Get to know your pelvic floor

Most women have heard of their pelvic floor, but what actually IS “down there”? 

You can think of your pelvic floor as a bowl that goes from your pubic bone to your tailbone and from one sit bone to the other. Basically, it is what is touching the chair when you are sitting. And even though you can’t see it, the pelvic floor is just a group of regular muscles, like anywhere else in your body. 

There are two groups of pelvic floor muscles, the urogenital diaphragm and the levator ani. Each of these groups have a few smaller muscles within them, but they really act as a whole group so it isn’t super important to separate out each little muscle. 

The urogenital diaphragm is the more superficial group, or the muscles that are closer to the vaginal opening. These muscles work to squeeze around the urethra to prevent urine from coming out (urinary incontinence). This is also the first muscle that gets cut in an episiotomy or rips during a perineal tear during a vaginal delivery. If your tear is a little more extensive, then it may go all the way down to into the levator ani group, which is the deeper muscle layer. 

The Levator Ani group of pelvic floor muscles is responsible for holding your organs up in place (cough, cough…….we are looking at you bladder prolapse). These muscles need to have a little more endurance than the urogenital diaphragm because they are providing support all day long. 

Your pelvic floor muscles have 5 main jobs:

1. Support: Provide support to the pelvic organs

2. Sphincter: Close off the urethra and anus until you want to pass urine, stool or gas

3. Sexual: Relax to allow for penetration and contract during orgasm

4. Stability: Help to stabilize your pelvis on your lumbar spine and to your legs

5. Sump Pump: Assist in pumping fluid from your legs up to the abdomen 

So you can see that the pelvic floor muscles are part of a much more complex system than just Kegels. The muscles have important functions, and they need to be able to contract and shorten as well as relax and lengthen all throughout the day. When the muscles don’t do their job properly, you may experience:

• Urinary incontinence

• Constipation

• Pelvic organ prolapse

• Fecal incontinence

• Pelvic pain with sitting

• Pain during intercourse

• Low back pain

• Hip or SI joint pain

• Tailbone pain

All these conditions are due to some sort of pelvic floor muscle dysfunction and if left untreated, may progress into other issues. 

If you think you are having some pelvic floor dysfunction, contact us or your local pelvic floor physical therapist for treatment. You can also contact me for help finding someone local to you.

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