Common Chronic Pelvic Pain Treatments

When you have chronic pelvic pain, getting the right treatment is crucial to your quality of life. Unfortunately, because there are so many potential causes of chronic pelvic pain, and because pelvic pain often takes trial and error to diagnose, finding the right chronic pelvic pain treatment can take time and patience.

If you have chronic pelvic pain, here are some of the more common treatments you can expect, organized by diagnosis.

Women’s Chronic Pelvic Pain Treatments

The most common treatments for women’s chronic pelvic pain include:

• Hormone therapy, such as birth control pills or progesterone
• Antibiotic therapy (generally reserved for pelvic inflammatory disease)
• Over-the-counter painkillers, such as NSAIDs or acetaminophen
• Prescription pain control, such as anticonvulsants, antidepressants or opioids
• Physical therapy for pelvic stability
• Surgical intervention, such as laparoscopy or hysterectomy

Treatments may be used alone, or in a combination, depending on your exact diagnosis.

Men’s Chronic Pelvic Pain Treatment

Men’s chronic pelvic pain is often caused by prostatitis. Treatment depends on the severity of prostate pain, as well as its cause (usually bacterial, or undetermined). The common treatments for men’s chronic pelvic pain include:

• Antibiotics, such as Floxin and Cipro
• Alpha-blockers, such as Flomax
• Muscle relaxants, such as Flexeril
• NSAIDs
• Anticholinergics, such as Oxybutynin
• Surgical interventions, such as a transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) or radical prostatectomy

Treatment for Chronic Pelvic Nerve Pain

Chronic pelvic pain caused by nerve dysfunction is often frustrating and difficult to treat. Most researchers suggest using more than one treatment approach at a time to control the symptoms of chronic pelvic nerve pain. Some of the most common treatments include:

• Pain medications, such as NSAIDs and opioids
• Adjuvant analgesics for neuropathic pain, such as tricyclic antidepressants and anticonvulsants
• Nerve blocks
• Surgery, such as pelvic nerve ablation or sacral neuromodulation

Coping with Chronic Pelvic Pain

Because an exact diagnosis and appropriate treatment can be difficult to pinpoint, learning to cope with chronic pelvic pain is crucial to maintaining your quality of life. Check out the following articles for guidelines on coping with a chronic pain diagnosis:

• I Have Chronic Pain, Now What?
• Coping With Pain Anxiety
• What Makes Your Pain Worse?

Sometimes talking about it with someone who understands can help. Check out the chronic pain forum, and introduce yourself to your peers.

_Sources:

_{Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Pelvic Inflammatory Disease - CDC Fact Sheet. Accessed 8/26/09. http://www.cdc.gov/std/PID/STDFact-PID.htm}

_{The Merck Manuals Online Medical Library. Uterine Fibroids. Accessed 8/26/09. http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec18/ch248/ch248a.html}

_{Mitchell DA, Esler DM. Pelvic Instability - Painful Pelvic Girdle in Pregnancy. Australian Family Physician. 2009 Jun;38(6):409-10}

_{National Guideline Clearinghouse. General Treatment of Chronic Pelvic Pain. Accessed 9/1/09. http://www.guideline.gov/summary/summary.aspx?doc_id=12612}

_{National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. What is Endometriosis? Accessed 8/26/09. http://www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/pubs/endometriosis/sub2.cfm#what}

_{Stones W, Cheong YC, Howard FM. Interventions for Treating Chronic Pelvic Pain in Women. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2007, Issue 4. Art. No.: CD000387. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD000387.}

_{Wagenlehner Florian ME, et al. Prostatitis and Male Pelvic Pain Syndrome: Diagnosis and Treatment. Deutsches Arzteblatt International. 2009 March; 106(11): 175–183}