Symptoms – What They May Mean To You
A symptom is a warning bell from the brain that something is wrong with some part of the body. As regards the pelvic floor, most bladder and bowel symptoms are secondary to damage in one or more related ligaments, not from the organ itself. The challenge is to find which ligaments are causing the problem.
The Diagnostic Diagram indicates which ligaments are causing symptoms and prolapse
15. How to use the Diagnostic Diagram. Simply tick every column which describes your symptoms. You need to tick all the columns for symptoms such as urgency which may occur in more than one column. In such cases, other associated symptoms which are more specific, will help to guide the diagnosis.
The Diagnostic Diagram below is a simplified version of what we use in our Clinic. To use this diagram, tick every column which describes your symptoms, and it will tell you where the damage is.
The front and back ligaments are purple. The middle ligaments are not shown in this diagram. There are 3 columns, one for each ligament group and the symptoms and prolapses (lumps) associated with damage to these ligaments.
Symptoms Occur in Groups – An Aid to Diagnosis
For example, urgency symptoms are indicated in all 3 columns. Symptom grouping is the only way we can deduce which column (ligament) is causing the urgency. Fortunately, urgency almost always occurs in tandem with at least one other symptom.