Is Your Spine Causing Your Pelvic Pain?

Pain in the lower abdomen and between the hips is usually called pelvic pain before a specific diagnosis. There are plenty of reasons you might experience pain in this area, and your spine could be a contributor. 

The spine and bones of the pelvis form a junction at the bottom bone of the spine, the sacrum, through a pair of joints called the sacroiliac joints. It’s possible to experience pelvic pain and lower back pain simultaneously. 

When you experience pelvic pain that lasts several days without improvement or gets worse, it’s time to visit Metro Anesthesia & Pain Management in West Des Moines and Des Moines, Iowa. Our physicians are pelvic pain specialists, able to help you with diagnosis and treatment. 

Pelvic pain basics

Common causes of pain in the pelvic region include problems with the lower digestive tract, internal and reproductive organs, or the urinary system. These don’t cover all sources of pain in this area; you could have symptoms originating from ligament or muscle disorders. 

The sacroiliac joints can be difficult to diagnose because the pain from inflammation of these joints mimics the symptoms of other conditions. The lower spine and the pelvis share many support structures, sometimes making the source of pain tricky to isolate. 

When the spine is the source of pelvic pain

It may be easier to establish the spine as the source of pelvic pain if you have lower back pain at the same time. However, since nerves branch off from the spinal cord, problems with nerves in the spine can cause symptoms along a nerve’s path, a condition called referred pain. 

That means you may feel symptoms in places other than the source of the signals your brain interprets as pain. Anyone familiar with the leg symptoms of sciatica knows how referred pain works. 

Look to the spine as the source of your pelvic discomfort when you have conditions like these: 

• Osteoarthritis affecting the spine or sacroiliac joints
• Injuries affecting nerve roots in the lower back
• Jobs that require long periods of sitting or standing in a stationary way
• Spinal stenosis in the lumbar spine
• Vertebral bone spurs
• Degenerative disc disease
• Herniated discs
• Ligament or muscle disorders, including overuse, sprain, or strain
• Ankylosing spondylitis
• Psoriatic arthritis

The most appropriate treatment for your pelvic pain depends on an accurate diagnosis of its source. 

Regardless of the reasons for the pain you’re experiencing, the team at Metro Anesthesia & Pain Management has a solution. Contact our nearest location by phone or online today.