• Posted March 3, 2025

Exercise Boosts Mental Health Of Women With Chronic Pelvic Pain

Physical activity can improve the mental well-being of women living with chronic pelvic pain disorders like endometriosis and uterine fibroids, a new study says.

Activities like brisk walking or aerobic exercise caused measurable improvements in women with pelvic pain, researchers reported in the Journal of Pain Research.

“Chronic pelvic pain disorders are incredibly complex and burdensome for those affected, yet we still have very few effective treatment strategies," said senior researcher Ipek Ensari, an assistant professor of artificial intelligence and human health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.

"Our research suggests that physical activity could be an important tool for improving mental health in these patients, offering them a proactive way to enhance their well-being,” Ensari added in a news release.

Chronic pelvic pain affects 1 in 7 women worldwide, researchers said in background notes.

For the study, researchers used wearable motion trackers to monitor 76 women with pelvic pain disorders, collecting more than 4,200 days’ worth of data. 

The participants reported their mental health, physical function and pain levels weekly through an app.

On average, participants got more than 8,300 steps and 38 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per day, results show.

About 43% got fewer than 7,500 daily steps, which is below the threshold for being considered sufficiently active, and 41% got fewer than 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity a week as recommended by U.S. guidelines.

Results showed that physical activity helped improve the women’s mood and mental health, and that the benefits appeared to accumulate over time rather than provide immediate relief.

"We were particularly intrigued to find that the positive effects of exercise seem to lag by a few days, meaning the mental health benefits may build up gradually," Ensari said. "This insight is vital for both patients and health care providers, as it underscores the importance of consistency in physical activity."

As women’s mental health improved, they also experienced improvements in physical function and reductions in pain, results show.

More information

The Mayo Clinic has more on chronic pelvic pain.

SOURCE: Mount Sinai, news release, Feb. 26, 2025