Did you suffer from abdominal and pelvic pain before?
Did you suffer from abdominal and pelvic pain before?
Abdominal and pelvic pain
Abdominal and pelvic pain occurs mostly in the lower abdomen area, and the pain may be constant, or temporary, coming and going.
It can be excruciating, stabbing pain in a specific spot, or a dull pain that spreads, knowing that if this pain is severe, it may lead to a disability in your daily activity.
If you’re a woman, you might feel the pain in the following cases:
- During your menstrual period, it can also occur when you have intercourse.
- Pelvic pain may be a sign of a problem with an organ in your pelvic area, such as the uterus, ovaries, fallopian tube, cervix, or vagina.
If you’re a man:
- The reason can be problem with the prostate.
For men and women:
- It could be a symptom of infection, or a problem with the urinary system, lower intestine, rectum, muscles, or bones.
- Some women have more than one cause for pelvic pain at the same time.
- You may have to do lab, imaging, or other medical tests to find out the cause of the pain, and treatment depends on the cause, how bad the pain is, and how frequent it occurs.
Disease Symptoms
- Determine the characteristics of pain including the start, duration, location, quality, radiation, aggravating and relieving factors.
- The medical history should include questions about:
- Gastrointestinal symptoms (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation)
- Urinary tract symptoms (dysuria, hematuria, frequency and urgency)
- gynecological symptoms (vaginal bleeding, secretion,
- dyspareunia, menstrual cycle history).
- We should not rely on the date of sexual activity and the date of menstruation to exclude pregnancy.
- Obtaining the past medical, surgical and family history, as well as the details of pregnancy and previous results.
- Active lactation and use of medication, including specific birth control methods, should be part of the medical history.
- Ask about infertility treatments, because ovulation-inducing treatments increase the risk of ovarian torsion, cysts, and Ovarian HyperStimulation Syndrome (OHSS).
- When obtaining a sexual and social history, it is wise to interview the patient alone, which may help patients feel more comfortable discussing topics that may be sensitive or embarrassing.
- Ask about risk factors for pelvic inflammatory disease, including unprotected sexual intercourse, previous sexually transmitted infections, and multiple sexual partners.
- While the patient is alone, ask about safety at home, and assess any potential abusive situations. Patients with a history of physical and sexual abuse may present with a variety of physical complaints, including abdominal and pelvic pain, and this pain is often chronic in nature.
- Social history should include the living status, profession, and personal habits (tobacco, alcohol, and drugs usage).
Disease Causes
There are many possible causes for pelvic pain, and it can be difficult to know the specific cause or causes.
- Pelvic pain can be a result of multiple causes occurring at the same time.
- A person with one chronic pain condition is at increased risk for other types of chronic pain.
- In many cases, pelvic pain indicates a problem with one or more organs in the pelvic area, such as “the uterus, vagina, intestines, or bladder.” These problems may include “infection, inflammation, or conditions such as endometriosis.”
- The severity of the pelvic pain for a woman may not be associated with the seriousness of the problem or the condition that causes pain. For example, a woman who has only small areas from endometritis may have severe pain.
The following health problems can cause or contribute to pelvic pain
- Adhesions: They can form as a result of surgery or infections, such as pelvic inflammatory disease. There is disagreement about whether adhesions can cause pain. It is also assumed that pain may occur when adhesions prevent the normal movement of internal organs, such as the intestines.
- Endometriosis: This condition occurs when the tissues that usually grow inside the uterus grow elsewhere in the body, usually in other parts of the pelvis, i.e. outside the uterus, ovaries, or the fallopian tube.
- Knowing that the most common symptoms of endometriosis are pain and infertility.
- interstitial cystitis: It is the Bladder Pain Syndrome, and this syndrome is associated with pain in the bladder area as well as the need to urinate repeatedly and urgently. This pain may be burning or severe pain in the bladder or at the opening where the urine leaves the body (urethra), often relieved it by emptying the bladder.
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome: This syndrome is a problem with the digestive system that can cause pain, bloating, constipation or diarrhea. Researchers have not yet found a specific cause for irritable bowel syndrome, but stress or some foods may lead to symptoms in some people.
