chronic pelvic pain

CHRONIC PELVIC PAIN

Chronic pelvic pain is pain felt especially in the lower abdomen, called the pelvic region, that persists for 6 months or more. These pains show symptoms as severe lower abdominal pain, especially during or after menstrual period, sexual intercourse. In addition, some conditions such as eating, standing for a long time, urinating can also trigger chronic pain. Chronic pelvic pain is a symptom, not a disease. The most obvious symptom is pain during sexual intercourse.

What Are the Causes of Chronic Pelvic Pain?

This situation, which restricts social life and is psychologically exhausting, is seen in many women. The reason for the pain may be from the female reproductive organs (gynecological), digestive system (gastrointestinal), urinary tract (urological) or musculoskeletal system. While more than one condition can be detected that can cause pain, in some cases no cause can be detected.

Causes of Female Reproductive Organs (Gynecological):

About 20 percent of chronic pelvic pain is of gynecological origin. The most common causes:

• Chocolate Cyst Disease (Endometriosis)

• Fibroids

• adenomyosis

• Pelvic Inflammatory Disease

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Apart from gynecological causes, there are other conditions that can cause chronic pelvic pain. These can be briefly listed as follows;

• Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS): Irritable bowel syndrome is commonly seen in 20% of women of reproductive age and can cause pelvic pain. It is a digestive system disease characterized by chronic abdominal pain and abnormal bowel habits and pain during defecation.

• Painful Bladder Syndrome (Interstitial Cystitis): Symptoms usually manifest as frequent urge to urinate and an urgent need to urinate (urgency).

• Diverticulitis: Chronic constipation, fiber-poor diet can cause diverticulum. Sometimes diverticulum does not cause any symptoms, but sometimes it becomes inflamed and causes a condition called diverticulitis. This condition usually causes nausea and vomiting, constipation and diarrhea in addition to abdominal pain. Diverticulitis often causes sudden onset pain and is not a common cause of chronic pain. .

• Fibromyalgia: It is characterized by widespread muscle pain and tenderness in certain parts of the body. Women with fibromyalgia may also experience mood disorders such as fatigue, sleep disturbances, headaches, depression, and anxiety.

• Physical or Psychological Abuse

How Is Chronic Pelvic Pain Diagnosed?

• Your medical history is taken and a detailed physical examination is performed.

• A number of laboratory tests can be planned, including blood work, urinalysis, sexually transmitted infection tests, and a pregnancy test.

• Pelvic ultrasound will aid diagnosis by imaging the female reproductive organs and surrounding organs.

• Additional methods may be used to evaluate the bowel wall or bladder, such as bowel ultrasound (endosonography), camera examination of the bowel (rectosigmoidesoscopy), or camera evaluation of the bladder (cystoscopy).

• Laparoscopic operations may be helpful in diagnosing some causes of chronic pelvic pain, such as endometriosis and chronic pelvic inflammatory disease.

Chronic Pelvic Pain Treatment

The most important step in treatment is to find the cause of the pain. Then, treatments for both treatment and pain reduction are applied. Treatments chosen to reduce pain mainly include medical therapy, physical therapy, nutritional therapy, and surgery.

• Lifestyle Changes,Regular exercise

• Painkillers

• Birth Control Pills

• Physiotheraphy

• Nutrition Therapy

• Surgery: Surgery is also available for pelvic pain that does not respond to other treatments.