If you are dealing with any form of pelvic pain, from Interstitial Cystitis to Vulvodynia, you understand the importance of an ice pack.

I remember the first time that I placed an ice pack between my thighs in order to numb the pain so I could finally get some sleep.  I wrapped up an ice pack in an old t-shirt and placed it on a pillow and folded my legs around it.  To my surprise it worked. My brain no longer was focused on my pelvic pain but on the cold sensation on my thighs.  Since that night, my freezer has been full of different sizes and shapes of ice packs depending on the severity of pain I’m in before bed.  I also have several freeze-on-the-go bags for emergency situations.  The ones that you can break up and freeze (NAME).  And since my work takes me on the road, I have a travel ice bag that I can fill up with ice from any hotel.  Though I haven’t found one that doesn’t leak or feel a little awkward due to the cap.  If you know of one please leave the brand name in the comments below!

I later learned that histamine (TALK MORE ABOUT THIS AND LINK TO HISTAMINE BLOG) is major contributor to my pelvic pain and by snugglingwith an ice pack it moved the histamine reaction from my pelvic area to mythighs, thus lowering the pain.  It alsohelps that they brain cannot process feelings for multiple places at once.  Where you feel the strongest will overtakeany other feelings.  The good news isthat what I feel from the ice pack is both stronger and less painful providingrelief from pelvic pain.

On my journey I read about a lot of other women who experienced the same attachment to an ice pack as myself.  One woman was having a lot of trouble in her hour-long commute and took frozen juice packs, wrapped it in a paper towel and placed between her legs.  They are slender and easy to conceal.  I’ve heard other people use icy hot patches to effectively move the histamine to another place on the body.  Some people use frozen peas, but for me, they never get cold enough.  My body requires ice! 

Since ice packs aren’t medicine, you don’t get any nasty side effects. Your skin might turn a little red, and I always use something like a towel or shirt between my skin and the ice pack in order to not burn my skin. 

What about you?