Pain with exercise can be a symptom of endometriosis. The inflammation, the location of the lesions, the presence of adhesions, and other factors such as pelvic floor dysfunction (too tight muscles- http://endocomprehensive.blogspot.com/2014/01/pelvic-floor-spasm.html), trigger points, muscles spasms, etc can all factor into the pain felt. So how is exercise good for endometriosis?
"Regular physical exercise seems to have protective effects against diseases that involve inflammatory processes since it induces an increase in the systemic levels of cytokines with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties and also acts by reducing estrogen levels. Evidence has suggested that the symptoms associated with endometriosis result from a local inflammatory peritoneal reaction caused by ectopic endometrial implants....regular physical exercise seems to have protective effects against diseases that involve inflammatory processes since it induces an increase in the systemic levels of cytokines with anti-inflammatory properties [9]. In addition, regular physical exercise is associated with a cumulative effect of reduction of menstrual flow, of ovarian stimulation and of the action of estrogen [10]....Analysis of available literature data show that there are no controlled and randomized studies identifying whether physical exercise prevents the occurrence or progression of the endometriosis and how and to what extent physical exercise could be beneficial for women with endometriosis. The few existing studies are of an observational type, with little or no statistical significance, but that indicate an inverse relationship between the practice of physical exercise and the risk of endometriosis. These studies also drawing attention to the possibility that conclusions about non-protective effect of exercise in women with endometriosis can be due the discomfort experienced, what prevent the practice of physical exercise. Therefore, with the literature available it is not possible to point out the real role of physical exercise in endometriosis. Thus, until now we only have speculations about this topic. In this respect, we believe that studies well controlled, using validated instruments for evaluation and follow up, well- defined study groups and well established exercise protocol can demonstrate the real role of physical exercise on treatment of endometriosis. On this basis, experimental models of endometriosis would be justified because they would permit the characterization of the time course of the disease in order to elucidate whether physical exercise is indeed able to interfere with the development of the endometriosis injury. In addition, it would be possible to determine what intensity would be necessary for physical exercise to be used in both a preventive and curative manner regarding the disease." http://www.rbej.com/content/12/1/4
Exercise can be helpful for most chronic pain conditions:
"“Exercise improves your pain threshold,” says Trent Nessler, PT, DPT, MPT, a vice president with Champion Sports Medicine in Birmingham, Ala. “With chronic pain, your pain threshold drops -- in other words, it takes less pain to make you feel more uncomfortable. With cardiovascular, strengthening, and flexibility exercise, you can improve that pain threshold.”" http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/features/exercise-relief
"Dr Sluka concluded that these data suggest that regular exercise reduces pain by activation of opioid receptors in descending inhibitory pathways in the central nervous system. She further proposed that regular exercise could prevent the transition from acute to chronic pain through the release of regulatory macrophages and increased levels of IL-10, an anti-inflammatory cytokine which can reduce nociceptor sensitisation [2]." http://www.bodyinmind.org/physical-activity-chronic-pain/
"Exercise helps to alleviate pain related to nerve damage (neuropathic pain) by reducing levels of certain inflammation-promoting factors, suggests an experimental study in the June issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS)." http://www.eurekalert.org/pub.../2012-06/wkh-hde060112.php
But any exercise regimen should be tailored for your body and is best done under the guidance of a professional who is familiar with your condition.
"Exercise activates endogenous analgesia in healthy individuals. The increased pain threshold following exercise is due to the release of endogenous opioids and activation of (supra)spinal nociceptive inhibitory mechanisms orchestrated by the brain. Exercise triggers the release of beta-endorphins from the pituitary (peripherally) and the hypothalamus (centrally), which in turn enables analgesic effects by activating μ-opioid receptors peripherally and centrally, respectively. The hypothalamus, through its projections on the periaqueductal grey, has the capacity to activate descending nociceptive inhibitory mechanisms. However, several groups have shown dysfunctioning of endogenous analgesia in response to exercise in patients with chronic pain. Muscle contractions activate generalized endogenous analgesia in healthy, pain-free humans and patients with either osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis, but result in increased generalised pain sensitivity in fibromyalgia patients. In patients having local muscular pain (e.g. shoulder myalgia), exercising non-painful muscles activates generalized endogenous analgesia. However, exercising painful muscles does not change pain sensitivity either in the exercising muscle or at distant locations. LIMITATIONS: The reviewed studies examined acute effects of exercise rather than long-term effects of exercise therapy. CONCLUSIONS: A dysfunctional response of patients with chronic pain and aberrations in central pain modulation to exercise has been shown, indicating that exercise therapy should be individually tailored with emphasis on prevention of symptom flares. The paper discusses the translation of these findings to rehabilitation practice together with future research avenues." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22786458
Pelvic physical therapy helped me get started by helping to retrain my pelvic muscles to relax and knowing what would trigger more pain (high impact exercises). (For some of the things pelvic PT can help with see http://www.pelvicpainrehab.com/female-pelvic-pain/674/how-pelvic-floor-pt-helps-endometriosis-4/ or watch this video: http://endocomprehensive.blogspot.com/2013/11/video-endometriosis-and-pelvic-physcial.html) After I had excision surgery, we were able to move on to rebalancing my muscle groups with a balance of strengthening and stretching exercises.
My mainstay throughout has been yoga. Many of the exercises I did in pelvic PT were what I was doing in yoga. Yoga not only helped me manage pain but also manage the stress caused by the pain. For some of the poses that have helped me, see http://endocomprehensive.blogspot.com/2014/07/my-current-yoga-poses-that-help.html. Also here is a video that I come back to often: http://www.yogajournal.com/video/video/gentle-flow/
