Pelvic Pain: A pain in the butt (literally)

So many people experience stress, anxiety, and depression. Beyond the effect that it can have on your mental health, it can also manifest physically in ways you didn’t even realize. In my experience treating pelvic floor disorders, the most common places people hold their stress is the neck, jaw, and pelvic floor! Most people tend to notice if their necks or jaws are flared up, however, most people are less aware of what’s going on at their pelvic floor. Chronic stress can lead to chronic pelvic floor overactivity, which can lead to a whole host of other issues such as pelvic pain, pain with sex, incontinence, low back/hip pain, and constipation. Most people don’t even realize the amount of tension in their pelvic floor muscles until these symptoms start popping up more and more frequently. 

Who gets pelvic pain? 

One question that I get all the time is “Only people who have had babies get issues like that, right?” ...wrong. Pelvic pain can happen to anyone, male or female, at any stage of life! It is especially relevant in young women, pre-/post-menopausal women, and people with chronically high stress levels. Pelvic pain also commonly occurs during pregnancy and the postpartum period. If you think that could be the cause of your pelvic pain, check out this for more information! 

Why does it happen?

There is a wide range of physiological issues that can result in a ‘pelvic pain’ diagnosis including painful periods, endometriosis, constipation, painful bladder syndrome, and vulvodynia. The main theme throughout all these issues is there is inflammation in the pelvic region, internally or externally, that puts the whole pelvic floor on ‘high alert’ causing the muscles to tense up and restrict blood flow to the area. With less blood flow, the muscles get fatigued, accumulate waste that doesn’t get cleared well, and fires inflammatory pain signals. If this happens every once in a while, you might feel some discomfort that improves once you relax. People with chronic conditions, however, aren’t so lucky. The repetitive inflammation wreaks havoc on the pelvic floor and makes it extremely difficult to let your pelvic floor relax. 

Your mental health can also play an important role in the state of your pelvic floor. Things like stress and anxiety can cause you to hold tension and bring inflammation to your pelvic floor. Depression causes increased sensitivity to inflammation and pain receptors that make someone more likely to experience chronic, higher levels of pain. There is also a connection between your pelvic floor and your mind that is obvious when you experience some sort of trauma. Trauma could mean anything from a natural disaster to sexual assault to childbirth. When you experience some form of trauma, your mind tends to shut down the pelvic floor as a protection mechanism and jump into the vicious cycle of inflammation and pain. 

Will it ever get better? 

What can you do to treat your pelvic pain but also increase your awareness of your pelvic floor? The answer is of course, Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy!! In pelvic floor PT, we help you calm down the inflammation and the ‘angry’ muscles of your pelvic floor using  intra-vaginal treatment techniques and other myofascial relaxation techniques. Once we are able to get your pain levels down is when your work starts! We will work on awareness of your pelvic floor as well as improving your strength and coordination. As you become more in tune with your pelvic floor, you will be able to sense any changes and use your skills from PT to keep yourself from getting back into that vicious cycle. Pelvic pain is a diagnosis that doesn’t have a  ‘quick fix’, but you can effectively improve and manage your symptoms with some effort and a great Pelvic Floor Physical Therapist to help you :)

If anything in this article relates to what you’ve experienced, reach out to us at contact@revitalize-pt.com  to get your free consultation with a pelvic floor PT.