Chronic Female Pelvic Pain

Chronic pelvic pain takes time to develop and can take a long time to treat. Take charge of how you cope with pain by using one or more of the treatment choices below. Combining your medical treatment with these practices can help you keep a positive state of mind.

Counseling and stress management

Counseling and mental skills training help you learn the mental and emotional tools for managing chronic pain and the stress that makes it worse. Combining medical and psychological treatment increases your chances of treatment success.

Commonly used treatments include:

• Reference Cognitive-behavioral therapy focused on changing the way you think about and mentally manage pain. See a psychologist, licensed counselor, or clinical social worker who specializes in pain management skills.
• Reference Biofeedback. This is the conscious control of body function that is normally unconsciously controlled.
• Reference Interpersonal counseling Opens New Window, focused on managing your life events, stressors, and relationships.

For more information, see the topic Reference Stress Management.

Physical therapy

Reference Physical therapy can help you learn specific exercises to stretch and strengthen certain muscle groups. This helps you to improve posture, gait, and muscle tone.

Alternative pain treatments

Alternative pain treatments for chronic female pelvic pain aren't well studied. But they are considered helpful for managing stress and building mental mastery over pain.

Reference Acupuncture and Reference transcutaneous nerve stimulation (TENS) have shown some success in relieving painful menstrual periods. Acupuncture has also been used as a treatment for nonmenstrual chronic pelvic pain, but it isn't yet well studied.^{Reference 1}

Other low-risk alternative pain treatments that many people use to help manage pain include:

• Reference Relaxation and breathing exercises.
• Reference Hypnosis.
• Reference Guided imagery.
• Reference Aromatherapy.
• Reference Meditation.
• Reference Yoga.
• Reference Massage therapy.

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