In general, 70% of the people impacted by chronic pain are women, and women suffer longer than men do. And yet, 80% of the pain studies are conducted on male mice or human men. Chronic pelvic pain (CPP) in particular affects 1 out of 7 women, compared with 1 out of 10 men.
Chronic pelvic pain may be common especially for women, but it s definitely not normal, and it’s not something you should have to live with or wait a decade to get treated. As we learn more about this condition, we’re getting smarter about how we diagnose it and treat it.
Increasingly, doctors are taking a more holistic approach. The International Association for the Study of Pain recently updated their definition of pain: “An unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with, or resembling that associated with, actual or potential tissue damage”