THE POWER OF THE PELVIS

Dr. Tamra Wroblesky

In the summer of 2023, I was reminded of both the fragility and strength of the human body. I was riding my bike to work and a van pulled in front of me causing me to stop short to avoid getting hit. I went over my front handlebars and landed on my right hip. I was unable to move in the middle of the street, and luckily a cop was close by and able to get me to the curb.

The pain level was intense, but as a pelvic physical therapist I stubbornly thought I was in shock and just needed to rest. I could stand on my right leg without pain, so I turned the ambulance away and had the cops bring me home. I later found out through an MRI that I had four pelvic fractures on my right side, my sacrum, two parts of my ischium, and pubic bone.

The good news was my fractures were non-displaced, which meant my muscles were strong enough to hold my pelvis in place. This meant I did not need surgery. I was thankful I had been consistent with strengthening exercises every week because it allowed me to avoid screws being put into my body.

The reason I had started doing strengthening exercises was due to previous injuries I had starting in my 20s. Prior to my recent fracture, I have had two labral hip repairs, a groin surgery, and pelvic surgery. You can say I am an expert at pelvic rehabilitation with all my personal experience. It has allowed me to test out best exercises for recovery. I created a Happy Hip Mobility and Strengthening Videos which you can find on the Inner Dynamics Youtube Channel. If you are not currently doing weekly hip strengthening, I highly recommend you start now. It is preventative care that can really change your outcomes when an accident happens.

I have also learned other lessons in pelvic healing that I wanted to share. It is so important for us to be proactive and know how to take care of our bodies. Pretend your body is a home you have to live in for the next 70 years. You can’t put off taking care of it.

Lessons in Pelvic Healing:

1. Sleep – Sleep is so important for healing. Each of our organs and our musculoskeletal system use this time to heal. Every hour of sleep before midnight is said to be worth double. During the past 7 weeks, I have winded down earlier and got into bed for better quality sleep. I usually wake up early to workout and seize the day, but I took this time to sleep in and let my body repair what it needed to. When your body has a fracture it needs time to repair. Make sure you give it for faster benefits.
2. Nutrition – Food is the strongest type of medicine. It is the fuel that gets our body going. I made sure to increase my protein intake daily, as well as fresh fruits and vegetables which have vitamins and minerals that are key to bone health.
3. Pain free range of motion – Many people are scared when they find out they have a fracture and become bed bound. Limiting your activity is never the answer. It is important for the body to move as much as it can through pain free range of motion. The first week, I was mostly bed bound, but then started to try stretches and gentle exercises to get my body moving again. I had four pelvic fractures and was able to hold a plank and do push-ups after a week and a half. The body is stronger than you think, and allowing it to move helps promote blood flow and filters out inflammation.
4. Not overdoing it – Not overdoing it is a very difficult thing for a type A personality and someone who loves working out. But it was important for me to never cross the line or I would delay my healing process and ultimately have to wait longer to workout. I continued to do gentle range of motion and more yoga type stretches for the first few weeks after injury. This helped me open up after spending the entire day in a wheelchair. But I never pushed my body to exhaustion because I would be wasting vital resources that I wanted to go towards healing my fracture sites. I made sure nothing I did made me sore the following day or else I would have wasted my body’s energy growing muscle instead of growing bone.

One of the most surprising things I discovered when healing my pelvic fractures was what activities caused the most pain. I could deep squat, plank, and side lunge without discomfort almost immediately, however when I sneezed it was a 10/10 pain for weeks. I have so many patients who are scared to exercise or move their body, especially when they have pelvic pain, incontinence, or pelvic pressure, but it is actually sneezing, coughing, and other increased abdominal pressure activities that are more limiting.

I am happy to report, a full 4 weeks sooner than my doctor expected, I was walking without crutches. If you do get injured, remember that the injury is only temporary and the power of the body is there for you to utilize to get on the road to healing.