Pelvic girdle pain may often affect women who are pregnant or have recently had a baby.

But can it affect men too? The answer is yes.

What is Pelvic Girdle Pain?

Pelvic pain is a general term that broadly refers to pain experienced in the pelvic area. The pelvic area includes the groin area, the perineum (the space between the genitals and the anal area), the pubis symphysis and the gluteal area.

The most common causes for pelvic girdle pain in men are of musculoskeletal origin, meaning traumas and/or strains of muscles and joints, find below the three most frequent:

• Direct traumas: footballers and rugby players are two of the most commonly affected categories due to the higher frequency of direct impacts during a game.
• Pubis osteitis: this is a condition that can affect different types of sport players and it derives from an strength imbalance between the abdominal muscles and the adductor muscles.   Other possible causes are found in too hard running surfaces and wrong trainers/sole support. Pain is experienced in the groin area and inner thigh due to an increased amount of tension being collected on the adductor muscles.
• Previous lumbar spine disc injuries leading to muscle guarding and spasm of the gluteal muscles and hip rotator muscles. Physiotherapy and osteopathy are the first line healthcare treatments for the above mentioned conditions, either alone or combined with other treatments such as dry needling or acupuncture.

Are there any other causes for pelvic girdle pain in men?

In short, yes and sometimes they can be triggered by much more visceral conditions (non musculoskeletal):

• Chronic prostatitis (or chronic non-bacterial prostatitis) is characterised by a prolonged inflammation of the prostate gland which, as a result, triggers pelvic floor muscles pain.
• Urethritis is an inflammation of your urinary tract which can lead to pelvic floor pain in the same way prostatitis does.

These are conditions that need an appropriate diagnosis by a specialist. In fact, very often musculoskeletal pelvic girdle pain is mistaken or put down to chronic prostatitis or urethritis without this being the case. This is why it is so important to seek professional help when it comes to differentiating between a muscle/joint related pain and a more visceral condition. In either case physiotherapy and osteopathic treatment can be of great help promoting the recovery of the tissues that are in pain whether this is secondary to a prostatitis or purely muscle pain.

 

If you’re not sure whether we can help, please give us a call on 020 7735 6813 or email info@kenningtonosteopaths.co.uk