What is the pelvic floor?
I’m so excited to provide you with some education about the pelvic floor! Something that I think every woman ( and man) should know about but doesn’t.
Even as a PT, I didn’t know how important the pelvic floor was until mine derailed after childbirth! Now it’s my mission to teach everyone about the pelvic floor! I want to help women prevent common issues that occur during pregnancy and in postpartum but also to let you know that a lot of these issues, you don’t have to just live with.
What exactly is the pelvic floor? Where is it? What does it do? And what happens when it’s not doing its job?
What is the Pelvic Floor?
The pelvic floor is a group of muscles, ligaments, nerves and tissue, located at the bottom of our pelvis. There are three layers of muscles in the pelvic floor.
4 main roles of the Pelvic Floor
Sphincter control: holds in your urine and your bowels when they need to stay in and lets them out when it is time to come out
Stabilization: it’s a major player in core, hip, and pelvis stability
Support: acts as a sling to support your bladder, uterus, and rectum
Sexual satisfaction: yes!
Anatomy (basic)
Pelvic floor muscles (the hammock) shown here supporting the bladder, uterus, and rectum
Superficial muscles
Surround the openings (urethra, vagina, and rectum)
Provide the squeeze and help with continence
Deep muscles
Provides the lift, provides support and strength to the pelvis
Act like a hammock to support the bladder, uterus and rectum
Also includes some of the deep hip rotators such as piriformis and obturator internus
The Pelvic Floor and The Core:
The pelvic floor is an important part of your core.. It works together with the transverse abdominus (deep abdominal muscles), multifidi muscles(deep back muscles), and the diaphragm (breathing muscle), to provide optimal function and stability of the core. Deep hip rotators and glutes also have an important relationship with the pelvic floor.
The pelvic floor muscles are often neglected, overlooked and misunderstood for the role they play in core stability and function. If you’ve had lingering low back pain, SI Joint pain, or hip pain and traditional PT hasn’t helped, it might be worth exploring if your pelvic floor is a contributing factor.
Symptoms that could suggest a pelvic floor dysfunction:
Urinary leakage with sneeze, cough, jump, run or lift
Urgency to urinate (gotta go, now!)
Tampons fall out or painful insertion of tampons
Chronic SI joint pain, hip pain, low back pain
Heavy feeling or pressure feeling in the vagina
Difficulty starting to pee
Constipation
Painful penetration during intercourse
What causes dysfunction in the pelvic floor?
A lot of factors can contribute to dysfunction of the pelvic floor including direct trauma and chronic imbalances.
Pregnancy and childbirth
Traumatic injury to the pelvic floor
Nerve injury
Straining during bowel movement or bearing down during strenuous activity
Muscle imbalances (weak glutes, tight hips, weak core, foot and ankle alignment etc.)
Poor posture habits
Stress and holding tension in your pelvic floor
Hereditary
The Pelvic Floor and Your Breath:
Research has shown that the diaphragm muscle and the pelvic floor muscles have an especially important relationship. When you inhale, the diaphragm muscle flattens and descends down while the pelvic floor also lengthens and descends down. When you exhale, the diaphragm goes up and your pelvic floor also contracts and rises up. This relationship often becomes disrupted during pregnancy or if you are a habitual shallow breather. Retraining the breathing system is important to help regain proper function of the pelvic floor.
What can you do if you think you have pelvic floor dysfunction?
In most cases, you don’t have to just live with it! Meeting with a pelvic floor or women’s health physical therapist is a great place to start! We can take a look at your pelvic floor from a whole-body perspective and guide you through the appropriate course of treatment for you and your body.
I hope this gives you a better understanding of what the pelvic floor is. I’d love to chat with you if you are having any concerns about your pelvic floor. You can contact me here
