Abdominal Pain

This is very similar in nature to Pelvic Pain. Given that lots of internal, visceral pain is quite diffuse or vague in nature, it is often difficult to differentiate between pain that has more to do with the tissues of the pelvis or the abdomen. Also the gastrointestinal organs generally pass through both areas again making it hard to separate the two. Initially, it is important to rule in, or hopefully rule out, serious medical conditions such as infection, gynaecological issues, malignancy or even fractures. Bony insufficiency such as with osteoporosis, for example, can lead to spontaneous vertebral injury and can masquerade as abdominal or pelvic pain. It is also important to investigate suspected bony stress reactions or chronic inflammatory disease that may affect pelvic and abdominal areas and so it is likely that these patients, especially at certain ages or with other medical comorbidities, will be provided with onward referral to specialist doctors for medical tests and scans. Most patients can then be given reassurance that any symptoms in this area are not associated with a serious medical condition. As with pelvic pain, once we are happy that there is nothing medically wrong, we can undertake thorough musculoskeletal examination and treat any relevant findings accordingly.