What are your Pelvic Floor Muscles, and why are they so important?

The pelvic floor muscles are a group of small muscles that span the bottom of the pelvis. These muscles attach to your pubic bone at the front and to your coccyx (tailbone) at the back, creating a hammock-like layer of muscles.

As you can see above, in women, the pelvic floor muscles support the bladder, uterus and bowel. The urethra (urine passage), anus and vagina all pass through the muscles. What that means is if the pelvic floor muscles are weakened or overactive, it can cause problems with bladder and bowel control and sexual function.

So how can a physiotherapist help pelvic floor muscles?

Just like any muscle in the body, the pelvic floor muscles can be strengthened and trained with regular, targeted exercise. A trained physio can help assess your ability to engage and relax your pelvic floor muscles and help improve their function.

Pelvic Floor Muscle exercises can help with:

• Improving recovery after pregnancy
• Improve bladder/bowel control
• Aid in recovery after prostate surgery for men
• Reduce the risk of prolapse
• Increase in sexual sensation
• Reduce pain with chronic pelvic pain conditions, such as Endometriosis
• Increased social confidence and quality of life

What is involved in a Pelvic Floor Assessment?

1. History taking: you will be asked a series of questions about your main concerns that may also include:
   1. Medical history including any specialists/doctors you have seen
   2. Work/exercise background and goals
   3. Bladder/bowel health
   4. Any tests/investigations that have previously been done
2. Education:
   1. On the pelvic floor muscles themselves
   2. Current research
   3. Exercise guidelines
   4. Common “do’s and don’ts”
3. External Examination (if appropriate):
   1. This allows us to assess the function/strength/weakness/coordination of your pelvic floor muscles in order to optimize your treatment and management of your symptoms. It also provides us a baseline measurement of strength, relaxation, and ‘bearing down’.
4. Treatment & Plan:
   1. We may treat any aches/pains you are experiencing
   2. Prescribe exercises to help you manage at home
   3. Create a detailed, specific plan to help you achieve your goals

If you feel like you could benefit from a Pelvic Floor Assessment, get in contact with one of the physiotherapists from our team at Instinct health and find out how we are able to answer all of your questions on pelvic floor and how you can improve your health.