Women with persistent pelvic pain (also known as ‘chronic pelvic pain’) experience some form of pain in the pelvis, which persists on most days for more than six months. It affects 15-25% of women and requires multi-disciplinary management for effective treatment – this means a number of health professionals work in a team with you to help you reduce your overall burden of pain and improve your wellbeing.
Your team of health professionals may consist of a:
- Pelvic floor physiotherapist
- Pain specialist
- Psychologist
- Dietician
- Gynaecologist
- GP
Your physiotherapist and multi-disciplinary team will ensure that other causes of your pain have been adequately investigated and treated. Once the original danger sensor triggers have been addressed, physiotherapy focuses on reducing secondary danger sensor triggers that may have developed such as tight and overactive pelvic muscles, as well as more generally beginning work to turn down the volume of the alarm system. This may include optimizing exercise and physical activity, improving sleep quality, learning ways to desensitise tissues and better managing psychological factors that contribute to the sensitised alarm system such as stress reduction and addressing anxiety and depression and other mental health conditions that could be contributing.
Summary
There is strong evidence to support the role of physiotherapists with additional training in women’s and pelvic health to treat a number of conditions across all life stages – from more commonly known pelvic health issues affecting women such as incontinence and prolapse, to pelvic and sexual pain concerns and also for helping children and adolescents with bed wetting or other bladder/bowel control concerns.
We hope the information in this blog has been useful and should always be considered in conjunction with an individual assessment with your physiotherapist and/or other health care provider skilled in the area such as a GP or gynaecologist.
We would love to help you manage your concerns and get you back achieving your goals worry –free!
