Pelvic & Sexual Pain
Many women experience dyspareunia (pain during sex) or pain when undergoing a PAP smear and find it difficult to insert a tampon. It’s also common to experience pelvic or lower abdominal pain, tailbone or coccyx pain that makes it difficult to sit.
Pelvic pain is a hidden problem – it can’t be seen, it’s hard to diagnose and women often suffer for many years before finding help. Sexual and vulval pain is very distressing, both physically and emotionally.
If you have difficulty relaxing your pelvic floor muscles, sex can be painful. Sometimes these muscles spasm involuntarily in anticipation of pain or penetration. Tense, tight or overactive muscles can lead to ongoing pelvic, vulval, coccyx and bladder pain.
You may have been diagnosed with vaginismus, vulvodynia, endometriosis, pudendal neuralgia, painful bladder syndrome or coccydynia. In all of these conditions the overactive pelvic floor muscles are often painful.
- Painful sex
- Pain using a tampon & having a PAP smear
- Involuntary pelvic floor spasm
- Vulval pain with sitting & tight clothing
- Painful periods
- Pain with full bladder
- General chronic pelvic pain that may be related to endometriosis
- Tail bone or coccyx pain
- Tense, tight pelvic floor muscles
- Over training of core / abdominal muscles
- Irritation, injury or compression of a nerve
- Recurrent infections e.g. thrush
- Inflammatory conditions of the skin and vulva
- Hormonal changes associated with menopause or breastfeeding
- Genetic factors
- Psychological factors such as mood, relationship issues or past abuse
- Vestibulodynia
- Endometriosis
- Pudendal Neuralgia
- Bladder Pain Syndrome
- Pelvic Girdle Pain
- Lower Back Pain
- Vulvodynia
- Coccydynia
- Interstital Cystitis
- Painful periods
- Persistent Pelvic Pain
- Vaginismus
- Don’t put up with it
- Manage your stress
- Eat well and exercise consistently
- Try body scanning and imagine the softening/letting go of the pelvic floor muscles
- Visit a Women’s and Pelvic Health Physiotherapist!
What Can Embrace Physiotherapy Do for You?
- Conduct a thorough assessment to establish your goals, pelvic floor requirements and treatment plan
- Design of a personalised pelvic floor muscle exercise program to relax and release your overactive pelvic floor muscles
- Touch desensitisation and / or manual therapy techniques to relieve the pelvic floor muscle pain
- Use of vaginal trainers
- Support to understand the relationship between your pain and emotional and physical health
