Male Pelvic Pain
Have you been dealing with ongoing hip, back and groin pain and the usual treatment just isn’t working?
One of the most overlooked reasons for ongoing pelvic pain in men is pain driven from the pelvic floor.
The pelvic floor is made up of four main muscle groups:
the superficial pelvic floor- responsible for holding, maintaining erection as well as clearing urine
the external urethral sphincter- responsible for stopping the flow of urine
the deep pelvic floor- which provides stability to the pelvis as well as supporting internal organs
the external anal sphincter- which as you guessed, is responsible for holding onto wind/stool
Pain driven by the pelvic floor muscles can present as pain in the lower abdomen, groin, penis, testicles, perineum, anus, rectum or coccyx.
People can also present with urinary and bowel issues and sexual dysfunction. This may present as bladder symptoms such as difficulty initiating the flow, stop/start flow, difficulty fully emptying, increase in frequency of emptying, nocturia (aka getting up in the night to go). It can also present as bowel issues, mainly constipation and sexual dysfunction including erectile dysfunction or pain with intimacy.
What to do if you’ve been dealing with ongoing pelvic pain?
If you’ve been dealing with pain as well as urinary changes. Often reviewing with your urologist is the best place to start to rule out any changes that may be worrying (such as prostate changes).
Your pelvic health physiotherapist that works with men is the next step.
Why bother dealing with the pelvic floor?
We understand that symptoms related to the pelvic floor can be difficult to talk about and therefore can take some time to get around to addressing. One of the other big barriers to seeking help is simply knowing that help is available.
As pelvic floor physio’s we know that persistent pain is exhausting and symptoms associated with pelvic floor dysfunction particularly symptoms of sexual dysfunction can have a very big impact on your day to day life. The pelvic floor can also contribute to hip, groin and back injuries which may also impact your ability to participate in sport.
We hope by addressing your pelvic floor symptoms we can improve your pain as well as associated symptoms and keep you active at the same time.
What to expect at your men’s pelvic health physio appointment?
We will always start with a thorough assessment of your bladder, bowel and sexual function. As well as your general health, exercise levels and past medical history. This gives us a full picture as to what is likely driving your issues.
Education about the male pelvic floor and the different muscles that make up the pelvic floor. Basically we will go into detail the above muscle groups and how they function/can contribute to pain.
We will likely assess your pelvic floor and provide a tailored program for you.
We want you to leave your first appointment with an understanding of your condition and a treatment plan.
What are the usual treatment options for pelvic pain?
The first is understanding why you’re in pain. One of the hardest things about being in persistent pain is often being told that everything is normal and there isn’t any reason for your pain. Which completely invalidates your experience. We will always believe you are in pain and we will explain why.
Quite often treatment isn’t so much focused on strengthening, but learning to relax the pelvic floor muscles.
We may also provide other treatment to optimise your bladder and bowel habits.
