an energy field.  The former expresses itself as molecules or particles and the latter as waves of energy   So this is how the energy field expresses dis-ease    In waves

Sound familiar?  The waves are flares that occur in the body.  And they continue to express themselves until you do something about it.  Until you decide to intervene   Otherwise the expression of the excess qualities will continue to occur

Because the matter field is a gross expression of the more subtle energy field, you now can see why dis-ease begins with qualities that then eventually become manifest as particles or molecules in the matter field   This is why I can say with certainty that the matter science will never be able to heal IC with its molecular approach to dis-ease

The Concept of Release

Once the urinary tract is involved with the energy patterns of Vata and Pitta, the symptoms of Vata presence begin episodic expression of light, cold, rough, dry, and mobile which lead to urgency, frequency and a feeling of incomplete emptying of the bladder   Pitta’s presence of inflammation lead to burning on urination, burning pain in the pelvis, vagina, and even rectum due to the sharp, hot, liquid and spreading qualities

These qualities lodge in the urinary tract and express as energy or wave   So the intermittent flares that occur in the body are waves of energetic expression

But what happens when you decide to do things to differently?  You begin paying attention to your day and how you live it   Energy science nutrition becomes important and you start seeing food as medicine   You choose certain herbs that can help with IC and use them regularly

When you no longer support the overexpression of these qualities in the body by the foods that you eat, the body naturally begins letting go of these excess qualities of light, cold, rough, dry, mobile, sharp, hot, liquid and spreading   This takes time but by and by there is lessening of the symptoms that the qualities brought and healing begins to occur

What you see is gradual regression of the symptoms   They do not stop all at once   There is a receding of the complex of symptoms much like the outgoing tide on the beach

3 Therapies to Heal IC

The IC bladder pain syndrome(interstitial cystitis, vulvodynia, prostatitis, IBS, GERD, and fibromyalgia) produces not only bladder pain that can be intermittent(as in flares) but also often involves the vaginal canal(vulvodynia),  pelvic floor muscles, and often the rectum   And as is common with all people with IC there are some forms of bowel involvement with symptoms since from an energy science point of view the disease arises from the GI tract

The Rectum and the Pelvic Nerves?

IC is a systemic disease  Many matter science medical authorities who write about IC agree that in some way it is a systemic disease but the current matter science medical model limits their thinking in how IC can be systemic

From the energy model perspective the energy patterns of primarily Vata and Pitta leave the GI (GERD and IBS)after being provoked usually by the foods consumed that are unbalancing, by using incompatible food combinations, and having particular lifestyle behavioral patterns that provoke

These energy patterns find weak and vulnerable areas in the physiology   In the case of IC they initially cause imbalance in the rectum and then the spread to the pelvic nerves bringing about the symptoms of IC in the bladder  The nerves can also affect the vagina and perineal floor as well  As you can see in the accompanying anatomical diagram the vagina, bladder, and rectum are all intimately associated and the pelvic plexus that innervates all these contiguous structures  You can also see how close everything is to the pelvic floor and why the pelvic muscles would also be involved

When the pelvic nerves are involved, the muscles and organs supplied by these nerves may go into spasm or become symptomatic secondary to the vibrational frequencies involving the pelvic plexus  Hence physical therapy has been prescribed for IC pain that seems localized to the pelvic floor or for what appears to be pelvic floor dysfunction

As the pelvic nerves are  part of the pelvic structures they can become involved due to the process of imbalance in the rectum  When this happens, even if the bladder and vagina are targeted with herbal therapy, either by instillation or taking herbs by mouth, it may not be enough as the nerves are not in the path of the instillations but peripheral to them

3 Techniques for Improving Pelvic Nerve Health

1  The use of basti or medicated herbal enema therapy can be a hallmark therapy if the above disease process is understood  The energy pattern of Vata is always involved in the IC bladder pain syndrome and always reduced by basti treatment  Using other herbs can be effective in reducing the offending vibrational frequencies such as the hot(burning) and heavy, dull sensation in the pelvis  The use of detoxification procedures is important as with most therapies

2 Intrarectal transdermal creams coupled with herbal memory nectars can be effective in reducing the imbalance  Particularly the former can be effective in reduing the offending vibrational frequencies causing the bladder and vaginal symptoms  Transrectal administration is best coupled detoxification procedures

3 Another energy science technique called pranayama(breathing exercies) can strengthen the pelvic muscles but at the same time can bring about clearance of abnormal accumulatons of energy that prevent the free flow of energy through the pelvic cavity  The specific breath technique is called kapalabhati which can be seen at this link  The individual demonstrating the technique is advanced but you can only start where you are  Pay attention to those who should not practice this technique

When done with regularity and associated with other foundational work with attention placed on these techniques will help with the energy disturbance present in the pelvic cavity  If you want more information on these therapies set up an appointment for consultation

IC and Botox Injections

Over the last 20 years the interstitital cystitis(IC) complex of pelvic and bladder pain has been successfully treated by urologists with botox  Initially used as a way to focally paralyze muscle fibers in the face as a cosmetic application, it quickly crossed many lines of therapy for use in other organ systems in the body to include the bladder

