25/09/2026
“Is it endometriosis?” is often one of the first questions we hear when someone is experiencing pelvic pain.
And while a diagnosis can be an important part of the picture, it doesn’t always tell us everything about someone’s pain.
In Chinese medicine, we don’t only look at where pain is, we also look at how it feels, when it occurs, what makes it better or worse, and what else is happening in the body.
A diagnosis can be helpful, but in Chinese medicine we don’t necessarily need a diagnosis to treat pain. We look at how the pain presents in that individual and develop treatment from there.
Two people can have the same diagnosis but very different experiences of pain, which means their treatment may look quite different too.
We might consider things like circulation, tension, inflammation, digestion, sleep, stress and the menstrual cycle, alongside the more specific symptoms someone is experiencing.
And sometimes there is more than one piece to the puzzle. Pain can contribute to pelvic floor tension, which can then become part of the pain cycle - one reason we often work alongside pelvic floor physiotherapists, gynaecologists and other practitioners.
There isn’t always one answer to pelvic pain. Sometimes it’s about looking at the whole picture and putting the pieces together.
Cassie has written more about pelvic pain, endometriosis, vulval pain and the different ways we can support it over on the Yin blog.
