Pelvic Pain and Painful Sex

Pelvic pain can present as pain anywhere from the belly button down.

Whilst there are many causes of pelvic pain, there are some clues that indicate that it may be driven from your pelvic floor.

Some clues can seem more obvious than others. More obvious clues include pain from inserting a tampon or painful sex. But other clues may show as pain with sitting for long periods, wearing tight pants or hip pain that doesn’t seem to go away despite treatment.

During a pelvic health physiotherapist assessment we explore your bladder, bowel and pain symptoms to see what the likely driver of your pain may be and whether we we can help.

In the case of complex pelvic pain, physiotherapists often work alongside sexolists, psychologists, nutritionists and dieticians, urogynaecologists, colorectal specialists, GP’s and more to provide wholistic care.

It is often a fine balance between ensuring you are seeing the right health professionals for your symptoms and seeing too many that treating your pelvic pain turns into a full time job. Your treating practitioner should work alongside you to see what health professionals are needed at any particular point in time.

Specific conditions which physiotherapists have a role in treating include:

• Dyspareunia (painful intercourse). This can be primary (from your first time) or secondary (starting over time)

• Vulvodynia and vaginismus

• Bladder pain syndrome (formerly known as intersitital cystitis). This is bladder pain that is worsened with bladder filling and relieved with emptying

• Persistent pain following recurrent urinary tract infections where the infections have now been managed

• Endometriosis

• Persistent pelvic pain (pain referred from the pelvis)