7 Pelvic Pains That You Should Never Ignore and What They Mean for Your Health

Our bodies are both wondrous and frustrating at the same time. For women, weird pains in the pelvic region are easy to dismiss as being cramps or normal “women’s stuff”. When it keeps happening, it may be time to have it checked out.

While appendicitis or complications from a pregnancy can cause pelvic pain, their symptoms are typically more pronounced and easier to pinpoint. There are a cluster of organs located in the pelvic region that can be linked to a variety of ailments.

A number of urological or gynecological issues could be present that require the intervention of a medical professional. If you’ve been dealing with intermittent or ongoing pelvic pain, one of these conditions could be the culprit. Visit your health care provider for an exam!

  1. Endometriosis

    Pain associated with endometriosis is usually heightened during menstruation, but for some women it occurs during any time. Endometriosis is the result of tissue growing outside of the uterus’s lining in other parts of the body, including the ovaries, bladder, or fallopian tubes.

    Women have described debilitating pain that feels like stabbing, crushing, or unbearable cramps. Pain may also be felt after intercourse.

  2. Cysts

    Your body produces an ovarian cyst (called physiological) during the normal stages of menstruation and ovulation. When you ovulate, you may feel some pain. However, there are other types of ovarian cysts that can grow within the ovaries and cause pain, discomfort, or dysfunction in the reproductive system.

    Ovarian cysts will either disappear on their own, require monitoring for signs of abnormality, or need to be surgically removed.

  3. UTI

    A urinary tract infection is one of the most common causes of pelvic pain in women. It may or may not be accompanied by other symptoms such as painful urination, an excessive urge to urinate, cloudy urine, or fever.

  4. Fibroids

    Though typically benign, fibroid tumors can grow so large that they cause pelvic pain and pressure, abnormal bleeding, heavy flow, or leg pain. Pain from fibroids may come and go or be consistent, and can become noticeable after sex, exercise, menstruation, or a bowel movement.

    Treatment may involve pain relief or surgery. Many tend to shrink after menopause.

  5. STI

    Sexually transmitted infections can cause the pelvic region to become inflamed unless they are treated. Chlamydia and gonorrhea are usually behind pelvic pain, but other non-sexual infections could also lead to pelvic inflammation and pain. All require medical treatment – typically with antibiotics – to resolve.

  6. Interstitial Cystitis

    In layman’s terms, this is a condition that causes inflammation in the bladder; most of the time there is no infection present. The pain can be excruciating and last for weeks or months at a time, or it can be intermittent, feeling like pressure or a small bout of pain.

    Symptoms may be mild or resemble those of a UTI. Women may also feel pain before urination or after intercourse. Treatment may entail medication, physical therapy, surgery, nerve therapies, or alternative methods.

  7. Kidney Stones

    Along with bladder infections/UTIs, women may have pelvic pain as a result of kidney stones. When a crystallized stone travels from the kidney through the urinary tract, it can cause problems while trying to pass. Pain may be sharp and last for hours or days, or be accompanied with back pain.

    If you have this type of pain, or fever, pink/red urine, or painful urination, seek immediate medical attention.

 

Not every case of pelvic pain warrants requires urgent or immediate care, but it is important to have your symptoms vetted by a physician to rule out anything serious. Don’t ignore the pain because it won’t go away.

Do you have chronic pelvic pain associated with one of these conditions or another not mentioned? How long did you deal with it before seeing a doctor?

Sources:

OBGYN.net

WebMD