Chronic Pelvic Pain
Schedule an appointment with our team of experienced pelvic therapists to create a custom plan of care for chronic pelvic pain.
Chronic Pelvic pain can occur for a number of reasons. This type of pain can be limiting and, for some people, even a bit embarrassing. It can hinder your daily life and prevent you from doing some of your daily tasks or activities you love. Fortunately, pelvic floor rehabilitation can help ease your symptoms of pelvic dysfunction and strengthen your pelvic floor muscles so you don’t experience additional problems in the future.
How does physical therapy help pelvic pain?
Physical therapy treatments, such as pelvic floor rehabilitation and accompanying methods, have been proven to treat a variety of conditions resulting in pelvic pain.
Some of the most common pelvic conditions that physical therapy treats include:
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Postpartum pelvic pain. After giving birth, it is common for new mothers to experience strained muscles and/or connective tissue damage in their pelvic floor. Pelvic floor rehabilitation helps in reducing the pain that is being felt, in addition to strengthening any damaged muscles or tissues.
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Pain following abdominal surgery. If you are recovering from a recent surgical procedure, pelvic floor rehabilitation can help in breaking up scar tissue, improving strength, and regaining range of motion in your abdomen/pelvic region.
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Endometriosis. Endometriosis can affect the bones, muscles, ligaments, and nerves in the pelvic region. Pelvic floor rehabilitation can help reduce the pain and bloating that you may be experiencing with endometriosis, in addition to strengthening the pelvic floor muscles.
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Urinary incontinence. A physical therapist can help determine the root of your problem with urinary incontinence, rather than simply treating the symptoms. Pelvic floor rehabilitation will focus on strengthening the muscles under your bladder in order to treat and eliminate incontinence issues.
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Constipation. Pelvic floor rehabilitation can loosen and relax the muscles in your pelvic and anal areas, which can help relieve and eliminate constipation.
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Post ejaculatory pain syndrome. This type of pelvic pain can affect males of all ages and is especially common for individuals with chronic prostatitis. Pelvic floor therapy can help get to the root of the issue to decrease pain long term to improve quality of life.
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Rectal spasms. Spasms are oftentimes related to increased muscle tension within the pelvic floor. They can be due to injury to the pelvic floor, other medical history, stress, hormone imbalance, medications, or unknown causes. Rectal spasms can be extremely painful and limiting to individuals of all ages and genders. Pelvic floor therapists can assist in decreasing muscle tension and pain through individualized treatment plans.
While these are just a few of the most common conditions of pelvic dysfunction that can be treated with physical therapy, there are a number of additional pelvic conditions that PT treatments can relieve. For example, painful intercourse and infertility problems may also be improved with pelvic therapy. Some less common conditions that can be treated also include pelvic organ prolapse, dyspareunia, and diastasis recti.