But the group of experts that converged on the Brown Palace Hotel in Denver, April 3 - 4, for the Chronic Pelvic Pain Symposium would like nothing better than to unravel the mysteries of this devastating and enigmatic disease, step by step, layer by layer, and give patients new hope for a life free from the crippling pain. C. Paul Perry, MD Chronic pelvic pain is a big problem.
Estimates vary as to how many women suffer from chronic pelvic pain syndrome.
But C. Paul Perry, M.D., president of The International Pelvic Pain Society, pegs it at somewhere between 200,000 and two million women in the United States alone. We know that 200,000 is a minimum figure, because at least that many women have vulvodynia. And that's only one component of chronic pelvic pain. Presentations were also given by a physical therapist, a urologist, a nurse practictioner, an anesthesiologist, a pharmacologist, and even a Ph.D. candidate in psychology. The symposium was truly multidisciplinary, bringing together a wide range of clinical perspectives all focused on the problem of pelvic pain.