- Pelvic floor disorders: These disorders occur when muscles and connective tissues that keep the pelvic organs in place get weaker or are infected, as occurs during childbirth, these organs include uterine, bladder and rectum.
- Pelvic floor disorders can cause discomfort in addition to functional problems, such as uncontrolled urine loss (urinary incontinence) or stool (stool incontinence), with pelvic floor disorders, pain may also occur due to cramps or an increase in the weight of the pelvic floor muscles.
- Uterine Fibroids: Uterine fibroids that form from an overgrowth of muscle cells within the wall of the uterus, these non-cancerous tumors may cause heavy, irregular or painful periods and local pressure symptoms, including frequent urination, trouble defecation and lower back pain.
- Female genitals infection: This condition involves pain or discomfort from vulva (external female genital organs), especially during intercourse.
- The pain may range from acute pain, heartburn and itching, although the pain of vulva is outside the pelvis, but doctors who see patients with pelvic pain may also be have this disorder.
Medical care
- Pelvic pain often responds to analgesic pain medications (pain killers), but make sure to check with your doctor before taking any type of analgesics during pregnancy.
- In some cases, rest helps reduce the felling of pain, and in other cases, gentle movement and light exercises will be more useful.
Try these advices
- Put a hot water bottle on your stomach to see if this helps relieve the cramps or take a warm bath.
- Raise your legs a little, this may help relieve pelvic pain and pain that affects the lower back or thighs.
- Try yoga and meditation, which can also be beneficial to practice regularly in pain management.
- You can get some prescriptions after consulting a doctor or some herbal remedies, which can help reduce the pain.
When do you need medical help?
Pelvic pain is a common condition in women with a wide range of causes. It can be chronic or acute.
Pelvic pain often responds to home remedies and medications, however, it can be caused by many serious conditions that require a doctor’s immediate care.
So it’s always a good idea to see a doctor if you have pelvic pain, Especially if this happens regularly, as tests are carried out to find out the cause.
How is the disease diagnosed?
The disease is diagnosed by knowing the cause of the pain. The private doctor will do the following:
- Ask questions about the description of the pain and its medical history. And perform a physical examination.
- The doctor will examine the abdomen and pelvis, examining the organs, muscles, and tissues in the pelvic area for abnormalities that indicate a pain disorder.
The information your doctor gathers from questions and physical exam will help the doctor determine if additional tests or procedures are needed to help diagnose the cause of your pelvic pain.
These tests or procedures may include:
- Laboratory tests, such as blood or urine test.
- The ultrasound of the pelvis, a procedure that uses sound waves to look at organs and skeletons within the pelvic area.
- Pelvic endoscopy, which is a simple process in which the doctor inserts a display tool called the abdominal endoscope through small pieces of the skin below the belly button to look inside the pelvis.
- Examination (MRI), a test of photography that uses strong magnets and radio waves to create pelvic images.
- Cystoscopy, i.e. looking at the bladder by inserting a display tool.
- Colonoscopy, i.e. looking at the intestine by inserting the viewing tool.
Finding the cause of pelvic pain can be difficult and may take some time, as some people with abdominal and pelvic pain must consult more than one doctor or specialist to get help with their pain.
Sometimes the cause of the pain is not found, but the failure to identify the cause doesn’t mean that the pain you’re feeling isn’t real or that it can’t be treated.
How is the disease treated?
Treatment for abdominal and pelvic pain depends on the likely cause of your pain. Some types of pain can be treated simply with medications that you can buy from a pharmacist, such as painkillers, but others may require hospitalization.
References:
- Healthline, translation of (What Causes Pelvic Pain in Women 10/October/2019, Electronic Version available at:
- MedlinePlus, translation of (Pelvic Pain) 4/August/2016, Electronic Version available at:
- NIH, translation of (What Are The Symptoms Of Pelvic Pain), 31/January/2017, Electronic Version available at:
Additional References:
- Different causes of pelvic pain
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- Chronic pelvic pain for women
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