The rectum is the end of the colon, before it exits the body at the anal canal.

• Patients may report pain with bowel movements that can last for hours.  When fleeting and intense, it can be called procticalgia fugax.  At times it can cause a patient to awaken in the night or can come on with no rhyme or reason.  Patients sometimes report a pain so severe that it stops them from leaving the house or working.  At times it is more of a minor annoyance.  The patient may state they have a pain deep in the buttock that is difficult to define.

• We can help stop the suffering!  A muscle spasm by any other name is still a muscle spasm.  It often responds well to direct stretching.  Additionally, by releasing other structures in the region with visceral manipulation or learning muscle retraining with biofeedback, patients can learn to break this cycle of pain.  We do offer intrarectal as well as intravaginal manual therapies at our clinic, so we can get to the source of the problem