Living with lichen sclerosus can be extremely challenging and painful, no matter if you live with tearing, itching or fusing. Today I wanted to do a deep dive into how pelvic floor yoga can help you on your journey living with lichen sclerosus.

Many people that live with lichen sclerosus also live with hypertonic pelvic floor dysfunction.
Many, but definitely not all. Hypertonic pelvic floor dysfunction is when the pelvic floor muscles have a hard time relaxing, and tend to hold onto tension. Your pelvic floor wants to be able to contract AND relax, but if the pelvic floor muscles aren't relaxing properly this can cause pelvic floor pain, pain with sex, low back and hip pain, constipation, just to name a few.
If you tend to tear, like me, start to pay attention to if your pelvic floor muscles sometimes try to “get away from the tear”. When I went through one of my lichen sclerosus treatments I had days where I wouldn’t have any pain, but I noticed that I out of habit held onto the pelvic floor muscles in fear of tearing. It was kinda like I was “pulling away” from a potential tear, which meant I didn’t relax my pelvic floor muscles. Hence, caused me more pelvic floor pain through not being able to relax.
If you live with lichen sclerosus AND pelvic floor dysfunction,
And you are constantly contracting your pelvic floor muscles, how do you think that might be impacting your lichen sclerosus?
The energy is more stagnant, less blood flow, and less movement of the pelvic floor muscles. How I look at it, personally, (disclaimer, I am not a doctor), the more tight the pelvic floor muscles are, the less movement there is, I feel like I tear more easily. However, this way of thinking can also be super challenging because fear mindset can come into play - because you know that you can tear easily by just getting out of the car too fast, so if I keep “holding on”, it might save me from a potential tear? But I think it’s the opposite, the more I work with the body and the condition, the more wins I have. But that’s just my personal opinion!
Manage your stress levels Many of us realize more and more that stress is a huge culprit to flaring with lichen sclerosus. Yoga in all it’s forms help to manage stress by regulating the nervous system. Practices such as slow moving postures, different breathing exercises (equal ratio breathing, bhramari, alternate nostril breathing), and meditations can help tremendously when it comes to stress from life, or stress from lichen sclerosus itself.
Improve your sleep
If you are like me and you’ve noticed that when your sleep is not up to par, your lichen sclerosus ain’t happy - you can start to invite in practices to support your sleep. One of my favourite things about teaching yoga for people that live with pelvic pain is when they say “I fell asleep during the final meditation”. I think most yoga teachers would be offended by this, and yes, you’re not “supposed” to fall sleep during a meditation - but I also know that people that live with pelvic pain, such as yourself, may find sleep challenging; if you fall asleep during a meditation, THAT IS A WIN IN MY BOOK. Your body is telling you what it needs, and you listen.
You can access a free meditation here, a meditation to lean into trust for your body and to slow down for a restful moment.
These are some ways I work with lichen sclerosus through yoga, and how I work with it with my students. If this is something you want to explore further, come join us in the Pelvic Health Yoga membership where you will access live & on-demand classes to help you minimize pain and experience more pleasure.
Other ways pelvic floor yoga helps you:
Increases body awareness
Decreases tension from physical and emotional stress
Empowers the student
Offers a safe environment to share discomfort, joys, fear and questions
Reduces anxiety and negativity
Encourages confidence
Teaches the importance and ease of rest, nurture and healing
Aids in recovery post surgery or diagnosis
Let me know any takeaways that you had in the comment section. Penny P
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