Neuropelveology: A New Frontier in Treating Chronic Pelvic Pain

The numbers surrounding pelvic pain in women are eye-opening — the global rates of chronic pelvic pain among women in their reproductive years fall somewhere between 14-32%. 

Not only are the high numbers of women who are dealing with pelvic pain concerning, but identifying the source of the pelvic pain has been historically difficult. For example, one of the biggest culprits behind chronic pelvic pain is endometriosis, which takes, on average, 4-11 years from the onset of symptoms to diagnose and treat.

In the meantime, too many women aren’t getting the relief they need for their chronic pelvic pain, which is where neuropelveology comes in. This is an emerging specialty in women’s health and one that Dr. Ulas Bozdogan and our team here at Advanced Endometriosis Center fully embrace.

Here’s a look at how we can help relieve your chronic pelvic pain through neuropelveology.

Behind pelvic pain

Your pelvis houses a number of different systems, including your:

• Reproductive organs
• Part of your gastrointestinal tract
• Your urinary tract

This region of your body also has its own neuro-functional anatomy and the interplay between your pelvic organs and the nerves in this area deserves a closer look. This is where neuropelveology comes in. This specialty is described as, “An emerging discipline focusing on pathologies of the pelvic nervous system.”

A good way to explain this is with your menstrual cycle. When you get cramps, which are caused by contractions in your uterus, you may also experience lower back pain. Or, if you have an ovarian cyst, a problematic uterine fibroid, or endometriosis adhesions, you might also experience pain in your groin or around your pubic bone. 

These are all examples of ways pelvic pain can present itself thanks to an active and connected pelvic nervous system.

Through neuropelveology, we study the interaction between a pelvic organ disorder and the nerves in your pelvis and how it can lead to localized and referred pain. Or, we may find that the issue lies solely in your pelvic nervous system and we need to address the nerves directly.

Neuropelveology in practice

The emerging discipline of neuropelveology isn’t just theory but involves specific practices and treatments.

Through this specialty, our goal is to come up with the correct neurological diagnosis in addition to the right diagnosis about what’s triggering your pelvic nervous system. To do this, we start with a transvaginal and/or transrectal examination of your pelvic nerves.

Once we identify which nerves are involved in your chronic pelvic pain, we can then turn to neurosurgical solutions in which we use advanced laparoscopic techniques to bring you relief from your chronic pelvic pain.

So, if you’re dealing with ongoing chronic pain, we want to assure you that we take this issue very seriously, and we now have a new understanding of how we can target pelvic nerves to bring you relief.

If you’d like to learn more about neuropelveology and how it can help provide a remedy for your chronic pelvic pain, we invite you to schedule a consultation with Dr. Bozdogan today online or over the phone. We have offices in New York City and Hackensack, New Jersey.