In this week's episode of the Spine & Nerve podcast, Dr. Julie Hastings and Dr. Brian Joves go back to basics and give us an overview of persistent pelvic pain.

Persistent pelvic pain is defined as non malignant pain that is present for more than six months. It may or may not be associated with a woman's cycle or related to intercourse. Studies have shown that approximately 24% of female bodied individuals will experience significant pelvic pain.

Persistent pelvic pain tends to have a multifactorial presentation and it can be hard to differentiate the primary source of pain. Pelvic pain is associated with other chronic overlapping pain conditions which contributes to the challenges of diagnosis, treatment and management.The differential diagnosis is vast and etiologies of persistent pelvic pain include sources from many body systems including but not limited to:GynecologicUrologicGastrointestinalMusculoskeletalPsychologic

The severity and consistency of pain increases with multisystem presentation requiring a multi-specialty combined effort to evaluate and treat these patients effectively. This podcast is for information and educational purposes only, it is not meant to be medical or career advice. If anything discussed may pertain to you, please seek council with your healthcare provider. The views expressed are those of the individuals expressing them, they may not represent the views of Spine & Nerve.