Pudendal pain can feel like many different things. It can be difficult

for women and men to describe, especially during their first office visits

when they're trying to determine what is going wrong with their bodies.

The pain can come on strong and suddenly or begin with small irritations

over days or weeks in the pelvic floor area.  The pain is often not

consistent and changes.

 

It may feel like:

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• Burning, crushing, shooting, stabbing, pressure (worse in water), electrical, prickling, pulling

• Worse when sitting down (sometimes like sitting on a small rock) and improves when standing or lying down

• Sensation of a foreign body in the vagina, perineum or rectum, frequently described as a “golf ball” or “tennis ball” –  this is called allotriesthesia

• Be constant – but worse at some times and better at others, often better in the morning and increase during the day, most painful at night and make falling asleep difficult

• Numbness and pins and needles in the pelvic area

• Increase sensitivity to pain so that just a light touch or wearing clothes uncomfortable

• Pain during sex  - persistent sexual arousal, a very unpleasant and sometimes painful sensation of intense arousal without the ability to climax

• Pain during bowel movements and/or passing gas

• Pain during urination

• Urinary or fecal incontinence may develop from decreased sphincter tone if motor function is affected.

• Coccyx pain, also known as Tailbone pain - 

• Sciatic Pain -

• Ischial Tuberosity aka Sit Bone pain - 
   

• The Sacrotuberous Ligament (STL) (larger than Sacrospinous Ligament (SSL) stabilizes the pelvis and can cause pain in the ischial tuberosity. The pudendal nerve exits just inside the ischial tuberosity. The nerve can become irritated from prolonged sitting. People with pudendal neuralgia may describe a sensation of "sitting on a rock" near their ischial tuberosities.
  
  The STL is a fan-like ligament that connects the sacrum and coccyx to the ischial tuberosity. When the STL becomes tight, thickened, and inflamed, it can cause acute, localized pain in the buttocks. This pain can also be a sign of sacroiliac joint (SIJ) dysfunction. Other symptoms of STL injury include: Sacroiliac joint pain, Coccyx pain, Sciatic pain, and Peroneal pain and numbness. 

 

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Many people suffering the extreme chronic pain of pudendal neuralgia, diagnosed or undiagnosed, will spend weeks, months, and even years isolated in the apartment or house, lying in bed, unable to do any regular life activities. praying for the pain to stop, praying for unconsciousness because that is the only time when there is no pain. It is physically and mentally debilitating.

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Pudendal Neuralgia Alliance

contact@pudendalneuralgiaalliance.org

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