Pelvic Pain

Do you experience pelvic pain that doesn’t seem to go away and would be considered persistent? If so, you’re not alone. Pelvic pain can impact your sex life, your bodily functions and your view of yourself.

 

Pelvic pain is VERY complex - at CURA,  we divide pelvic pain into two primary dvisions: sexual pain and persistent abdominal pelvic pain syndromes.  However we often find that there is a lot of crossover between the two divisions.

Sexual Pain

For females, pain with insertional sex is much more common than people think. Females aged 18-35  have an occurrence of 20%, for those in the post-menopausal phase 50%. Individuals dealing with sexual pain (dyspareunia, vulvodynia) often feel they are alone and can struggle for a long time to find help.

For males - sexual pain is often an under 50 year old problem and may be associated with erectile or ejaculatory dysfunction

For both males and females treatment of sexual pain problems often require collaboration with other healthcare professionals to get the success you are looking for.

 

Persistent Abdominal Pelvic Pain Syndromes

Although it is a mouthful, persistent abdominal pelvic pain syndromes describes persistent pelvic health issues that possibly may have many contributing issues.

Even after various medical tests and exams, your family doctor may still be unable to find a physical diagnosis for your pelvic pain. Or you may have been given a diagnosis of endometriosis, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), or interstitial cystitis (IC). But it doesn’t change the reality that you suffer with ongoing pelvic symptoms that are limiting your ability to enjoy life.

A Thorough Evaluation

For both Sexual Pain and Persistent Abdominal Pelvic Pain we take a comprehensive approach to the evaluation and treatment as there can be a number of potential sources and contributors to your pain and its impact on you.

This can include any of the following:

• Spine: Dysfunction in the lumbar spine, SI joints and hips can refer pain into the pelvic region

• Visceral / Organ: pressure from various organs (such as the bladder, prostate, ovaries, etc) or the ability of the organs move in the surrounding tissues

• Neural: nerves can be impacted if they are unable to glide properly in the surrounding tissues

• Muscle & Connective tissue: pelvic floor muscles can become over or underactive which can contribute to pelvic pain
• Beliefs and Coping strategies have a big impact on the body's responses.  Pain is complex and a good understanding of how pain works is very important to managing pain.