May is pelvic health awareness month! While I’m thrilled that there is a whole month dedicated to this underserved topic, every day in my world is pelvic health awareness. 😄
I want to educate you about an issue that I treat often in my PT clinic; pelvic pain. Unfortunately, Pelvic pain is very common among women. The NIH estimates about 15% of childbearing women have pelvic pain in the U.S. and as many as 32% of women worldwide suffer from pelvic pain.
Pelvic pain is pain in and around the pelvic area and can be sudden or chronic, or may even come and go at times.
Chronic pelvic pain is defined by the ACOG (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) as “continuous or non-cyclical pelvic pain lasting longer than 6 months that localizes to the pelvis, abdominal wall, lumbosacral back, or buttocks and is severe enough to cause functional disability or lead to medical care.”
What Causes Pelvic Pain?
It can be very difficult to uncover the root cause of pelvic pain making this type of pain difficult to treat. Gastrointestinal, reproductive, urologic, and neuromuscular disorders can cause or contribute to pelvic pain.
Some common disorders that can generate pelvic pain are:
Endometriosis
Organ Prolapse
Chronic UTIs
Ovarian cysts
Poor posture
Chronic Constipation
IBS
Trauma
Pelvic inflammatory disease
An important fact to note with pelvic pain, is that 50-90% of patients with chronic pelvic pain also have musculoskeletal pain and dysfunction that can contribute to pelvic pain.
How Can Physical Therapy Help Improve Pelvic Pain?
With 50-90% of patients with chronic pain also having musculoskeletal pain, physical therapy is a fantastic option for pain management for people suffering with pelvic pain.
A pelvic floor physical therapist is the best type of physical therapist to see for this condition. They specialize in the muscles of the pelvic floor and will be able to help pinpoint muscular, postural, or movement dysfunctions that may be contributing to pelvic pain.
Often when someone experiences pain, the muscles and tissues surrounding that area will tense up and “gaurd” the area to protect it. But this protective mechanism the body implements can have the opposite effect, and lead to more pain and discomfort in the area.
A trained physical therapist will conduct a full assessment of the musculature surrounding the pelvic floor and may even perform an internal exam to determine if the pelvic floor muscles are contributing to the pelvic pain. They will also perform a movement and postural assessment to see if the way someone moves could contribute to their pelvic pain.
In addition to strengthening and/or stretching exercises, physical therapists may also use mindfulness and deep breathing techniques to help relax overtight muscles and decrease the stress response.
If you are experiencing chronic pelvic pain, contact your local pelvic floor physical therapist. You don’t have to settle for living with pain and dysfunction.
While physical therapy can’t “cure” the pain, the treatment techniques we use can significantly reduce the amount of pain you experience.