Why Should You be Doing Pelvic Floor Exercises?

I've been seeing more and more information and videos pop up about pelvic floor exercises and why I should be doing them. So naturally, I decided to a bit of a dive and learn more about if I really do need to worry about pelvic floor exercises and if you should too.

What makes up the pelvic floor?

For women the pelvic floor organs include the rectum, uterus, vagina, and bladder. The muscles of the pelvic floor span from the pubic bone back to the tailbone, and side to side between the sitz bones. The exact muscles are the pubococcygeus, iliococcygeus, coccygeus and puborectalis muscles. The specific muscle names are less important than the function they serve.

What do pelvic floor muscles do?

• They support your organs.

• They work with other muscles to stabilize your core and lower back

• Function of your sphincters - your rectum and urethra

• Sexual funtion- plays a role in orgasm and can cause painful intercourse

• Circulate blood flow - back up through your body

Symptoms of pelvic floor dysfunction

• Incontinence

• Constipation

• Pelvic pain

• Pain with sex

• Pelvic organ prolapse

Possible causes of pelvic floor dysfunction

• Progressing age

• Pelvic surgery

• Pregnancy

• Traumatic injury to area

• Overuse of the pelvic floor muscles and/or poor muscle coordination (pushing too hard when you go to the restroom or going too often)

• Excess weight

Therapies for pelvic floor dysfunction

There are physical therapies specific to the pelvic floor muscles and addressing any dysfunction. Clear evidence has been shown that it is effective to be the first line treatment for pelvic floor disorders. Therapies would differ from person to person but would focus on optimizing your lumbo-pelvic and spinal function toe help improve sexual, bowel, and bladder function. More specifically they would include:

• Biofeedback

  • Trigger point massage

  • Self myofascial release

• Relaxation techniques

• Medication

Some simple stretches you can do on your own:

• Happy baby

• Child's pose

• Piriformis stretch

• Adductor stretch

• Deep squat

• Butterfly