About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Causes
By Mayo Clinic staffDiseases and conditions of several body systems can cause pelvic pain, often as part of a group of symptoms that may not initially seem related to each other. Pelvic pain may arise from your lower intestinal tract, reproductive system or urinary system. Pelvic pain may also arise from muscles, ligaments or other pelvic floor tissues. Occasionally, pelvic pain may be caused by irritation of nerves in the pelvis.
Reproductive system causes
Pelvic pain arising from the reproductive system may include:
- Adenomyosis
- Ectopic pregnancy
- Endometriosis
- Menstrual cramps (dysmenorrhea)
- Miscarriage
- Mittelschmerz (ovulation pain)
- Ovarian cancer
- Ovarian cysts
- Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID)
- Uterine fibroids
Other causes
Other possible causes of pelvic pain — in women or in men — include:
- Adhesions
- Appendicitis
- Colon cancer
- Constipation
- Crohn's disease
- Diverticulitis
- Fibromyalgia
- Herniated disk
- Inguinal hernia
- Interstitial cystitis
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Kidney stones
- Painful bladder syndrome
- Past physical or sexual abuse
- Pelvic floor muscle spasms
- Prostatitis
- Sciatica
- Ulcerative colitis
- Urinary tract infection
Causes shown here are commonly associated with this symptom. Work with your doctor or other health care professional for an accurate diagnosis.
- Chronic pelvic pain. The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. http://www.acog.org/publications/patient_education/bp099.cfm. Accessed April 11, 2011.
- Daniels JP, et al. Chronic pelvic pain in women. BMJ. 2010;341:772.
- Lipsky A. Acute pelvic pain in women. In: Marx JA, et al. Rosen's Emergency Medicine: Concepts and Clinical Practice. 7th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby Elsevier; 2010. http://www.mdconsult.com/books/about.do?about=true&eid=4-u1.0-B978-0-323-05472-0..X0001-1--TOP&isbn=978-0-323-05472-0&uniqId=230100505-57. Accessed April 4, 2011.
- Pelvic pain, genital origin. In: Ferri FF. Ferri's Clinical Advisor 2011: Instant Diagnosis and Treatment. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby Elsevier; 2011. http://www.mdconsult.com/books/about.do?eid=4-u1.0-B978-0-323-05610-6..C2009-0-38600-6--TOP&isbn=978-0-323-05610-6&about=true&uniqId=230100505-53. Accessed April 12, 2011.
- Pelvic pain, chronic. In: Ferri FF. Ferri's Clinical Advisor 2011: Instant Diagnosis and Treatment. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby Elsevier; 2011. http://www.mdconsult.com/books/about.do?eid=4-u1.0-B978-0-323-05610-6..C2009-0-38600-6--TOP&isbn=978-0-323-05610-6&about=true&uniqId=230100505-53. Accessed April 12, 2011.
- Interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome. National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse. http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/interstitialcystitis/index.htm. Accessed April 12, 2011.
- Touma NJ, et al. Prostatis and chronic pelvic pain syndrome in men. Medical Clinics of North America. 2011;95:75.
- Vincent K. Chronic pelvic pain in women. Postgraduate Medical Journal. 2009;85:24.
- Birnbaum SL. Approach to the patient with menstrual or pelvic pain. In: Goroll AH, et al. Primary Care Medicine: Office Evaluation and Management of the Adult Patient. 5th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2008. http://gateway.ovid.com/ovidweb.cgi?T=JS&MODE=ovid&PAGE=main&D=baov&PCOSTART=goroll. Accessed April 13, 2011.
Share on:
Find Mayo Clinic on