Pelvic Pain: What It Feels Like and What Can Cause It

Pelvic pain is pain felt mostly in the lower abdomen. It takes many forms: it may be steady, or it may come and go; it may be sharp and stabbing in one spot, or dull and spread over a wider area. Severe pelvic pain can get in the way of everyday life.

Possible causes

The pain can come from many places.

In women, it can be felt during a period or during sex. It can signal a problem with one of the pelvic organs:

• the uterus;
• the ovaries;
• the fallopian tubes;
• the cervix; or
• the vagina.

In men, the cause could be a problem with the prostate.

In either, pelvic pain can be a symptom of an infection, or of a problem with:

• the urinary tract;
• the lower intestines or rectum; or
• muscle or bone.

The cause is not always single. Some women have more than one source of pelvic pain at the same time.

Diagnosis and treatment

Finding where the pain comes from may take lab tests, imaging or other medical tests. Treatment depends on three things:

• the cause;
• how severe the pain is; and
• how often it happens.

Sources

Based on "Pelvic Pain," MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine, with information from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; a work of the United States government in the public domain.