Pelvic Pain and Adhesions

Adhesions and Chronic Pelvic Pain

Pelvic adhesions refer to scarring or tissue repair that occurs anywhere in the pelvis. They form as the first step in the healing process after any surgery, trauma, infection, or inflammation. Wherever they form, adhesions join structures with strong glue-like bonds that can last a lifetime (see our general adhesions page for more detail.)

Because of its location as the transition between legs and trunk, the pelvis may be subjected to numerous traumas in life such as injury at either leg or hip, or falls onto the tailbone or back. Women are subject to numerous pelvic infections, inflammations or traumas, also resulting in pelvic adhesions. Whatever the cause, pelvic adhesions remain in the body for life, after a healing event. They can bind the delicate reproductive, digestive, or urogenital organs like glue or a straight-jacket, decreasing their function or causing pain.

Unexplained Pelvic Pain or Dysfunction

Pelvic adhesions may form within organs, or between neighboring structures, causing symptoms that are difficult for both physician and patient to diagnose. They may form as curtains or ropes within or between the structures of the body. As shown here, pelvic adhesions can form on the lining of the uterus, within that structure, or outside of it, causing unexplained pain, decreased function, and infertility.

Vaginal infection can cause adhesions to form outside, or within the muscle of the cervix, pulling the opening to the uterus out of its relaxed, mid-line alignment. The tension from those adhesions can cause a pull up into the uterus, with consequent inflammation in that organ. This state of constant inflammation can cause pain, infertility, and recurrent miscarriage.

Pelvic adhesions that form after s urgery or a fall (even from childhood) can pull your tailbone forward, putting a strain on the ligaments that hold that bone in position. This creates a physical block in your body and can cause chronic constipation, pain during intercourse, or difficulty sitting for long periods.

Treating Pelvic Adhesions with Surgery

Until recently, lysis of adhesions was the only choice medical science offered to treat pelvic adhesions. This involves cutting or burning the pelvic adhesions under general anesthesia, via laparoscopy or laparotomy (open surgery).

While lysis of pelvic adhesions can be effective, surgery has two major drawbacksks: it carries risks from anesthesia and infection, and despite the best skills of the finest surgeon, the body creates more pelvic adhesions as it heals from the surgery designed to remove them.

A study in Digestive Surgery showed that more than 90% of patients develop adhesions following major abdominal surgery and 55% to 100% of women develop adhesions following pelvic surgery.1 Another study reported that 35% of all open abdominal or pelvic surgery patients were readmitted to the hospital more than twice to treat post-surgical adhesions during the 10 years after their original surgery.2 Thus, abdominal surgery itself has been implicated as a major cause of adhesion formation and many patients become trapped in a cycle of surgery-adhesions-surgery – with no end in sight.

Treating Pelvic Adhesions with the Wurn Technique

We know pelvic adhesions well. We faced this situation 20 years ago when the physical therapist director of Clear Passage Therapies®, Belinda Wurn, developed severe adhesions after pelvic surgery and radiation therapy to her abdomen. Unable to work due to the pain, and having seen the devastating and debilitating effects of pelvic adhesions in her own patients, she was determined to find a non-surgical way to address pelvic adhesions.

With her husband, massage therapist Larry Wurn, Belinda took a much deeper look at the etiology and biomechanics of adhesion formation. They found that the chemical bonds that attached each of the tiny collagen fibers to its neighbor appeared to dissipate or dissolve when placed under sustained pressure over time. With this knowledge, they developed the Wurn Technique® to unravel the bonds between the crosslinks that comprise adhesions.

The “hands-on” work practiced at Clear Passage Physical Therapy^SM clinics is designed to reduce or eliminate adhesions, crosslink by crosslink. It has been shown in peer-reviewed medical journals to reduce adhesions, decrease pain, and improve soft tissue mobility, without the risks of surgery or drugs.

Visit our “what treatment is like” web page for more information, or click the link at the bottom of this page now, to complete a medical history questionnaire and apply for a free, in-depth consultation.

1. Liakakos T, Thomakos N, Fine PM, Dervenis C, Young RL. Peritoneal Adhesions: Etiology, Pathophysiology, and Clinical Significance.Dig Surg. 2001; 18: 260-273. PMID 11528133.
2. Ellis H, Moran BJ, Thompson JN, Parker MC, Wilson MS, Menzies D, McGuire A, Lower AM, Hawthorn RJ, O’Brien F, Buchan S, Crowe AM. Adhesion-related hospital readmissions after abdominal and pelvic surgery: a retrospective cohort study. Lancet Br J Med. 1999; 353: 1476-80. PMID 10232313.

Doctors comment on the Wurn Technique®
and the book Miracle Moms, Better Sex, Less Pain

"As a surgeon, I know that most patients are going to develop some form of adhesive disease after surgery. In the past, treatment for adhesions has been more surgery - which caused more adhesions. Now with the amazing Wurn Technique®, patients have a safe and effective alternative to surgery."

Dr. Jacques Moritz, Director of Endoscopy and Gynecology
St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital, New York
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons

 

"What a much-needed, useful and safe way to deal with the common, yet mystifying problem of adhesions. You have perfected a technique to treat adhesions, with years of experience, scientific 'backup' and case studies to prove it."

Dr. Leslie Mendoza Temple, Medical Director, Integrative Medicine
Faculty: Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine