Pelvic pain is a common yet often misunderstood condition that can significantly impact your quality of life. Pelvic pain is often multifactorial in nature and therefore may have several underlying causes.
Chronic or persistent pelvic pain is pain felt anywhere inside or outside the pelvis or lower abdominal area that lasts for more than 6 months.
1 in 5 women experience pelvic pain.
Common pelvic pain conditions presenting to our practice include.
Endometriosis
Bladder pain syndrome
Pain with sexual intercourse
Prolapse
Chronic constipation
Coccydynia
Pain in the joints of the pelvis
Deep hip pain
Vaginismus
Vulvodynia
So what can a physio do to help?
Physiotherapists with further experience in pelvic health bring a unique set of skills to the management of pelvic pain.
Our first step is to gain a thorough understanding of your history.
What might my physiotherapy appointment look like?
History - Firstly, our aim is to gain a thorough history and understanding of your experience. Pelvic pain is often complex and can involve more than one location, organ and/or muscle.
If you are comfortable to share this information, your physiotherapist may ask you questions about the following: hormonal history, menstrual cycle, muscle and joint pain, sexual function and your bladder and bowel habits. This allows us to build a better picture of what might be contributing to your discomfort.
Your goals and questions! We are here to help. We welcome your questions and want to make sure you leave us with a better understanding of your body and how you can manage your pain.
The Assessment - This involves an examination of your whole body, as well as your pelvic area. Although we are here to assist your pelvic pain, it is important to gain a complete picture of how your body is moving. We may assess your walking patterns, lifting patterns, the mobility of your hips, ankles and spine.
A pelvic examination can be completed in several different ways. Each can provide us with different information. Importantly, we want you as our patient to be comfortable and in control of which examination technique you are most comfortable with at the time. This might include:
Trans abdominal real time ultrasound
Trans perineal ultrasound
An external observational assessment of Vulva and perianal area
An internal vaginal examination (see below for a more thorough overview of what this might involve).
Discussion and education - we will talk through our assessment findings and answer any questions you might have.
Treatment Plan - management of pelvic pain is greatly dependent on the individual. We know from current research that managing pelvic pain requires a biopsychosocial approach. But what does this mean?
Put simply, we need to consider the whole person - we need to consider biological changes (muscular changes, nervous system response, immune response factors), the psychological impact of pelvic pain (anxiety, stress, fear-avoidance) as well as what it means to live with pelvic pain in day to day life.
For further information on how we might be able to help you, please reach out via 0400 373 415 or via info@femalefocusphysiotherapy.com
By Corinne Davidson
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