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Why Your Pelvic Pain Is Real (Even If Nothing Showed Up on Imaging)

  • Writer: Carly Gossard
    Carly Gossard
  • 5 hours ago
  • 4 min read

Pelvic pain can feel like a secret you carry, one that’s hard to talk about, hard to describe, and even harder to live with. Whether it’s a dull ache, sharp stab, or constant pressure, pelvic pain can impact everything: sitting, intimacy, exercise, work, and simply feeling at home in your own body.

If you’re navigating pelvic pain, you are not alone. And if the idea of pelvic floor therapy feels overwhelming, we see you. This post is here to offer information, understanding, and hopefully a sense of comfort. Healing is possible, with care that centers safety, consent, and your lived experience.


What Is Pelvic Pain?

Pelvic pain is often complex. It might be related to:

  • Pelvic floor muscle tension or dysfunction

  • Endometriosis or adenomyosis

  • Vulvodynia or vaginismus

  • Interstitial cystitis or painful bladder syndrome

  • Chronic constipation or IBS

  • Scar tissue from surgery or birth

  • Trauma—physical, emotional, or both

  • Peyronie’s disease in the male population


Pain can live in the body long after the original cause is gone. We call this central sensitization, where your brain and spinal cord start to amplify pain signals, even when there’s no ongoing damage. This can make typically non-threatening stimuli (like wearing jeans) cause pain. Sometimes it’s not just about muscles or nerves, it’s about how the body protects itself, and how we begin to gently reconnect with it.


How Pelvic Floor Therapy Helps

Pelvic floor therapy is a specialized form of care that addresses the muscles, connective tissues, nerves, and overall function of the pelvic region. But trauma-informed pelvic floor therapy goes beyond muscles, it centers you as a whole person.


We begin with:

  • Listening: Your story, your comfort level, your goals

  • Education: Understanding pain science, your anatomy, and why this is not your fault

  • Empowerment: Helping you feel safe in your body again, one step at a time, by building your tool box to manage your symptoms and rediscover pain-free movement


What a Trauma-Informed Approach Looks Like

We know that for many people, the idea of pelvic therapy, especially if it involves internal work, can feel vulnerable. That’s why a trauma-informed approach includes:

  • Choice at every step

    You are in control. We always start with external work and education, and internal assessments or treatments only happen with your full, informed consent.

  • No rush, no pressure

    Healing doesn’t have a timeline. Some sessions may focus on breath work, gentle movement, bowel and bladder recommendations for home, or grounding techniques, and that is therapy.

  • Language that respects you

    We avoid pathologizing or triggering terms. We frame pain and tension as signals from a body trying to protect itself, not as something broken.

  • Collaboration, not hierarchy

    You are the expert on your body. We bring our knowledge, but we follow your lead. No one knows your body better than you.


What Therapy Might Include

  • Breath work to calm the nervous system and soften protective holding

  • Gentle manual therapy (external or internal, only if desired) to release tension

  • Movement strategies to build strength, flexibility, and confidence

  • Somatic awareness: learning to listen to the body with kindness

  • Nervous system support: tools for managing flare-ups and stress-related pain


A Note on Trauma and the Body

If you’ve experienced trauma, especially related to your body, sexuality, or medical care, pelvic pain can feel layered. Your body may hold trauma, even if your mind has moved forward.


Pelvic floor therapy can be a gentle path back to safety in your body. Not by forcing anything but by honoring every signal, boundary, and sensation with care.


You Deserve to Feel Safe. You Deserve to Heal.

Pelvic pain is real, and so is your resilience. Whether this pain has been part of your story for months or years, healing is not only possible, it’s your birthright.


At its heart, trauma-informed pelvic therapy isn’t just about fixing. It’s about reclaiming—your comfort, your power, your sense of self.


If and when you’re ready, we’re here. No judgment. No pressure. Just care.


Curious about what a first visit might look like? Want to talk things through before booking?

Reach out. We’ll meet you wherever you are physically, emotionally, and energetically.

You are not a problem to be solved. You are a person to be supported. 


If you or someone you know has been suffering with pelvic pain, finding a trauma-informed pelvic floor specialist is key. You can find a therapist through www.pelvichrehab.com and don’t hesitate to call around and ask questions to find the right fit for you!



 

References:

  • American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). (n.d.). Chronic pelvic pain. Retrieved from https://www.acog.org/womens-health/faqs/chronic-pelvic-pain

  • Fitzgerald, M. P., & Kotarinos, R. (2003). Rehabilitation of the short pelvic floor. I: Background and patient evaluation. International Urogynecology Journal, 14(4), 261–268. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00192-003-1065-0

  • Green, B. L., Saunders, P. A., Power, E., Dass-Brailsford, P., et al. (2015). Trauma-informed medical care: Patient response to a primary care provider communication training. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 30(1), 117–125. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-014-2981-6

  • Herman & Wallace Pelvic Rehabilitation Institute. (n.d.). Find a pelvic rehab practitioner. Retrieved from https://www.pelvicrehab.com

  • International Pelvic Pain Society. (n.d.). Chronic pelvic pain. Retrieved from https://www.pelvicpain.org

  • Montenegro, M. L., Mateus-Vasconcelos, E. C., Rosa e Silva, J. C., Nogueira, A. A., & Ferreira, C. H. (2010). Manual physical therapy combined with biofeedback in women with dyspareunia: A pilot study. Clinical Rehabilitation, 24(4), 336–343. https://doi.org/10.1177/0269215509346096

  • Moseley, G. L., & Butler, D. S. (2013). Explain pain (2nd ed.). Adelaide, Australia: NOI Group.

  • van der Kolk, B. (2014). The body keeps the score: Brain, mind, and body in the healing of trauma. New York: Viking.

  • Woolf, C. J. (2011). Central sensitization: Implications for the diagnosis and treatment of pain. Pain, 152(3 Suppl), S2–S15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pain.2010.09.030

  • American Physical Therapy Association (APTA). (n.d.). Find a PT. Retrieved from https://www.choosept.com

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