Pudendal Neuralgia Affects About 1% of the Population
More Women Than Men are Affected 6:4
What is Pudendal Neuralgia?
Pudendal neuralgia is injury of, or squeezing of, the pudendal nerve in the back of the pelvis by where your leg hooks in.
The injury causes pain.
What are the Symptoms of Pudendal Neuralgia?
Pudendal neuralgia presents as neuropathic pain in the area the pudendal nerve innervates:
- clitoris or penis
- vulva or scrotum
- perineum
- rectum
- inside the ischeum (sits bone)
The pain is usually just on one side, but can be on both sides
Pain is worse with sitting in a chair
Pain is better when standing, laying down or sitting on the toilet or doughnut
People with pudendal neuralgia can experience pain with urinating, having a bowel movement, or having sex.
They can also feel like a ball is in the vagina.
What Causes Pudendal Neuralgia?
Pudendal neuralgia is caused when the nerve is injured or squeezed and adhesions or inflammation develop around it. Commonly this is from
- childbirth
- cycling
- pelvic surgery (most commonly repair of pelvic organ prolapse)
- pelvic injuries
- age related musculoskeletal changes
What is the Natural Treatment for Pudendal Neuralgia?
The treatment involves intra-pelvic care tracing and liberating the pudendal nerve from entrapment.
This can be a painful process, but you are in charge and get to decide what is right for you.
If a course of manual therapy does not adequately reduce your pain, biomedicine offers analgesics, nerve blocks, and surgical pudendal nerve decompression.
In the meantime, sitting on a doughnut like people use for hemorrhoids will be more comfortable than sitting directly on chair because it puts a little slack in the nerve.
Also you can try sitting on a little soft ball between your sits bone (ischeum) and tailbone and help relax the muscles around the nerve.