Pelvic Pain

Pelvic Pain

Pelvic pain is usually referred to when there is pain in the pelvic region, i.e. below the umbilicus (belly button) but above the top of the legs. It is reported to occur in 14.8% of UK women. It can also occur in men with reported figures being 2-10% internationally. Pain may be felt in the lower tummy, the pubic bone, vagina, penis, anus, tail bone, lower back and buttocks.

Pelvic pain may be associated with conditions such as:

bladder pain syndrome,
interstitial cystitis,
IBS,
endometriosis,
vulvodynia or
chronic prostatitis.

However, quite often a specific cause for pain is not found.

The Pain can be influenced by how the muscles, ligaments and joints around the pelvis are working. It can also be affected by our stress levels, anxiety, quality of sleep, diet, exercise, work satisfaction and our relationships with family and friends.

If you have had pelvic pain for more than 6 months, it is usually referred to as chronic or persistent pelvic pain. We advise that initially you are checked by your GP to make sure there is no specific medical condition that needs to be treated such as a bladder or bowel infection, problems with your prostate, the possibility of undiagnosed endometriosis. If this has been excluded, we recommend an appointment with a specialist Pelvic Health physiotherapist who is experienced in treating pelvic pain.

Pelvic pain can be treated very effectively by physiotherapy.

Treatment includes:

making sure that the muscles, ligaments and joints in the pelvic area are working as well as possible (this may be through hands on treatment by your physiotherapist and/or in the form of home exercises).
Understanding how pain works and your own personal factors that trigger your pain, making sure that diet, exercise, sleep, stress, anxiety are as well managed as possible

Here at Park Physiotherapy, we have Specialist Pelvic Health Physiotherapist; Gemma Barnes BSc(Hons) MSc MCSP MPOGP MAACP, who is experienced in treating pelvic pain.

So please do get in touch.

Further information/ links

www.pelvicpain.org

www.vulvalpainsociety.org

www.endometriosis-uk.org

https://www.bladderhealthuk.org/

Prostate Cancer UK

https://www.pelvicpainmatters.com/

Nicola Vineyard qualified at Pinderfields College, Wakefield, West Yorkshire in 1985. After working in Mundesley Rehabilitation Hospital in Norfolk for a time, she moved back to her home in Essex.
She then started work in the East London area working for the NHS at Newham General Hospital and Barking Hospital. Here she gained a sound knowledge of all aspects of physiotherapy both inpatient and outpatients She also worked in the London Chest Hospital for a short period of time being involved with all respiratory treatments including post cardio- thoracic surgery rehab.

Nicola realised quite quickly in her career that she had a love of outpatient treatments as this enabled her to work closely with patients providing effective treatments and rehabilitation programmes. Due to her love of sports injuries she became involved with the Metropolitan Police sports Club in Essex treating the rugby and football teams. For several years she was involved with the London Youth Games, treating injuries sustained in the varied sports by the young athletes.

After working in a private hospital in London for several years she opened up her own practice in Essex in 1991 specialising in musculo-skeletal Physiotherapy and Acupuncture. The workload was varied; from sports injuries, biomechanical, muscle, joint, ligament and tendon problems to post-surgical orthopaedic treatments, treating both young and old.

She built up a close relationship with London Consultants in all orthopaedic specialisations sitting in on their clinics and attending surgery to observe operations at first hand. This enabled her to have a clearer understanding of the patients’ needs and therefore providing a more efficient and effective treatment programme.

Nicola feels a physiotherapist is like a detective. The body is wonderful, complicated and finely tuned. A physiotherapist must take a holistic approach to each individual. They must question and examine the patient thoroughly and then having all the clues in place come to a conclusion resulting in the best possible plan of treatment.
Nicola enjoys all aspect of physiotherapy but has a keen interest in acute sports injuries especially foot and knee injuries. She encourages her patients to use video imagery in clinic to help them understand good and bad postural habits and to have a record and clearer understanding of the exercises taught. She also uses taping techniques to offload injured areas as well using it to help reinforce correct postural positioning of the body both during activity or at rest.

Nicola moved to Norfolk and joined the Park Physiotherapy team in September 2016. As a member of Physio First, Nicola achieved Quality Assured Practitioner status in 2018 and continues to maintain this.