Pain ! have you ever thought “Can I ever get rid of this pain?” As a therapist pain reduction is one of our main goals .Pain can be of various sources , related to muscles or nerves of both .The nerves are what transmit the pain depending on what’s happening at the site of action .
As far as physical therapy goes I do not follow the no pain no gain rule , pain means something is wrong and to stop doing what’s causing the pain .The sooner you treat pain ( rather than ignore or work through it ) the quicker it is likely to respond and have an overall better prognosis .
I have worked with hundreds of patient with all kinds of joint pain , but for today’s topic will be focusing on pelvic pain .Pelvic pain refers to the pain experienced in the pelvic floor , which could originate from the hips , the sacroiliac joint ( SI joint which is the low back ) or the muscles of the pelvic floor .Pelvic pain is generally described as “ It’s like sciatica but in my butt and crotch !”
The pelvic floor muscles are a group of muscles that form a bowl of muscles in the bottom of the pelvis ,which include the bladder , bowel and sexual function . Vast majority of the time I find that the cause of pelvic pain is due to a tight pelvic floor .Just like people develop “knots” in the shoulders due to stress ,people develop ” knots” in their pelvic floor muscles and when left untreated for long the knots can become bigger and can be the source of pain and part of pelvic floor dysfunction.
Is there a solution ? sure is ! That is pelvic physical therapy. Regular simple stretches for both hips and low back is a good place to start.
If stretches do not seem to relieve the pain , it might be time to visit a pelvic therapist to get a thorough evaluation and be treated by the findings on the evaluation .In my experience pelvic floor therapy is very effective in treating pelvic pain with good relife .Have you experienced pelvic pain ? please leave a comment below , let me know your thoughts.
