I Had a Compressed Pelvic Nerve — Doctors Said the Pain Was Made up

• For 11 years, I battled with ever-increasing pain.
• At one point I became bedridden and my husband had to take care of the twins.
• In 2022, a pelvic pain specialist discovered that I had a compressed nerve.

For 11 years, I continued searching for answers to mysterious questions. pain. I have explained this problem to my doctor many times. Persistent pain in the right groin that increases rapidly after sitting for more than a few minutes or walking more than a block or two.Sent multiple times image testit became negative.

At first, the symptoms were mild, but as the years passed, the symptoms worsened.It has become difficult to care for twin daughters, was born when my symptoms were in semi-remission. After a particularly bad episode, I basically ended up with: bedridden. Much of her childcare fell on her husband.

I was told that all neuralgia is in the brain.

Tests came back negative, so her health care provider told her the pain was due to “cognitive impairment” or “brain dysregulation.” A pain psychologist at a major university hospital wrote in a memo that “Mr. Katchin has symptoms and behaviors known to be bad for pain, including fear-avoidance behavior and pain anxiety.'' Another health care provider introduced me to a pain management app, saying it could “remodel” my brain through pain education lectures.

I am one of the thousands of patients who have been referred to psychology and “brain retraining” tools.in the face of chronic pain epidemic, researchers and clinicians have adopted these tools as first-line interventions in some cases. The idea behind mind and brain therapy is to teach patients that chronic pain is “pain.”Diseases of abnormal connectivity and learning dysregulation“It's a disease in which the patient's thoughts and beliefs about pain trap their mind and brain in a cycle that is difficult to break out of.

I tried both apps and cognitive behavioral therapy, the leading psychotherapy for chronic pain. Neither of these improved my symptoms. Deep down, I knew the problem was with my body, not my mind.

Diagnosed with pelvic nerve compression

In 2022, a pelvic pain specialist finally revealed that the root cause of my pain was compression of an important pelvic nerve. The theory is that due to repeated stress on the pelvis during years of long-distance cycling, the nerves became trapped in scar tissue. Confinement usually does not appear in images. It can only be confirmed by surgery.

I became a victim of the so-called black box problem. In other words, if you can't see it, it's not there.

Decompression surgery was successful. It's been a year since my surgery and I'm no longer confined to my bedroom. I am able to walk without pain and take care of my young daughters.

I'm angry that the doctor didn't believe my pain was real.

Even though my health is improving, I feel perpetually angry. Why did my practitioners blame my pain on “wrong thinking”?

The “chronic pain is all in the mind” approach hurts many people like me who suffer from complex or difficult-to-diagnose conditions.women with endometriosis It takes an average of 10 years to get a diagnosis.average time to diagnosis for fibromyalgia, which primarily affects women It's been 5 years. By telling these patients that their pain is caused by the brain, doctors can avoid the lengthy diagnostic process.

There is an easy way to help patients like me. Please listen to us. Few people experience the intimate body knowledge that comes from years of continued discomfort.

We learned to listen to our bodies. It's time to hear our story.