Select your text size for this site here: Normal Text Medium Text Large Text

Pelvic Pain

Pelvic pain caused by adhesionsendometriosis (left) and adhesions (right) can form outside the uterus

The Pelvic Organs

Due to the anatomy and function of the female urogenital system, the female pelvis is much more open and vulnerable to the outside environment than the male pelvis. The female pelvis is also shorter and wider than the male pelvis to allow for childbirth. These structural differences make a woman’s pelvis subject to a significantly higher incidence of infection, trauma, pelvic pain and dysfunction.

Conditions such as endometriosis, sexually transmitted diseases, pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), and vaginal, bladder and yeast infections can cause pelvic pain, abdominal or low back pain, or dysfunction, including infertility. Due to tiny adhesions which form as part of the healing process, these infections and inflammatory processes may cause symptoms long after the inflammation has passed.

Structure of the Pelvic Bones

Pelvic pain at joints

The structural anatomy of the lower torso can be categorized into four specific and distinct segments:

  1. The pelvis
  2. The sacrum
  3. The lumbosacral junction
  4. The lumbar spine.

The pelvic joints include the pubic symphysis joint (where the two pubic bones meet) and the two sacroiliac joints, (where the pelvic bones join the sacrum). These three joints work together, promoting a "mobile stability" for standing, balance, moving, walking and stair climbing. Because of the way that these joints function, the repetitive movements that affect them, and the translation of forces that go up the legs and through these joints, pelvic pain and biomechanical dysfunctions at the pelvis are very common.

The Bones and Joints of the Pelvis

Clinically, we see pelvic joint dysfunctions as structural and postural imbalances. The pelvis may appear higher on one side as compared to the other side. Due to the pelvic imbalance, one leg may appear slightly longer than the other.

Chronic pelvic imbalances typically create far reaching mechanical and soft tissue dysfunction within the body systems. Because the pelvis is the foundation and base of support for the back, spinal column, chest, shoulder girdles, neck and head, asymmetry in the pelvis often gets relayed to the skull due to postural adaptations. These compensations may occur in the lumbar, thoracic and cervical spines due to the pelvic imbalances.

The pelvis is also the transition point of weight between the legs and the upper body. Anatomically, a single column of central weight (the spinal column) must be structurally transferred into two columns (the hips to the lower legs,) or the other way around. This occurs at the lumbosacral region. Nature designed this area to be highly stable to promote the transfer of weight from one column into two, or two into one. This area is also the body’s center of gravity. If the pelvis is not stable when a motion occurs, you have to compensate above or below. This important and vital area is subject to ongoing structural stresses with every step we take. Despite the tremendous structural load it carries, the pelvis also contains and supports some of the most delicate and vulnerable structures in our body, our abdominal and pelvic organs.

Pelvic Pain Treatment

Alternative Treatment Without Surgery or Drugs, a "Hands-on" Approach

Treatment methods vary significantly. Many people do not obtain pain resolution after conservative treatment such as traditional physical therapy and medications. While most physicians agree that surgery is a treatment of last resort, a percentage of people do not obtain pain relief even after one or more surgeries. Some even become worse after surgeries, perhaps due to the new adhesions, which are the inevitable by-product of pelvic or abdominal surgery.

We have helped many people who suffer from ongoing pelvic pain. Our directors spent years studying techniques and developing protocols to restore patients’ bodies to a state of balance, harmony, and increased function. Our treatment sessions are individualized and last approximately one hour based on individual needs. Treatment is one-on-one, and is in private treatment rooms. From your first visit, we use a "hands-on" approach to treat your symptoms and discover the causes of your pelvic pain. We begin by treating tight and dysfunctional areas in your body. For more detailed information on treatment, visit our “what treatment is like” webpage.