Chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CPPS) is pain or discomfort anywhere from the belly button to the mid-thigh lasting 6 months or more. The pain can come and go or it can be continuous. Chronic pelvic pain is a common condition, affecting 15% of women and 10% of men around the world. CPPS can impact one’s ability to have intercourse, sleep through the night, exercise, go to work, and any other daily life activities.
Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome (CPPS) is a condition involving pain or discomfort in the abdomen or pelvis, from the belly button to the mid-thigh, and lasting more than 6-months. The degree of pain experienced, and symptoms, can vary from person to person, ranging in severity (mild or severe), type (dull or sharp), and longevity (constant or intermittent).
While the severity of chronic pelvic pain symptoms range, symptoms are usually related to gynecologic, urologic, gastrointestinal, and musculoskeletal conditions and exhibit a wide range of symptoms in both women and men.
Chronic pelvic pain sufferers may experience frustration with negative lab work ups and imaging when trying to find relief for their symptoms. This is usually because the pain is directly related to the nerves and muscles within the pelvis, and caused by conditions that are difficult for many healthcare providers to diagnose.
Pelvic Floor Muscle Hypertonia
Endometriosis
Adenomyosis
Fibroids
Chronic Prostatitis
Postpartum pelvic pain
While chronic pelvic pain affects many people and is caused by different conditions, some people may have an increased risk of experiencing chronic pelvic pain due to lifestyle and other factors. If you suspect you have CPPS, and any of these risk factors apply to you, it’s important to talk with your healthcare provider about both.
Pelvic Floor Muscle Hypertonia
Endometriosis
Adenomyosis
Fibroids
PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome)
Chronic Prostatitis
Hip Impingement
Hyper Mobility
STD/UTI/Yeast Infection History
Hernia
Diagnosing chronic pelvic pain syndrome and the issues that are causing it requires an in-depth examination of both the nerves and muscles within the pelvis, learning of your medical history, and getting a full picture of your symptoms and lifestyle.
Here’s what you can expect when you are a patient at Pelvic Rehabilitation Medicine:
Step One – First, our providers will ask questions about your medical history and listen to your symptoms to get a full picture of what is going on with you.
Step Two – Next, an external exam of your hips, abdomen, and posterior sacrum.
Step Three – Next, your pelvic nerves are evaluated externally with a soft cotton tip.
Step Four – Next, with your consent, gel is placed on a gloved finger and an internal exam is performed to allow us to evaluate the nerves and muscles within the pelvis. There is no speculum required as we are evaluating the pelvic floor muscles and nerves not the organs.
Step Five – Sometimes patients will need Imaging to help us understand if there is an associated cause of the pelvic nerve and muscle pain and dysfunction found on exam.
Step Six – Oftentimes, treatment can be started the same day as there is no down time. Our patients have been suffering with pelvic pain symptoms for 6+ months. We like to get them on the road to feeling better as soon as we can as the longer the symptoms are present the harder it is for us to resolve them.
Once a proper diagnosis has been given, we offer a proprietary office-based procedure to treat the symptoms of chronic pelvic pain. This treatment consists of a series of pelvic nerve and muscle treatments to directly target the spastic pelvic floor muscles, inflammation in the pelvis, and nerve pain. Depending on the symptoms or condition causing your pelvic pain, other modalities may be needed in addition to our treatment.
Experiencing chronic pelvic pain can be debilitating and discouraging, but our team of pelvic pain specialists will listen to you, validate your experiences and symptoms, and partner with you on your rehabilitation journey.
The simple answer is yes, but the prognosis depends on the underlying causes of your pain. With our multimodal treatment approach, patients can experience increased pelvic function and decreased pain.
We recommend scheduling an appointment with one of our pelvic pain specialists if you have been experiencing the symptoms of pelvic pain for 6 months or longer.
You’ll meet with one of our pelvic pain specialists, who focus solely on pelvic pain. We’ll start with reviewing your full health history, including a discussion of your symptoms. This will help us to understand what you’ve been experiencing, so we can work to identify the source of your pain.
Next, we’ll conduct a full pelvic exam. Externally, we will look at your hips, abdomen, and posterior sacrum. Internally, we will evaluate the nerves and the muscles within the pelvic area. This full exam is necessary , as it will help our pelvic pain specialists understand the connection between your symptoms, and your nerve and muscle pain and dysfunction. There is no speculum, so the exam is gentle and more comfortable than that of, for example, gynecological exams you may have experienced in the past.
We will discuss our findings with you and come up with a comprehensive treatment plan TOGETHER. We want you to know that your pain is validated and that we are here to work with you on getting you back to the life you deserve.