Pre-Webinar Case Study & Mentorship Session

Case Study

Before joining the Let’s Talk Pelvic Health 2025 webinar series, we invite you to watch a special patient case study and mentorship discussion.

This case study follows the journey of a patient who spent over $25,000 searching for help with a pelvic health problem that began during COVID and escalated due to several challenges:

1. Her concerns were dismissed by her doctors.

2. Internet searches led her to support groups that promoted unproven and controversial treatments. She even traveled abroad for surgery, which unfortunately left her with more pain and sensitivity.

3. She saw a physiotherapist weekly for a year, where the focus was on repeatedly “releasing” her pelvic floor muscles.

Eventually, she was referred for a different approach. In just four visits (mostly virtual), her symptoms improved by about 80%. This progress came from identifying her pain as nociplastic (sensitive nervous system-based), addressing her fears and understanding of the problem, and providing personalized sensory-motor exercises.

Mentorship Session

During the mentorship session, we used this case to explore why our profession often struggles with persistent pain. We identified three key takeaways:

1. The importance of distinguishing between nociceptive (tissue-based) and nociplastic (nervous system-based) pain.

2. The need to phenotype (personalize) nociplastic pain to create effective treatment plans.

3. The value of avoiding pathologizing persistent pain (e.g., always framing it as “damage” or “defect”), so that patients don’t become stuck in fear or medicalization.

📌 Please watch this recording before the webinar series begins.
It will give you important context and help you critically reflect on how we, as clinicians, can shift the language we use, reduce pathologizing, and provide hope for healing.

This case study will also be revisited in the final webinar session, so engaging with it early will enrich your learning throughout the series.