What is your pelvic floor?
In the last blog, we talked about what pelvic floor therapy is, today’s topic will be about what your pelvic floor is and how it functions.
So, what is your pelvic floor?
Your pelvic floor is a bowl-shaped group of muscles sitting at the bottom of your pelvic girdle. The front and back barriers are your pubic bone and tailbone, respectively, and the barriers to the side are your hip bones. There are three layers of your pelvic floor muscles, and each layer has a different job that we will discuss below.
“The 5 S’s”- Jobs of your pelvic floor
Support of your pelvic organs (bladder, uterus (for vulva owners), and rectum).
Sphincter control: closing off and relaxing your urethral and rectal openings.
Stability of your joints (hip, sacroiliac/SI, pubic, and lumbar): your pelvic floor muscles work in conjunction with core, hip, and low back muscles to stabilize these joints.
Sexual: your pelvic floor muscles have to have enough strength and lengthening/relaxation for proper functioning.
Sump pump: your diaphragm and pelvic floor work synergistically. When you inhale, your diaphragm lowers and flattens, and so should your pelvic floor. When you exhale, the diaphragm lifts and so does the pelvic floor. This pistoning motion helps with lymphatic and fluid movement throughout the body
What can happen when your pelvic floor muscles aren’t working properly
When we have a “failure” or one or more of the jobs of the pelvic floor isn’t performing the way we need, this is where dysfunction can occur. We will go over a few possible dysfunctions that can occur with each “job” of the pelvic floor.
Support. When your muscles can no longer support the pelvic organs effectively, (this can be from multiple vaginal births, use of a vacuum or forceps with delivery, or repeated heavy lifting) we can get what’s called a pelvic organ prolapse. This can be when:
the bladder falls backward into the vaginal canal (cystocele)
the rectum falls forward into the vaginal canal (rectocele)
the uterus can come down the vaginal vault (uterine prolapse)
the rectum can come out of the anal opening (rectal prolapse).
Symptoms of this may include incomplete bladder or bowel emptying, pressure at the vaginal or rectal opening, pressure around the pubic area, low back pain that worsens with prolonged standing, and pain with vaginal intercourse.
2. Sphincter. These specific muscles have to contract so you don’t pee and poop when you don’t want to, but also these muscles have to relax to allow the bladder and bowel to fully empty. If you have issues coordinating these muscles, you may have incontinence (urinary/pee or fecal/stool) or difficulty emptying your bladder and bowels completely.
3. Stability. A muscle imbalance here can cause chronic hip, low back, or pelvic pain.
4. Sexual. Your pelvic floor muscles need to have the strength for the ability to have an orgasm, but also be able to relax to allow for pain-free penetrative intercourse.
5. Sump pump. This pistoning motion helps with lymphatic and fluid movement throughout the body. The lymphatic system is part of the immune system. It keeps body fluid levels in balance and defends the body against infections. Working the diaphragm also helps stimulate the vagus nerve, which is a great nervous system regulator and can help with anxiety, depression, insomnia, and so much more!
Your pelvic floor has a lot of different jobs! Don’t worry if you feel like you can’t check all the boxes on adequate functioning. Many individuals may have issues with their pelvic floor and they don’t know it! And it makes sense, many of us don’t walk around thinking about what our pelvic floors and genitalia are doing during the day 😉.
If you feel like your pelvic floor isn’t working the way you want it to, or want to make sure it is, find a pelvic physical therapist to help! Check out our previous blog post if you’re curious about what pelvic health physical therapy is, and head to our “contact” button if you have any questions or would like to book a free consultation to see if it’s right for you!
