Recovery & Support for Pelvic Pain

Pelvic pain can be a chronic condition, with even treatment. At NYU Langone, our doctors, nurses, and other specialists offer ongoing support to help you manage your condition.

Pain Management

For women with chronic, severe pelvic pain that isn’t relieved with treatment, doctors may recommend consultation with a pain management specialist. The specialist can suggest other treatments, including nerve blocks, which keep pain signals from reaching the pelvis; nerve pain medications, such as antidepressants; and non-narcotic pain relievers such as ibuprofen.

Trigger point injections—in which anti-inflammatory medication is injected into a tight muscle—may be helpful, because they can decrease inflammation, interrupt pain signals from the brain to the reproductive organs, and help pelvic muscles to relax.

Integrative medicine treatments, including acupuncture, may also help relieve pelvic pain.

Fertility Consultations

If you have pelvic pain and are experiencing infertility, your doctor may refer you to the nationally renowned fertility experts at NYU Langone’s Fertility Center or NYU Langone Reproductive Specialists of New York. Specialists offer a full range of options for treating infertility, including ovulation induction, which stimulates the release of a woman’s eggs; intrauterine insemination, which involves inserting sperm into the uterus; in vitro fertilization, which joins egg and sperm in a laboratory; and surgical procedures.

Emotional Support

Doctors at NYU Langone understand that chronic pelvic pain can have profound effects on a woman’s life. Some women experience depression and sexual difficulties along with pelvic pain, and some treatments may make you unable to become pregnant.

Psychological support and therapy may include cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), hypnosis, individual and group counseling, and relaxation training. Your doctor can refer you to psychologists, social workers, and support groups, if needed.

Pelvic Floor Exercises

For women with pain caused by pelvic organ prolapse, exercises can strengthen the muscles of the pelvic floor, which support your pelvic organs. Your doctor may refer you to NYU Langone’s nationally renowned Rusk Rehabilitation for help with these exercises, which involve tightening and releasing your pelvic floor muscles.