Most Common Causes of Pelvic Pain

Chronic pelvic pain, defined as lasting six months or longer, affects 15-32% of women of childbearing age around the world. The pain may result from any number of causes, but they all lead to the same endpoint — moodiness, depression, and a constant feeling of being at odds with your body.

But regardless of cause, pelvic pain isn’t something you should ignore. It’s important to get a professional diagnosis so you can receive effective treatment.

At Urology Specialists of Cypress in Cypress, Texas, Dr. James Stocks and his team know that pelvic pain is one of the most common complaints in women at their office, which is why they specialize in treatments that can address its many root causes. Here’s what you need to know.

What leads to pelvic pain?

Pelvic pain can be acute (sudden onset but short-lived) or chronic, is caused by a range of conditions, and may involve your reproductive organs, digestive system, and/or urinary system. Common urological causes include:

Interstitial cystitis (IC)

IC is a chronic, painful bladder issue that causes pressure, pain in the bladder, and sometimes pain in the pelvis. Normally, the bladder expands with urine until it’s full, then signals the brain you need to urinate. With IC, the bladder wall becomes inflamed, which can lead to inflammation and scarring that make the bladder stiff. Since a stiff bladder can’t expand as it fills with urine, it causes pressure and pain.

People with IC generally feel the urge to urinate more often than most, but they produce smaller volumes of urine.

Interstitial cystitis affects women more often than men, and it can have a long-lasting impact on quality of life. There's no cure for the condition, but medications and other therapies may offer relief.

Kidney infection

A kidney infection, medically known as pyelonephritis, is a form of urinary tract infection (UTI). It may start in the urethra, the tube that carries urine from the body, or in the bladder. The infection can travel to one or both kidneys.

Symptoms may include:

• Fever
• Chills
• Pain or burning when urinating
• Having to urinate often
• A strong urge to urinate
• Back, side or groin pain
• Belly pain
• Nausea and vomiting
• Pus or blood in the urine
• Urine that smells bad or is cloudy

A kidney infection requires immediate medical treatment. If not treated effectively, the infection can cause lasting damage to the kidneys, and it’s possible for the bacteria to spread to the bloodstream, leading to a more serious and dangerous infection. A severe kidney infection can produce dangerous complications, including blood poisoning, damage to bodily tissues, and even death.

Seek medical care immediately if, in addition to kidney infection symptoms, you develop bloody urine or nausea and vomiting.

Antibiotics, coupled with an in-hospital stay, may be needed to clear the infection.

Kidney stones

Kidney stones are hard deposits composed of minerals and salts that form inside your kidneys and lead to pain on your side or back.

Kidney stones can be caused by an array of problems: diet, excess body weight, certain medical conditions, and certain supplements and medications. Kidney stones can affect any part of your urinary tract — starting from the kidneys and moving down to the bladder. Stones also form when urine becomes concentrated, which permits the minerals to crystallize and stick together.

Kidney stones can be quite painful to pass, especially if they’re large, but they usually cause no permanent damage if they're caught early in development. Treatment depends on your situation. Some people need nothing more than to take pain medication and drink lots of water (or cranberry juice) to pass a stone. In others — especially if the stones become lodged in the urinary tract, are associated with a urinary infection, or cause complications — surgery may be needed.

Dr. Stocks may suggest preventive treatment to reduce your risk of recurrent kidney stones if you're at increased risk of developing them again.

Pelvic floor dysfunction

Your pelvic floor is a group of muscles found at the base of your pelvis. Pelvic floor dysfunction is a common condition where you can't correctly coordinate the muscles in your pelvic floor, causing problems with urination and bowel movements. 

Your pelvic organs include:

• Bladder (holds urine)
• Uterus and vagina (in women)
• Prostate (in men)
• Rectum (where body stores solid waste)

The pelvic floor muscles act as the support structure for these organs, keeping them in place. One way they function is to wrap around the pelvic bone, acting kind of like a sling.

Normally, you can urinate or defecate because your body knows when to tighten and relax the pelvic floor muscles. With dysfunction, though, the body keeps tightening the muscles and not relaxing them enough. This can lead to trouble having a bowel movement, having an incomplete bowel movement, or having leakage of stool or urine.

Prostatitis

Prostatitis is a disorder of the prostate gland, primarily due to inflammation. Often deriving from a bacterial infection, prostatitis often causes difficult and/or painful urination and pain in the groin, pelvic area, or genitals.

The walnut-sized gland is found just below the bladder in men, and it surrounds the upper portion of the urethra, the tube that drains urine from the bladder on its way out the body. The prostate also, along with other sex glands, produces the semen that transports sperm during ejaculation.

Antibiotics can treat any bacterial infection, and the alpha-blocker drugs can help relax the neck of the bladder and the muscle fibers where the prostate connects to the bladder.

Pinpointing the problem

Early diagnosis may prevent your pelvic pain from becoming chronic, so if you’re experiencing any symptoms, it’s time to set up an appointment with Dr. Stocks.

At your consultation, the doctor takes a detailed medical history and performs a comprehensive physical and pelvic exam. He may order additional tests, such as blood cell counts, STD or urinary tract testing, abdominal X-rays, ultrasound, CT scans, and/or MRIs.

Are you struggling with chronic pelvic pain and need answers? Urology Specialists of Cypress can help. Call our office at 281-304-2521 to schedule a consultation with Dr. Stocks, or book online with us today.