My Treatment: Pelvic Pain - Treatment Options: Physical Therapy

Pelvic Pain Physical Therapy

Physical therapy has been shown to be effective in helping pelvic pain. Patients with chronic pelvic pain require intervention secondary to the myofascial (muscle) component. It has been shown that, with the use of internal manual massage, approximately 70% of patients will have a significant improvement of pain with physical therapy targeting the pelvic floor (pelvic floor hypertonus) specifically helpful in patients with urgency/frequency syndrome and interstitial cystitis.¹

In patients with levator ani syndrome (spasm of the muscles surrounding the rectum, vagina, and urethra), the use of electrical stimulation has reported success rates of 80-90%.²

References:

Weiss J. Pelvic floor myofascial trigger points: manual therapy for interstitial cystitis and the urgency frequency syndrome. J Urol 2001;166(6): 2226-2231.

Sohn, N, Weinstein, MA, Robbins RD. The levator syndrome and its treatment with high voltage electrogalvanic stimulation. Amer J Surgery 1982;144(5):580-582.