Pelvic Floor Basics

Understanding Your Pelvic Floor

Where is your pelvic floor? What does it do for you? How does it work? How will you know if your pelvic floor needs some attention? Are kegels the only pelvic floor exercise out there?

Read on to find out!

Your pelvic floor makes up the bottom of your bony pelvis. It’s made up of layers of soft tissue like muscles, connective tissue, nerves, blood vessels and more. Your pelvic floor attaches from the pubic bone at the front to the tailbone at the back and from one sit bone (ischial tuberosity) to the other.
Your pelvic floor muscles help with bladder, bowel, and sexual function by keeping you continent (dry) until the right time, when they relax to allow the contents of the bladder or bowel to leave the body. The pelvic floor muscles also help to support the pelvic organs, stabilize the body, and make up part of the inner core unit. Your pelvic floor muscles also act as a strong pump, helping to circulate lymph and blood around the body.
Your pelvic floor muscles need to be able to relax well, contract well, and do both of those things at the right time. Kegels are pelvic floor muscle strengthening exercises and they can be an important exercise to consider, but things like stretching, lengthening, relaxing and mobilizing the muscles in + around the pelvic floor are essential for full function.
When it comes to your bladder function + health, your pelvic floor muscles play a big role. They help to support the bladder in the pelvis and also help keep urine in the bladder until it is the right time to let it out. If you leak when you sneeze or cough, can’t jump on a trampoline or go for a run without leaking, or feel like you’re always rushing to the toilet urgently, your pelvic floor muscles need some attention.
When it comes to your bowel function + health, your pelvic floor muscles help to support the rectum in the pelvis and help to keep you continent of feces and gas. If you’re unable to control your farts, strain to pass a bowel movement, feel like you can’t empty your bowels fully, have hemorrhoids or fissues, you need to take a look at your pelvic floor muscles.
When it comes to sexual function + health, your pelvic floor muscles play a very important role. From allowing penetration to housing the female sexual organ (the clitoris), the pelvic floor muscles play a vital role in sexual pleasure AND function. If you experience painful penetration, the inability to climax or have weak orgasms, your pelvic floor muscles need some attention.
Did you know that your pelvic floor muscles are part of your core? Your body has a deep inner core system that is made up of your deepest abdominal layer (the transversus abdominis), the diaphragm, small spinal stabilizers, and the pelvic floor. This unit helps to stabilize your body throughout movement, provides strength from the inside out, and manages pressure changes within the intra-abdominal cavity.
Your pelvic floor muscles act like a hammock that supports the pelvic organs. In female anatomy, the pelvic organs include the bladder, uterus, and rectum. The pelvic floor muscles help to provide support to these organs through an active support system.

Pelvic Floor Problems

Leaks

Leaking with sneezing, coughing, jumping or laughing is called stress urinary incontinence. Leaking with strong urges or feeling like you can’t make it to the bathroom in time is called urge urinary incontinence.
Painful Intimacy

Pain with penetration, including painful sex is a common pelvic floor problem called dyspareunia. Pain can be superficial (with initial penetration), deep (with deeper thrusting), or both.
Pelvic Organ Prolapse

Pelvic organ prolapse is when one of more of the pelvic organs sits lower in the pelvic cavity, bulging into the vaginal canal. This can feel like heaviness or pressure down there.
Pregnancy + Postpartum

During pregnancy + postpartum, many people experience pelvic floor problems like leaks, prolapse, hemorrhoids, painful penetration and more for the very first time.
Perimenopause + Menopause

During perimenopause and menopause, there is a huge shift in hormones that can contribute to pelvic floor problems like leaks, dryness, painful penetration, frequent urination + more.
Constipation

Constipation and difficulty emptying bowels is a very common pelvic floor problem! Learning to have a bowel movement without straining, intentionally relaxing the pelvic floor muscles, and using positions + strategies to have easier bowel movements is key for pelvic health.
Back + Pelvic Pain

Back and pelvic pain is highly correlated with pelvic floor dysfunction. If you have chronic low back pain, SIJ pain or pubic symphysis pain, taking a look at how your pelvic floor muscles contribute to your pain + dysfunction is very important.