Pelvic pain can signal many different problems, but they all have one thing in common: None of them will improve without treatment. The board-certified physicians at Midwest Women Obstetrician/Gynecologist Ltd in Downers Grove, Illinois, use up-to-date technology to identify the cause of your pelvic pain and provide integrative treatments that ease your symptoms. Don’t wait to seek help for pelvic pain; call the office or connect online and request an appointment today.

What causes pelvic pain?

Pelvic pain can begin in any tissue or organ below your belly button, including your reproductive and urinary systems and part of your digestive tract. You may also develop pelvic pain when the muscles or ligaments supporting the organs become injured or inflamed.

Sudden, severe pelvic pain that doesn’t improve or gets worse is a red flag alerting you to a health emergency that needs immediate attention. You may have an ectopic pregnancy, ruptured ovarian cysts, or an acute infection.

Gynecologic problems that cause chronic pelvic pain include:

• Endometriosis
• Uterine fibroids
• Adenomyosis
• Ovarian cysts
• Pelvic inflammatory disease
• Pelvic adhesions (scar tissue)

Your provider also treats pelvic pain caused by cystitis, a common urinary tract infection (UTI) affecting the bladder.

What symptoms accompany pelvic pain?

Your pain may range from mild to severe. You could have constant or occasional pain and experience a dull ache or sharp stabs of pain.

The gynecologic conditions responsible for pelvic pain cause other symptoms, including:

• Abnormal uterine bleeding
• Frequent urination
• Difficulty urinating
• Pain when urinating
• Abdominal bloating
• Pain before or during your periods
• Pain during or after sex
• Lower back pain

Endometriosis, the most common cause of pelvic pain, also causes infertility.

How is pelvic pain diagnosed?

Getting to the cause of your pelvic pain begins with a review of your medical history and a pelvic exam. Then your provider orders diagnostic tests, such as a blood workup and urinalysis. They often do an ultrasound to view your uterus, ovaries, and fallopian tubes.

How is pelvic pain treated?

Pelvic pain treatment typically begins with a combination of lifestyle changes and one of many possible medications, depending on your diagnosis. If your symptoms don’t improve, your provider may perform a minimally invasive laparoscopy or hysteroscopy.

During a laparoscopy, your provider makes a small incision in your abdomen and inserts a slender scope. The scope sends magnified images to a monitor, allowing them to examine your reproductive organs. They can use other small incisions and instruments to repair any problems they discover.

A hysteroscopy doesn’t need any incisions. Your provider examines and treats problems inside your uterus by guiding a slim instrument through your vagina and cervix and into the uterus.

Don’t keep suffering from pelvic pain. Call Midwest Women OB/GYN Ltd or book an appointment online today.