PUBIC BONE PAIN

Some anatomical facts

Pubic bone pain is a common complaint heard in the chiropractic clinic. The 'pubes', as we call them, are part of a large bone called an ilium that makes up much of the pelvis.

These pubes are made up of two half-ring bones, each called a ramus (plural rami), one above and one below. Look for the two rami, called the Superior Pubic Ramus and the Inferior Pubic Ramus in the picture below.

See the pelvis? A circle of three bones, two large ones called an ilium, and the smaller one between called the sacrum. The sacrum forms the foundation bone of the spine. It sits precariously wedged between the two ilium bones - a fall on the buttocks can dislodge (subluxate) the sacrum and coccyx, and even fracture them.

Click here for more about the sacroiliac joint anatomy ... and the coccyx: COCCYX PILLOW ....

The names of the rami are not important, but their location is. They sit right adjacent to the bladder and the uterus, and are recipients of referred pain, often in pregnancy. (See the pubes stippled in blue in the pic below?).

This pain may be of a temporary nature, but sometimes continues long after childbirth, referring pain down the inner thighs, making walking painful. Opening the legs during intercourse is sometimes also very painful.

However, anyone can get pubic bone pain, not only in pregnancy. Men can experience it too. It may radiate into the groin.

Muscles

The bones of the pelvis are the origin and insertion of a great many important muscles. Some of these muscles remain in and around the pelvis and are vital for such functions as stabilising the sacro-iliac joint, in urinating, defecating, child birth and orgasm. The so-called Pelvic Floor muscles.

Others stretch down the thigh enabling you to flex, rotate and extend your hips (and other movements that we shall for simplicity ignore - in this case they are not important.)

For example, there are three Adductor muscles that attach to the pubes and are vital in squeezing the thighs against each other and stabilising the legs during running, jumping etc. It is these adductors that can become extremely painful in association with pubic bone pain.

TREATMENT

• Correction of any subluxations: Sacroiliac joint treatment.

• Cross friction of the muscles and their insertion to the pubes (may be extremely painful)

• Stretching of the muscles.

• Strengthening of the core muscles of the pelvis.

• Alternating ice and heat, and other physiotherapeutic modalities.

IT WORKS - TRY US!

From the coalface

A short of course of acupuncture and a coccyx pillow relieved the coccyx pain, but the pain in the sacro-iliac joints, spreading down the front of her thighs, rapidly worsened even after she stopped the medication. Prolonged sitting and walking became increasingly painful. Sex was excruciating because she couldn't open her thighs.

Her doctor referred her today for chiropractic care of her pubic bone pain.

On examination, extension of the sacro-iliac joints was limited and painful, and the adductor muscles of the thigh are extremely, and I mean extremely, tender on palpation.

Watch this space!

Update. She consulted me yesterday. The good news is that the pain in her thighs, and the attendant difficulties with intimacy passed over very quickly after the first few treatment. The bad news is that the medication has made her pelvic joints very unstable, so that about once a week she suddenly gets sharp stabs of pain. But she can sit and walk mostly without pain, and the stabs of pain last only a few hours.

With these sorts of nasty conditions, our chiropractic experience is that patients who come in for a regular, occasional treatment, and do their exercises faithfully, find that when they get pain, is passes over of itself. She is 90% better, but the last 10% is proving nuggety. Part of the problem is that she is seriously overweight.

Chiropractic First

In Mrs van J's case it hasn't been cheap. She has had 15 treatments, stretching over three months, and still needs to come in every three weeks. Not ideal, but she is 90% better. Dangerous medicines caused her problem, and Medicine had nothing successful to offer to then fix it.

We suggest you put your money there too before trying dangerous drugs and surgery. If Chiropractic doesn't help your condition, you can always resort to the more drastic measures. But if you resort first to Medicine, undoing the side-effects of drugs and surgery can be a nightmare.

Do you know what "Iatrogenic Disease" is? According to Wikipedia it's the third leading cause of death in the USA. Doctor-caused disease. Chiropractic also has a part in Iatrogenic Disease ... but we are many fold safer than medical treatment.

In all honesty, any and all forms of treatment, including chiropractic, can aggravate your condition. It does make sense though to start with conservative care, not so?

BREAST BONE PAIN

A kindred unfriendly spirit ...

IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS