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Chronic Pelvic Pain
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What
is Chronic pelvic pain?
Chronic pelvic pain (CPP) is a syndrome that is thought to a factor in up
to 15 per cent of hysterectomies and 40 per cent of laparoscopies
performed in the USA. It is distinct from pain associated with
dysmenorrhea (painful or difficult menstruation) in that it is
non-cyclical and to be confidentially diagnosed the symptoms must persist
for a minimum of three months.
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Conventional
treatment
Conventional treatments such as
hysterectomy, analgesics and ovarian cycle suppressants have not been
successful in alleviating the symptoms and the condition is the cause for
$2.8 billion of treatment annually.
Whilst there are published studies
documenting the possible relationship of musculo-skeletal conditions and
CPP, there are a number of published case reports which have indicated
that chiropractic care may be effective in alleviating the symptoms. A
feasibility study was therefore set up at the Palmer Centre for
Chiropractic Research, USA to investigate whether ‘chiropractic care has
a measurable effect on women with CPP using valid and reliable outcome
measures’.
Nineteen patients were recruited
from ads on a local radio station. All patients had to be female, 18 years
or older , and had persistent CPP symptoms for a minimum of three months
(the average was, in fact, 9 years). Common symptoms included lower back
pain (84%), headaches (52%), menstrual cramps (79%), painful intercourse
(32%) and urinary (37%). The women had three chiropractic treatments every
week for the first two weeks and two times per week for the following two
weeks, after which time their symptoms were measured and compared to the
marks before the commencement of the study.
The results showed that the symptoms
reduced by an average of 70% from a baseline of 18.7 to 5.7 after six
weeks of treatment. At the beginning of the study, over two-thirds of the
patients took analgesic medications, and at the end of the study this
number had dropped by more than half. Interestingly, over 25 per cent of
the sample brought their spouses/significant other into the clinic after
the course of treatment to report that their overall mood and behaviours
had improved as a result of the treatment.
The researchers concludes that
chiropractic treatment in the form of ‘flexion-distraction technique and
manual trigger point therapy had positive short-term effects on
symptomology, disability and pain associated with CPP.’ However, the
report does acknowledge the need for a larger, randomised clinical study.
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