PELVIC PAIN CONDITIONS

Persistent or chronic pelvic pain is very debilitating for women and men. Persistent pain can affect a person’s ability to work, affect their relationships and decrease their sense of well-being. Changes in approaching the management of persistent pain has occurred by adapting the work of the Adelaide physiotherapists and pain researchers, Lorimer Moseley and David Butler and incorporates the importance of the brain in understanding about the perpetuation of pain.

Central sensitization of pain (or central pain mechanisms) means that rather than only focusing on the ‘peripheral organ’ (the vagina, the bladder, the bowel or the ano-rectal region etc) we are now looking at a multi-dimensional approach to treatment, which importantly, includes the brain. It is very helpful to go to a link of a blog I have collated of many pain-related articles to help you understand this brain/pain link before the initial appointment. It can be quite a shock to you to hear your physiotherapist talking about the brain, when your pain is in your vagina, your coccyx, your anus or another part of the pelvic region, and having pre-read some or all of the links can set you up for a greater understanding immediately.

Be reassured that our pelvic health physiotherapists will be listening carefully to your story, assessing your pelvic floor and other areas that may be implicated in your pain (such as your thoraco-lumbar spine, pelvic nerves) and giving you an individualised treatment plan and home programme to help you not only manage your pain more effectively, but also hopefully return to a pain-free life.

Should COVID restrictions suddenly change, or you are unwell on the day of your appointment or you are not in Brisbane and are unable to attend the rooms, you can book a one-on-one Telehealth consultation. Either a face-to-face appointment or a Telehealth appointment takes up to 1.5 hours with education a key component of the initial appointment. Your physiotherapist may suggest vaginal dilators (a treatment modality used for graded exposure to having something in the vagina and also to massage muscle tightness in the pelvic floor muscles) and these are available to purchase at the rooms for an extra cost on top of the consultation.