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Introduction:
Chronic pelvic pain may be a steady pain or a pain that comes and goes, perhaps
with a woman's menstrual cycle. The pain may be bad enough to interfere with
normal daily activities. Pelvic pain that has lasted for at least 6 months is
considered chronic.
Causes of Chronic Pelvic Pain:
If you have chronic pelvic pain, you may have a problem with something located
in the pelvic area. However, your doctor will check for other possible sources
for your pain. Pelvic pain during sexual intercourse, for example, may be a
sign of a medical condition like endometriosis, irritable bowel syndrome or
urethritis, or it may be related to past or present sexual abuse.
Chronic pelvic pain can be intermittent or constant. Intermittent chronic
pelvic pain usually has a specific cause, while constant pelvic pain may be the
result of more than one problem. A common example of chronic pelvic pain is
dysmenorrhea or menstrual cramps. Other causes of chronic pelvic pain include
endometriosis, adenomyosis, and ovulation pain. Sometimes an illness starts
with intermittent pelvic pain that becomes constant over time, this is often a
signal that the problem has become worse. A change in the intensity of pelvic
pain can also be due to a woman's ability to cope with pain becoming lessened
causing the pain to feel more severe even though the underlying cause has not
worsened.
Women who have had surgery or serious illness such as PID, endometriosis, or
severe infections sometimes experience chronic pelvic pain as a result of
adhesions or scar tissue that forms during the healing process. Adhesions cause
the surfaces of organs and structures inside the abdomen to bind to each other.
Fibroid tumors (a non-cancerous, benign growth from the muscle of the uterus)
often have no symptoms; however when symptoms do appear they can include pelvic
pain or pressure, as well as menstrual abnormalities.
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