Pelvic Pain

What is pelvic pain?

Pelvic pain includes any discomfort you feel in the lower abdominal area of your body. The pain may be ongoing, come and go, or develop suddenly and unexpectedly.

The sensation may be localized to one spot or radiate throughout the entire lower abdominal area. The severity of your pain may range from a dull, annoying ache to sharp severe pain that interferes with your daily routine.

What causes pelvic pain?

The pelvic area of your body is home to many organs, including your reproductive organs, urinary tract, and gastrointestinal tract. Your pelvic pain may develop from any problem that affects one or more of these organs.

Common causes of pelvic pain include:

• Appendicitis
• Diverticulitis
• Chronic constipation
• Ulcerative colitis
• Kidney stones
• Femoral or inguinal hernia
• Pelvic floor muscle spasm
• Enlarged spleen
  
  

However, pelvic pain most often develops from problems that involve the reproductive organs. For women, pelvic pain may develop from gynecological conditions such as endometriosis or fibroids. For men, a problem with the prostate may cause pelvic pain.

Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are also a common cause of pelvic pain. Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) is an infection of the female reproductive organs often caused by untreated STDs. 

How is pelvic pain diagnosed?

When you visit Advanced Pain Management for help with pelvic pain, the team conducts a comprehensive clinical exam to find the root cause of your discomfort. 

The team reviews your pain history, including when it started, the type of discomfort you feel, and the location of your pain. They perform a physical and pelvic exam and may run blood and urine tests.

The team may also request a pelvic ultrasound to evaluate the organs in the lower abdominal area to confirm or rule out a diagnosis. For women, the team may also recommend a Pap smear.

If these tests fail to find the underlying cause of your pelvic pain, the team may request additional testing, such as a CT scan, pelvic MRI, colonoscopy, cystoscopy, or pelvic laparoscopy.

How is pelvic pain treated?

The Advanced Pain Management team individualizes treatment for pelvic pain based on the underlying cause. The multi-modality facility offers many innovative treatment options, including:

• Medication management
• Interventional pain management
• Physical medicine
• Rehabilitation
• Neurology
• Nonsurgical orthopedics
• Nonsurgical spine medicine

For relief from your pelvic pain, call Advanced Pain Management or click this website’s online scheduling button to make an appointment today.