There are so many ways physical therapy can help relieve chronic pelvic pain. You should be familiar with these so you know where to go for help if you have this kind of pain.
When I talk about pelvic pain, what I mean is pain anywhere in the abdominal area. It could have any of these characteristics:
- Pain going into the legs
- Pain that’s constant
- Pain that comes and goes
- Pain that just shows up during certain activities
- Pain reaching up into the abdominal cavity
- Pain in the pelvis
- Pain around the sit bone area or the low back
- Pain when you’re sitting
- Pain that’s present with intercourse
All of those are common complaints that I hear from our patients. They are also problems that physical therapy could potentially help with. If you’re experiencing those types of pain, it’s a good idea to first follow up with your primary care provider or specialist to rule out major causes such as infection, tumors or similar problems.
Many of the women I treat have already been through an extensive medical address of problems such as these. They’ve had every test under the sun and nothing shows up. They’re frustrated and think, “Is the pain just in my head?” But they know it’s not. They know it’s real. Fortunately for them, physical therapy may be the answer that finally alleviates that pain.
Causes of Pelvic Pain
Let’s talk about the causes of pain. One of the main sources of pain in the women that I work with is actually the muscles. The muscles in the fascia (connective tissue) throughout the trunk are intertwined. All these muscles have to work together properly and be able to move properly to function well and not cause pain.
Unfortunately, all those tests and MRIs don’t show what’s going on in muscles and soft tissues. There may just be tightness in the muscles that can cause a severe amount of pain. Physical therapy can definitely help with those problems and provide relief from the pain.
Getting a Physical Therapy Evaluation
When you come in for an evaluation in physical therapy, what we’re going to do first is just sit down and talk. I’ll ask you about what’s exactly going on pain-wise, what triggers the pain, how long it’s been occurring, or if there were any triggering factors when the pain first started.
We will do an evaluation and look at your posture. We’ll check your movement through your spine and your hips. I can do some hands-on work, just to feel the muscles in the fascia. That way, I can identify where any of those restrictions are that may be an underlying cause of your pain.
If you’re comfortable with it, we may also do an internal pelvic exam. There are muscles inside the pelvis that can be a big source of pain. We’d only do that if you’re comfortable with that, but that can be a really helpful avenue to address.
Creating Your Recovery Plan
Once we’ve identified some of those underlying causes, we can put together a plan to address those problems over time to relieve your pain.
Another factor that we’ll look at is the nervous system and the role it may play in contributing to this pain. When you’ve been in pain for a long time, the nervous system can kind of get ramped up and out of control, so that it’s almost on high alert all the time. Part of the treatment and part of therapy are techniques to help quiet and calm down the nervous system so your nerves are accurately representing what’s going on in your body.
If you are experiencing any type of pelvic abdominal pain and you ruled out any other major causes of that pain, give me a call. We can sit down and talk about what’s going on and devise a plan to get to the root of the pain. That way, we can help you to resolve the cause of pain and have a better quality of life. Call my office at 785-271-5533 to get your evaluation scheduled.
