Chronic Pelvic Pain (CPP) affects one in every six woman and refers to ongoing pain in the lower abdomen or pelvis. It is experienced most often by women of childbearing age.
Women often underestimate their pain and when asked, only consider their few days of really bad pain each month. But if you experience some form of pain in your pelvis on most days of the month, then you may be suffering from CPP.
Chronic Pelvic Pain is not related to pregnancy or caused solely by menstruation or sexual intercourse. It can be caused by a range of conditions, including but not limited to:
- endometriosis
- pelvic inflammatory disease
- irritable bowel syndrome
- coeliac disease
Causes can be difficult to diagnose or sometimes there is no cause to be found. However, there are a range of treatments, available through Oxford Woman's Health, that can treat or control pain. These include targeted medication; lifestyle changes; counselling; physiotherapy and surgery.
To find out more about endometriosis, take a look at these videos from Endometriosis New Zealand: http://www.nzendo.org.nz/about-endometriosis/videos/index.html
