Want more iVillage? Sign up for our
Newsletters
Chronic Female Pelvic Pain - Cause
SYMPTOMS & TREATMENTS
If you have pelvic pain, your doctor will consider a broad range of possible causes. Female pelvic pain is typically caused by a medical condition involving the reproductive organs, muscles of the abdominal wall, urinary tract, or lower gastrointestinal tract. Some causes are always short-term (acute), and others can become long-lasting (chronic) unless successfully treated.
Female pelvic pain can be a difficult-to-solve medical mystery. Experts have yet to understand all possible causes of pelvic pain, particularly when it has become chronic. For this reason, some women have chronic female pelvic pain with no known cause, even after a lot of testing. This does not mean, though, that there isn't a cause behind the pain nor that there is no possible treatment.
Chronic pain with no diagnosable cause can occur in any part of the body. Long after a disease or injury has healed, nerves can continue firing pain signals (neuropathic pain). This is thought to be caused by an overloading of the nervous system by extreme or long-lasting pain. It also helps explain why it's fairly common for chronic pelvic pain to have no obvious cause.
Conditions that can cause acute pelvic pain include:
- Normal ovulation, which can cause brief ovary pain, or "mittelschmerz." This pain is cyclic, meaning that it happens once during each normal menstrual cycle.
- Ectopic pregnancy, which requires emergency treatment.
- Kidney stones, which can become chronic.
- Appendicitis, which requires immediate medical care.
- Functional ovarian cysts, which happen during a menstrual cycle.
- Urinary tract infection.
- Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) or tubo-ovarian abscess, which requires medical treatment.
- Sexually transmitted infections.
Conditions that can cause chronic pelvic pain include:
- Endometriosis, the growth of uterine lining (endometrial) tissue outside of the uterus, which often causes cyclic pain and bleeding.
- Adenomyosis, the growth of endometrial tissue into the uterine muscle, which can cause cyclic pain and bleeding.
- Noncancerous (benign) tumors of the uterus, such
as:
- Uterine fibroids.
- Endometrial polyps.
- Scar tissue (adhesions) in the abdomen and pelvis, typically caused by pelvic inflammatory disease, radiation treatment of the pelvis, or pelvic or abdominal surgery.
- Bowel problems, such as irritable bowel syndrome.
- Physical or sexual abuse in the recent or distant past. (Though poorly understood, combined emotional and physical trauma are thought to cause chronic pain or make it worse.1)
- Urinary tract problems, such as bladder inflammation (chronic interstitial cystitis).
- Pelvic organ cancers.
- Structural problems with the uterus.
- Muscle spasm or pain in the lower abdominal wall muscles ("trigger points"). This is sometimes linked to past surgery in that area.
- Congestion of the pelvic veins.
| By: | Healthwise Staff | Last Revised: January 11, 2011 |
| Medical Review: | Sarah Marshall, MD - Family Medicine Kirtly Jones, MD - Obstetrics and Gynecology | |
© 1995-2011 Healthwise, Incorporated. Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated. This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise, Incorporated disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use. How this information was developed to help you make better health decisions.
Welcome to Care Circle, an exclusive tool to help you take care of yourself and your loved ones. Here's how it works:
- Create profiles for yourself and your loved ones.
- Select the topics and conditions that interest each of you.
- Get customized news updates, original content, tools, and expert advice for each Care Circle member delivered directly to your personalized homepage.
The information you input is strictly private; you choose who has access to your Care Circle.
How do I add myself or someone else to my care circle?
Click on "Add someone." Fill out the short profile. Choose an avatar. Select the topics and conditions that interest this person from the pulldown menu. You can select as many as you want, but you must choose at least one. Click on "Add Someone" again. You should start getting updates immediately.
How do I save content to my Care Circle?
Click on "Manage My Care Circle." Select the tab of the person for whom you're saving content. Put your cursor over the piece of content that you want to save; a disk icon will appear in the righthand corner. Click on the disk and the piece of content will be moved to a save folder.
How do I add additional topics and conditions for someone in my Care Circle?
Click on "Manage My Care Circle." Select the tab for the person whose preferences you'd like to update. Under "Add More to Follow," select additional topics and conditions.
How do I delete topics and conditions for someone in my Care Circle?
Click on "Manage My Care Circle." Select the tab for the person whose preferences you'd like to update. Under "Follows," scroll over the topic or condition you want to delete. An "X" should appear on the righthand side. Click on the "X" and the topic or condition will be deleted from the list.
To manage your Care Circle, Please
Sign In.
from
- Facebook is now fueling organ donations
- Military women and suicide: Home safe but not sound
- Still in gear: Injuries don’t stop veterans on 100-day bike trek
- Ask Jenna: I've hit a weight loss plateau. What do I do?
- He poses in a tutu to laugh in face of wife's cancer
- After chemo hair loss, 'henna crowns' help heal
The iVillage Network