The typical symptoms of menopause include hot flashes, lower energy, and a strain on emotional health, but other lesser-known symptoms include pelvic pain and pelvic floor dysfunction, affecting 57% of women experiencing menopause.
Menopausal pelvic pain is the result of hormonal changes in the body that are causing the vaginal walls to thin, become dry, and sometimes inflamed. Menopause can also cause pelvic floor dysfunction, as your muscles are no longer as plump as they used to be, tissues and nerves become more sensitive, and energy levels are decreasing.
While many women hear of and are familiar with the common symptoms associated with menopause, menopause can also affect the pelvic floor, resulting in pain and dysfunction, and is very common in women going through menopause.
The symptoms of pain and dysfunction associated with menopause are the direct effect of the hormonal and other changes happening in a womans’ body.
Hormone levels drop
Your muscles are not as plump due to low estrogen
Tissues become more sensitive, nerves become more sensitive
While the symptoms of pelvic pain due to menopause are usually caused by hormone changes, there are other factors which may increase the risk of pain and dysfunction in the pelvic floor.
Scar tissue as a result of abdominal-pelvic surgery such as C-Section
Fibroids
Endometriosis
Inflammatory bowel disease
Fibromyalgia
Depression or anxiety
Diagnosing the symptoms associated with menopausal pelvic pain requires an in-depth examination of both the nerves and muscles within the pelvis, learning of your medical history, and getting a full picture of your symptoms and lifestyle.
Here’s what you can expect when you are a patient at Pelvic Rehabilitation Medicine:
Step One – First, our providers will ask questions about your medical history and listen to your symptoms to get a full picture of what is going on with you.
Step Two – Next, an external exam of your hips, abdomen, and posterior sacrum.
Step Three – Next, your pelvic nerves are evaluated externally with a soft cotton tip.
Step Four – Next, with your consent, gel is placed on a gloved finger and an internal exam is performed to allow us to evaluate the nerves and muscles within the pelvis. There is no speculum required as we are evaluating the pelvic floor muscles and nerves not the organs.
Step Five – Sometimes patients will need Imaging to help us understand if there is an associated cause of the pelvic nerve and muscle pain and dysfunction found on exam.
Step Six – Oftentimes, treatment can be started the same day as there is no down time. Our patients have been suffering with pelvic pain symptoms for 6+ months. We like to get them on the road to feeling better as soon as we can as the longer the symptoms are present the harder it is for us to resolve them.
Once a proper diagnosis has been given, we offer a proprietary office-based procedure to treat the pelvic pain and pelvic floor dysfunction associated with menopause. This treatment consists of a series of pelvic nerve and muscle treatments to directly target the spastic pelvic floor muscles, inflammation in the pelvis, and nerve pain. Depending on the severity of your menopausal pelvic pain, other modalities may be needed in addition to our treatment.
Experiencing chronic pelvic pain and dysfunction during menopause can be debilitating and discouraging, but our team of pelvic pain specialists will listen to you, validate your experiences and symptoms, and partner with you on your rehabilitation journey.
With the PRM Protocol, patients can experience increased pelvic function and decreased pain.
Although many women do not talk about the pain and dysfunction they experience with menopause because they likely assume it is normal, it is very common, affecting 57% of women.
We recommend scheduling an appointment with one of our pelvic pain specialists if you have been experiencing pelvic pain and/or dysfunction for 6 months or longer.
With the PRM Protocol, endometriosis patients can experience increased pelvic function and decreased pain.
After the PRM Protocol 88% of patients stated they missed 0 days of work due to their pelvic pain in the last 3 months.
After the PRM Protocol 75% of patients stated their pelvic pain symptoms affected them 0 Hours per week while at work.
After the PRM Protocol 96% of patients did not need to go to the ER for their pelvic pain in the past 3 months.
75% of our patients note a statistically significant improvement in pain and function.
You’ll meet with one of our pelvic pain specialists, who focus solely on pelvic pain. We’ll start with reviewing your full health history, including a discussion of your symptoms. This will help us to understand what you’ve been experiencing, so we can work to identify the source of your pain.
Next, we’ll conduct a full pelvic exam. Externally, we will look at your hips, abdomen, and posterior sacrum. Internally, we will evaluate the nerves and the muscles within the pelvic area. This full exam is necessary , as it will help our pelvic pain specialists understand the connection between your symptoms, and your nerve and muscle pain and dysfunction. There is no speculum, so the exam is gentle and more comfortable than that of, for example, gynecological exams you may have experienced in the past.
We will discuss our findings with you and come up with a comprehensive treatment plan TOGETHER. We want you to know that your pain is validated and that we are here to work with you on getting you back to the life you deserve.
