The Women’s Pelvic Health Center has the staff and expertise to treat the full spectrum of pelvic health conditions, including:
Millions of women experience urinary incontinence, the involuntary loss of urine which occurs because of problems with muscles and nerves that help to hold or release urine. Incontinence will occur if your bladder muscles suddenly contract or the sphincter muscles are not strong enough to hold back urine.
Prolapse occurs when pelvic organs, such as the uterus or bladder, fall from their normal place, often due to a lack of muscle support. Pelvic organ prolapse can be uncomfortable and painful.
The pelvic floor is a network of muscles, ligaments, and tissues that act like a hammock to support the organs of the pelvis: the uterus, vagina, bladder, urethra, and rectum. If the muscles become weak or the ligaments or tissues are stretched or damaged, the pelvic organs or small intestine may drop down and protrude into the vagina.
There are varying types of pelvic pain including a burning sensation, itching, or pain in the lower back of abdomen, the pelvic area or in the tailbone. This pain can be constant or it can come and go. Sometimes pelvic pain can by cyclic, appearing on a regular schedule. It may also occur only at certain times such as before or after meals, while urinating, during sexual intercourse or during a menstrual period. Pelvic pain that lasts for more than six months and does not improve with treatment is called chronic pelvic pain. The type and nature of pelvic pain—whether it comes and goes or is constant, is sharp or dull, is in one place or a broad area—will help your doctor detect the cause of the problem.
Factors that contribute to pelvic pain include:
Fibroids are muscular tumors that grow in the wall of the uterus. These are usually benign (non-cancerous) but if they grow substantially they can cause pain and need to be removed. Fibroids can grow as a single tumor or there can be many of them in the uterus.
Exactly what causes fibroids is not entirely clear. However, there is research that suggests these growths develop from misplaced cells present in the body before birth. The female hormones estrogen and progesterone also appear to be involved in their growth.
About 20 percent to 80 percent of women develop fibroids by the time they reach age 50. Fibroids are most common in women in their 40s and early 50s. Fibroids occur more often in African American women than in white women. They also seem to occur at a younger age and grow more quickly in African American women.
Menorrhagia or excessive uterine bleeding occurs at the expected intervals of the menstrual periods. The bleeding from the uterus starts on schedule but is heavier than usual and may last longer than usual. Menorrhagia may be a sign of an underlying disorder, such as hormone imbalance, endometriosis, uterine fibroids or, rarely, cancer of the uterus.
Several factors can cause excessive bleeding, including failure to ovulate once per month (anovulation), having abnormal growths in the uterus such as polyps or fibroids, and having a condition that increases bleeding throughout your body. If you soak through two pads or tampons in one hour for two hours in a row, call your doctor or nurse or go to the emergency department. Bleeding this heavily can be serious or even life-threatening.
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