Pelvic Pain
Diagnosing Pelvic Pain
Your health care provider will do tests based on your signs and symptoms. Many tests may be done to diagnose or “rule out” disorders and diseases that may be causing your pain. Your health care provider may do one or more of the following to help diagnose the cause of your pelvic pain:
Learning the cause of your chronic pelvic pain may be a process of elimination. If you are like most people with chronic pelvic pain, you have talked to many health care providers about your pain. It may be frustrating to repeat the information, but it is important to provide as much information as possible. Keeping a list of details about your pain may help. The National Pain Foundation has a Personal Pain Journal where you can write down all the details of your pain history. It has spaces to write information about where you hurt, when the pain began and the types of treatment you have tried. Showing your Personal Pain Inventory to your health care provider can help you work together to diagnose your problem and/or to design the best pain management plan.
- Pelvic exam – A pelvic exam helps your health care provider know if you have an infection, abnormal growth or tension in the pelvic floor muscles. He or she also will check for changes in sensation in your skin and for tender areas.
- Cultures – The health care provider may check for infection by taking samples of cells from a woman’s cervix or vagina. He or she may take a urine sample.
- Laparoscopy, cystoscopy, sigmoidoscopy – During these surgical procedures, your health care provider uses a tiny lighted camera to look inside your pelvic cavity. He or she will look for abnormal tissue, growths and/or infection in the organs of your pelvis.Imaging studies - These studies include x-rays, ultrasound, CT scan and MRI. These tests may help your health care provider see if your anatomy is normal or if there are any abnormal growths.
- Tests of bladder and rectal functionb – “Urodynamic testing” is done to see how well your bladder holds and releases urine. It also tests to see how well your urethra and urinary sphincters work. “Anal manometry” is a test to see how well the muscles around the anus are working.
- Nerve conduction tests – These tests may be done to see how well your nerves pass information to each other and to learn how much nerve damage you might have.
Bring Written Records to Your Appointments
Learning the cause of your chronic pelvic pain may be a process of elimination. If you are like most people with chronic pelvic pain, you have talked to many health care providers about your pain. It may be frustrating to repeat the information, but it is important to provide as much information as possible. Keeping a list of details about your pain may help. The National Pain Foundation has a Personal Pain Journal where you can write down all the details of your pain history. It has spaces to write information about where you hurt, when the pain began and the types of treatment you have tried. Showing your Personal Pain Inventory to your health care provider can help you work together to diagnose your problem and/or to design the best pain management plan.