Pain Management


We are all familiar with acute pain, meaning pain that comes on in the short term and stays for a variable of period of hours or days and then disappears. Common examples include broken bones or injuries sustained while playing sport.


A lot of the time, the original insult (infection, ectopic pregnancy, cancer, birth injury or surgical trauma) has resolved, but the pain persists. This is where treatment becomes tricky and frustrating, especially for the patient.


Treatment


Pain is a complicated phenomenon that is not entirely understood by anyone, but we are gradually learning to understand what happens in the pelvis and, in particular, in the pain centres within our brains.


Due to its multi-layered nature, persistent pelvic pain requires a multidisciplinary approach whereby specialists in different fields (particularly pain medicine, psychology, physiotherapy, and gynaecology, to name a few) need to put their heads together.


Where possible, assessments of women with chronic pelvic pain are made by a team of specialists working cohesively, so an overall assessment of the genesis of the pain can be done and its progression over months or years can be assessed.


Management of that pain involves the various disciplines, such as physiotherapy for pelvic floor problems, drug therapy for specific pain issues, gynaecological intervention for endometriosis and related issues, and conventional painkillers according to the type of pain involved.


The whole programme begins with a thorough assessment of the pain by the team members. A comprehensive strategy to tackle the problem is something that needs to be agreed upon by everyone, particularly the patient, before therapy begins.


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