Sports Medicine health professionals regularly have patients presenting with symptoms of pudendal neuralgia (PN). PN is a recognised cause of chronic pelvic pain in the regions served by the pudendal nerve, typically presenting as pain in the penis, scrotum, labia, perineum or anorectal region. Other symptoms may include dysuria (pain passing urine), urge incontinence and pain during or after ejaculation in males and people assigned male at birth. There may be corresponding erectile dysfunction problems including impotence, impacting on relationships. There is a lack of accessible and clear information on this area.
Mr Peter Dornan, a physiotherapist from Brisbane with a specific interest in pudendal neuralgia describes the symptoms associated with pudendal neuralgia in men and people assigned male at birth in the following diagram.
The Pudendal Nerve has 3 main branches that are variably affected. The diagram shows the different symptoms associated with problems from each of the branches of the Pudendal Nerve.