Women who suffer from pelvic pain often get misdiagnosed or under-diagnosed by their doctors. These women are often told after their pelvic exams that their “pain is in their head” or “go home and have a glass of wine and relax.” What’s even more disturbing is that recent research has shown that women who suffer from pelvic and sexual pain can see as many 5-6 doctors before being properly diagnosed. Oftentimes they get misdiagnosed as having low back pain, sciatica and or hip pain.
Fortunately, women with pelvic pain are benefiting from articles such as the one written by Ruben Castaneda from Us News and World Report “ 7 Ways Pain Is SometimesMisdiagnosed”. This is an excellent read for all women, especially those who suffer from pelvic painand I was happy to contribute to it and to help bring awareness to a topic that is often brushed under the carpet and is often overlooked and misdiagnosed. There are many reasons why modern medicine is still in the dark ages and the main culprit here is a lack of education on the doctor’s part.
OB/GYN’s are on the front lines of this silent epidemic that affects 30 million in the United States alone and yet many of them are ill-equipped and get very little training on how to diagnose pelvic pain and pelvic floor dysfunction. The truth is that this type of evaluation is not taught in medical school and many doctors. This lack of education on the doctor’s part is what leads women going from one doctor to another searching for answers. I call “doctor road show” and it leaves women feeling hopeless and distressed.
Pelvic pain often involves a dysfunction in the pelvic floor muscles.
These muscles are a conductor between the upper and lower extremity and are deeply connected to the uterus, bladder, rectum and intestines. So when the pelvic floor muscles are not functioning properly the symptoms wide from constipation to painful sex, incontinence, weak/nonexistent orgasms and or pelvic organ prolapse.
Needless to say many women go from one doctor another in search of answers only to fall short. The only thing that modern medicine can offer these women is medications, surgeries and even vaginal injections. These medical interventions carry serious side effects that are worse then the symptoms than the woman is suffering from. That catch here is that most women can resolved their symptoms with integrative and holistic therapies such as pelvic floor physical therapy that includes intra-vaginal massages, stretching and strengthening exercises focused on the pelvic floor muscles.
Click here to read this articlefrom US News and World Report
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