The use of the agent in bladder injection therapy is that the bladder and pelvic pain is related to muscle spasm in these respective areas that paralysis of the muscles would reduce the pain

Matter Science Injection Therapy

In the disease of IC the matter science medical thinking in justifying botox’s use is that the pelvic pain and burning is caused by a neuromuscular event in the pelvic nerves  And that the individual symptom complex(bladder pain in one, vaginal pain in another, pudendal nerve involvement leading to perineal pain in another) could be dealt with by botox injection into the offending pelvic nerves

The success reported using bladder injection therapy is for a number of conditions that have associated with the problem an overactive bladder(OAB)   Neurologic conditions such as multiple sclerosis, bladder overactivity from traumatic cord injury, and nonapparent neurological disease such as urinary incontinence have been treated with good success

As I wrote in a recent post about the use of the interstim, the primary indication for botox and the interstim device appears to be OAB for whatever etiology   Injection of the botox is usually done 20-30 sites in the bladder and those with an apparent Hunner’s ulcer would have direct and peripheral injection around the lesion

Of course spreading from the area of local injection can have potential lethal consequences(the number of FDA reported deaths linked to botox are rare given the usage, 28 since 2000 monitoring began)  But what is more important are side effects that don’t result in respiratory distress such as swallowing and breathing problems

An Energy Science Perspective

It’s clear that the pelvic accumulation and localization of the hot and mobile qualities in IC that I have discussed in the past come from the GI tract according to the energy science model of healing

The isolated botulinum toxin produced by a bacterium reduces  specific muscle activity by blocking the overactive neural impulses that trigger excessive muscle contraction activity  The use in IC is based on the theory that the spasm responsible for the IC pain is caused by overactive pelvic nerves that are irritable for some unknown reason

Localized injection into the bladder muscle may produce transient relief but long term relief from the condition leading to OAB may not deal with the global neuromuscular problem

There are basically two problems with botox injection therapy

1 If there is burning pain in the pelvis or the bladder with urination botox is unlikely to deal with the problem of interstitial cystitis  Botox causes a neuromuscular blockade but will not deal with sensory changes such as burning

2 There is a belief in research circles that IC is actually a pelvic disorder not just involving the bladder  Attempting to block a spastic pelvic floor would be futile and dangerous

So what causes these overactive pelvic nerves to occur in the first place?  From an energy science perspective the pelvic neuromuscular complex is in a heightened state of activity due to the mobile quality and the burning shearing pain from the hot quality  Trigger point injection to areas of pain may work transiently but as said earlier, one can’t inject the entire pelvic floor as these energetic qualities are throughout the pelvis including the bladder

The Good News About IC

The pain of your IC flare is related to the movement of the qualities of hot, mobile, and dry   These qualities lead to the burning in the pelvis and on urination as well as the frequency and intense urgency you experience(leading to the rusty zipper syndrome)

These primordial vibrational frequencies(fancy term for qualities) are moving through a long tube in the mindbody   This tube begins in the kidney and ends where the urine comes out when you urinate   It’s that simple!    Energy in the form of urine moves through this channel or tube from the kidney to the bladder and then out when urination occurs

Channel versus Tissue

The good news is that the energetic imbalance of the qualities of hot, mobile, and dry in IC occur in a channel not a tissue   Why is this such good news?  It’s much easier to correct an energetic imbalance in a tube or channel than it is in a dense multicellular tissue layer

Other examples of channels are the gastrointestinal tract(mouth to the anus), the respiratory tube(includes the nose, nasal sinuses, upper airway tubes, and lungs), the male and female genital channels, and the vascular network(both arterial and venous sides)   Other channel disorders besides IC include GERD, IBS, and vulvodynia

There are other energy structures in the energy mindbody that are tissue layers    The muscles of the mindbody are a dense energetic multicellular layer   A lot can go wrong in such a complex structure and so it takes longer to correct a tissue layer problem   Tissue layer disorders include fibromyalgia and chronic prostatitis

Yea!  IC is a Simple Channel Dis-ease

So we’re familiar with those people who develop IC and they have a brief experience with the symptoms but somehow or another there is a spontaneous resolution of the IC and they never have another problem with it   A pure channel problem clears

But then there’s the mixture of channel and tissue energetic imbalance   Here the IC becomes more complex   Tissue imbalances involving hot, mobile, and dry become mixed with the channel imbalance of IC with the experience of the symptoms associated with the dis-ease

From an energy science view this explains the reason why many people don’t get spontaneous resolution but smoulder in the embers of chronic IC   There is a mixture of energetic tissue imbalance coupled with the channel imbalance

Still Good News

Even though there is the energetic imbalance of hot, mobile, and dry in both the tissues and urinary tract channel or tube IC regardless is a channel dis-ease  and will respond to treatments more quickly   It doesn’t mean that the tissue energetic imbalances don’t have to be addressed   They do

But they can be addressed as the symptoms from the urinary channel are resolved by such channel soothing herbs such as CCF tea and aloe vera gel   Just visualize the aloe cooling the hot, mobile, and dry internal lining of the urinary tube just as it soothes the external skin when it’s burned