If you’re struggling with chronic pelvic pain, the first thing we want you to know is that you’re far from alone. The reality is that hundreds of millions of women are in the same boat — about 26% of women around the world report chronic pelvic pain.
The next thing we want you to know about chronic pelvic pain is that it’s not confined to reproductive issues since your lower digestive tract and urinary tract share the same space.
That said, getting an evaluation with a women’s health care provider is a great place to start, and that’s where board-certified OB/GYN Dr. Fernando Otero and the team at Women’s Clinic of the Rio Grande Valley can help. Here, we get into what we typically do during a chronic pelvic pain evaluation, as well as some of the common culprits behind the issue.
As we mentioned, one of the biggest challenges when it comes to chronic pelvic pain is identifying where it comes from since your pelvis houses several different systems, including your:
When it comes to reproductive issues that lead to chronic pelvic pain, which is pain that lasts for 3-6 months or more, some of the more common causes include:
Again, this is just a sample list, and we present it to give you an idea of the wide range of potential gynecologic issues that can lead to ongoing pelvic pain.
When a patient schedules an appointment with us for help with chronic pelvic pain, we know to carve out ample time to perform an extensive evaluation. This assessment includes:
The first thing we do is discuss your symptoms, which often guide us in determining the next steps in the evaluation. We might ask about the nature and location of the pain, including whether it comes and goes and how severe it is when it occurs.
We also get into whether there are other symptoms, such as vaginal discharge or other accompanying symptoms. Bear in mind, we want to hear about any abnormalities, even if they seem like they’re not connected.
Next, we’ll discuss your medical history, which can hold some clues when it comes to chronic pelvic pain.
Based on our review of your symptoms and medical history, we typically perform a pelvic exam. This exam will help build our information and guide us moving forward.
Often, we’ll order up additional testing, such as a transvaginal ultrasound, an MRI, and/or lab tests. We might also schedule you for a hysteroscopy so that we can get a better view of your uterus.
Armed with all of this information, our goal is to get you closer to a definitive diagnosis of your pelvic pain. If we find that it’s unlikely to be gynecologic, we can point you in the right direction for medical help, which typically means seeing a gastroenterologist or urologist.
If we do find a reproductive issue, we can get started right away on relieving your pelvic pain.
To go ahead and schedule your chronic pelvic pain evaluation so that you can get on the road to relief, please contact one of our offices in McAllen or Edinburg, Texas.
