Painful Urination

Pain with urination is abnormal and can be a sign of underlying dysfunction. If infection or other disease has been ruled out, then the symptoms may be arising from dysfunction of the pelvic floor muscles.

While urinating, the bladder should contract while the pelvic floor muscles relax to allow the urine to empty from the bladder. However, some individuals hold excessive tension in their pelvic floor muscles which can make it especially difficult to relax fully the pelvic floor muscles, resulting in physical discomfort or pain. A pelvic physical therapist can assess whether this may be contributing to any symptoms, and if so, can provide strategies to relax the pelvic floor muscles in order to have less discomfort with urination.